CST Brands Gets $1.5M to Stay in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO — CST Brands Inc. will remain in the Alamo City for the foreseeable future. The San Antonio City Council voted Thursday to provide nearly $1.5 million in incentives to retain the parent of Corner Store convenience stores.

The City Council unanimously approved a 10-year, 80-percent property tax abatement valued at $915,746, as well as a $500,000 economic development grant so that CST Brands can build its new headquarters on the far north side of San Antonio, reported the San Antonio Express-News.

CST Brands has been seeking a new headquarters as it still leases its current 83,000-square-foot home on the campus of Valero Energy Corp., which spun off the operator of nearly 3,000 locations — including 1,047 Corner Store sites and 1,093 CrossAmerica Partners (formerly Lehigh Gas) convenience stores and gas stations — in May 2013.

CST Brands also announced in August it will acquire 44 Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes. This deal is expected to close this quarter.

Kevin Sheehan, vice president of internal audit and risk management for CST Brands, confirmed to the news outlet that the retailer considered moving to Live Oak, Texas, Schertz, Texas, and other locations if no San Antonio incentives were in place. He did not say the incentives was the only deciding factor for CST to stay in San Antonio, but did note "it was pretty important."

"Let's say if Schertz offered us $3 million in incentives and San Antonio and Bexar County said, 'No, we're not going to give you any incentive,' that would have been a big factor," Sheehan said. "Our business runs on pretty lean margins."

CST is expected to move to its new headquarters by the third quarter of 2016. The retailer will retain its existing 305 full-time jobs and create at least 100 more full-time positions as part of the incentive agreement with the city of San Antonio, according to the news source.