Where Bed Bath & Beyond and California Pizza Kitchen Used to Be at Huebner Oaks

At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 9, a line had already formed on the sidewalk at Huebner Oaks. People were waiting for the doors of a bookstore to open, according to MySA's opening-day report. The store was a Barnes & Noble, the chain's sixth in San Antonio. It filled the space Bed Bath & Beyond left behind.

That line shows what is happening at the center on I-10 at Huebner Road. If you live in Shavano Park, you probably still think of Huebner Oaks as a place for groceries, coffee or a quick lunch. The center's comeback isn't a ground-up redevelopment. Its owner, Kite Realty Group, has been refilling the storefronts of familiar mid-2000s and 2010s tenants one at a time. If you know what a space used to be, you can usually tell what kind of tenant the center wants there next.

The bookstore that took the biggest box

Big-box vacancies are the hardest spaces to fill in any shopping center, and the former Bed Bath & Beyond was the largest one here. In December 2025, MySA reported that the space needed renovation, with work expected to run through the end of June 2026. The store opened about ten weeks after that target date.

Barnes & Noble now uses about 20,000 square feet in Suite 750. The store carries books, toys, games and magazines and has a Barnes & Noble Café inside. The café matters more than it might seem. Along with Early Bird Coffee, it gives the center a second place to sit with a drink. That suits a property that has been working to keep visitors on site longer than one quick errand.

The California Pizza Kitchen space took the long way to hot pot

The former California Pizza Kitchen spot, Suite 418, had the most twists. Local reports put the restaurant's closing in the second half of 2023. Here is how the space went from empty to serving hot pot:

1. August 2025. A $250,000 interior and exterior renovation was filed under the name Hot Spot 61. Work was scheduled to start August 18, 2025, and finish February 18, 2026, according to MySA.
2. February 2026. A Kite Realty site plan showed Liuyishou Hot Pot in the space. MySA described Liuyishou as a company that "deems itself one of the biggest hotpot chains in the world."
3. September 2026. Hot Spot 61 was in a soft opening by September 8, MySA reported.

Hot Spot 61 is the restaurant operating there now. Many hot pot restaurants have diners cook at the table. Hot Spot 61 works differently. You pick your ingredients and pay $14.99 per pound no matter what you choose, then pick a soup base, and the kitchen cooks it all in the back and brings the finished soup to your table, MySA reported. During the soft opening, owner Aki Yu told MySA the restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day except Tuesday. Those are early hours, so check them before you go.

Piada moved into the Gap

A few doors away, Piada Italian Street Food took over the former Gap space at Suite 501. MySA's preview put it plainly: shoppers looking for The Gap at Huebner Oaks would now find an Italian fast-casual restaurant. The grand opening, with a ribbon cutting, was 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 25.

The name comes from the piada, a thin, stone-baked dough wrapped around fillings. The menu also has tossed pastas and salads. Everything is made to order, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-friendly options, according to the company's release. The chain started in Ohio in 2010. It opened its first San Antonio-area location in Schertz in March, and Huebner Oaks is its first within San Antonio proper. If you don't want to drive out past Loop 1604 East to try it, you don't have to anymore.

The center's online directory still lists Piada as "Coming Soon." The grand opening was in late August, so the directory hasn't caught up yet.

Trader Joe's and Early Bird Coffee came first

Early Bird Coffee opened in Suite 527 on August 25, 2022. It was a local, design-forward coffee shop at a center better known for national chains. In its February 2026 look at the center, MySA called it an "aesthetic-forward" spot for artisan coffee.

Trader Joe's opened in Suite 410 on November 4, 2025, Community Impact reported. A grocery store brings people back every week, which a clothing store doesn't. Trader Joe's marks one year at Huebner Oaks on November 4. The restaurants and the bookstore that followed it benefit from that weekly traffic.

In February, MySA summed up the shift this way: "The popular chains of the 2010s are disappearing, replaced by leasing signs and shiny new destinations." The same article recalled that the center was, for a while in the early 2000s, the "mall of the moment." Pei Wei, one of those 2010s names, closed by May 2025 at The Strand at Huebner Oaks, a separate property at 11267 Huebner Road.

Who replaced whom

Here is each storefront that changed hands, with its previous tenant and where the new one stands:

The last row isn't at Huebner Oaks, but it follows the same pattern. Wing Daddy's on De Zavala Road closed in February 2026, MySA reported. In June, My Neighborhood News reported that Wonder planned to take over the space. Wonder lets you order from several restaurant brands' menus at once, with pickup, delivery and dine-in. Construction was set to begin July 17, with completion expected around October 10. As of that June report, the company hadn't announced a grand opening date.

Seven spaces still waiting

Huebner Oaks isn't done changing. Kite Realty's property page currently lists seven available retail spaces. MySA counted the same number in February. In the months between, three major spaces opened, which suggests other spaces became vacant as those filled. No new tenant has been announced for the open spaces yet, and no openings are scheduled at the center for the rest of 2026.

The timelines are also worth knowing. The Bed Bath & Beyond space opened about ten weeks after its target date. The California Pizza Kitchen space took about seven months longer than its renovation schedule. When a leasing sign goes up at Huebner Oaks, expect the space to stay empty for a season or more before anything opens.

New openings along Huebner Road and De Zavala are part of what living in Shavano Park looks like right now. When I help someone price a home or compare areas, that kind of everyday convenience is part of the story. If you're thinking about what changes like these mean for your own plans, Anthony Boelens is happy to talk it through. Let's Start a Conversation.