Home Depot is planning its first San Marcos location with a roughly $13 million project that would drop a full-size big-box store and a sizable garden center just off the I-35 corridor. Filings outline a 107,797-square-foot sales floor paired with a 28,120-square-foot garden center, a combined footprint approaching 136,000 square feet, with construction expected to run from fall 2026 into late summer 2027. The site is in the northeast quadrant of the I-35 North frontage road and McCarty Road, an area already drawing an influx of new grocery and retail investment.
Those specifications appear in a project registration posted by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the entry is listed as “Home Depot - San Marcos TX,” carries an estimated cost of $13,000,000, shows a Sept. 7, 2026 start date and an Aug. 9, 2027 completion target, and is recorded in the state’s TABS system as a privately funded new-construction project.
Why retailers are piling into the McCarty corridor
San Marcos has become a regional magnet for national brands as population and traffic along the I-35 corridor have grown, so a home improvement giant eyeing the frontage road fits the broader pattern. The U.S. Census Bureau’s QuickFacts puts the city’s population at about 74,316 in 2024, up sharply from roughly 44,894 in 2010, and local reporting says Home Depot would arrive alongside a new H-E-B and other major retail projects. The San Antonio Express-News notes the proposed Home Depot site sits close to a 114,000-square-foot H-E-B now under construction, part of a cluster of outlet and big-box tenants reshaping the corridor.
What else is planned nearby
Marketing materials for the wider McCarty Commons development describe roughly 35 acres of retail with nearly 300,000 square feet planned and H-E-B shadow-anchoring the center, which helps explain why the area is drawing national chains that like steady traffic and lots of rooftops. Leasing and permit roundups also flagged the Home Depot registration as one of the larger new permits in the Austin-San Marcos region this week, according to Community Impact and developer listings for McCarty Commons.
The state record currently lists the Home Depot entry as “Project Registered,” and the filings are administrative, subject to change as approvals, site plans, and construction permits move forward. Local officials and developers have pointed to rising residential and student demand along the I-35 corridor as the primary draw for new retail, and the TDLR registration is the first clear paperwork showing the retailer’s intent in San Marcos.
