Waukee Towne Center already works as an errand stop. You can buy groceries, pick up a prescription refill, get an oil change and eat dinner at Hickman and Alice's roads today. The parts that inspired the renderings aren't there yet, and none of them has an opening date. That includes the six-acre lake, the amphitheater, the ice rink, a cluster of home-furnishings stores and several restaurants that have never operated in Iowa. The 62-acre center is opening in the order a household would use it, with the destination pieces scheduled last.
That order explains the corner as it looks in mid-October 2026. It also explains why the developer's own website and the stores themselves don't always agree on what is open.
Two Years of Target, Three Days of Marshalls
Target is the anchor tenant. It opened in October 2024, and there's a Starbucks inside. For almost two years it was the only big store in a development that the Des Moines Register puts at $132 million.
Marshalls became the second on Oct. 8. The store is at 980 SE Laurel St. and fills 23,700 square feet. Its regular hours run from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day. Marshalls' Waukee store page now says "Now Open!" The center's own Marshalls listing still says the store is "opening October 8!" so the center's site is behind the store's.
Marshalls isn't new to the metro. According to Business Record, the chain already had a West Des Moines store before it signed in Waukee. It's another store for everyday shopping, which fits the pattern so far.
The Lineup as of Mid-October
This is what's operating at the center as of Oct. 11, 2026, based on the Register's Sept. 25 tenant list, Business Record's Aug. 28 report and Marshalls' store page:
- Target, with a Starbucks inside, open since October 2024
- Marshalls, open since Oct. 8, 2026
- Olive Garden
- Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
- Hyper Energy Bar
- LOF Xpress Oil Change
Every name on that list is a regular-week stop: groceries and household goods, discount clothes and home decor, a sit-down chain restaurant, a burger-and-custard counter, an energy drink and an oil change. None of these places is built around spending an afternoon. The center's directory also lists Chase Bank and U.S. Bank. The directory doesn't say whether either one is a new tenant.
Three Names With a Sign and No Date
Dutch Bros Coffee, Crisp & Green and Jersey Mike's are next in the same category. In late August, Business Record reported that all three were "expected to open soon." Six weeks later, the center's directory still lists each one as "joining our lineup" with no opening date. We couldn't find an independent source that confirms a date for any of them.
For now, the coffee drive-thru, the salad counter and the sub shop are coming but not open. Even so, all three are quick, weekday-lunch businesses. The next stores to open will add to the errand side before the destination side arrives.
The 2027 Wave Brings Stores Waukee Doesn't Have
The planned grand opening is spring 2027. The developer's site says late spring. On Aug. 28, Pierson Cos. released its first list of signed tenants. Together they account for 100,000 square feet. Riley Hogan of CBRE, which handles leasing for the project, told Business Record that about 85% of the available space was pre-leased.
These tenants are a different kind of store from what's open now. Six are new to Iowa, and the rest already operate elsewhere in the metro:
| Signed tenant | Category | Nearest existing location, per Business Record |
|---|---|---|
| L.L. Bean | Outdoor apparel | New to Iowa |
| Arhaus | Furniture and décor | New to Iowa |
| Hampton Social | Coastal-inspired restaurant | New to Iowa; has restaurants in Chicago and Nashville |
| The End Bar | Cocktails, shareable bites, sports viewing; developed by Parker Hospitality | New to Iowa |
| Game Show Battle Rooms | Live game show experience | New to Iowa |
| Noir Nail Bar | Nail and beauty services | New to Iowa |
| Williams Sonoma | Homewares | Jordan Creek Town Center |
| Pottery Barn | Home furnishings and décor | Jordan Creek Town Center |
| West Elm | Home furnishings | East Village, downtown Des Moines |
| 30hop | Restaurant with a large tap selection | Ankeny |
Today, the nearest Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, West Elm and 30hop are in West Des Moines, the East Village and Ankeny. The Register describes the retail plan as built around "a home goods hot spot." That puts four furniture and housewares brands at one Waukee corner: Arhaus, West Elm, Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn.
Neither Williams Sonoma nor Pottery Barn has said whether Waukee will be a second store or a move from Jordan Creek. As of this month, both brands' Jordan Creek store pages still show regular hours and an event scheduled for Oct. 17, 2026.
The restaurant and entertainment tenants are the other half of the wave. 30hop is planned near the lake, where diners will look out over the water and the amphitheater. Game Show Battle Rooms is pitched for birthday parties, team-building events and nights out with family and friends. None of these places is a quick stop. All of them are scheduled for after the errand businesses.
Pierson also promised more. Mike Pierson told Business Record the company looked forward "to announcing additional first-to-market concepts in the weeks ahead." We haven't found any new tenant announcement since Aug. 28.
The Lake Is the Part Without a Date
According to the developer, the center will be built around a six-acre lake with a fountain display and walking and biking paths that connect to the regional trail system. Around the water, the plan includes an amphitheater, outdoor gathering spaces, interactive water features, seasonal ice skating, playgrounds, fire pits, and a 25-by-13-foot screen for movies, live sports and community events. The Register's Sept. 25 story calls the lake eight acres and names the Raccoon River Valley Trail as the trail connection. The developer's own materials say six acres.
None of these features has its own completion date. The developer gives one opening target for the whole center, late spring 2027. A WOI report on construction described the amenities but didn't give a separate schedule for them. The developer also says it plans year-round programming, including seasonal activities, live performances and weekly gatherings. All of that depends on a lakefront that, by every available source, isn't finished.
The trail paths, the skating and the movie screen are the pieces that would make the center a place to spend an evening. They are also the pieces with the least public information about timing.
Across Hickman, the Errand Side Is Getting Bigger
North of Hickman Road, the Waukee City Council approved a site plan for the city's first Walmart Supercenter in a 3–2 vote on Sept. 8, 2026. According to the Register, the store at 1165 E. Hickman Road will be more than 182,000 square feet and include a pharmacy, a gas station and an automotive service center. In August, the council had approved the site's plats and tabled the site plan so it could get answers to more questions.
The Register also reported that residents of nearby single-family homes in Clive and a Hy-Vee representative had raised concerns about traffic and noise. Hy-Vee has a supermarket just west of the site, across NE Alice's Road. KCCI reported that no completion timeline has been announced.
If it's built, both sides of the intersection will be geared to the regular weekly trip: Hy-Vee and Walmart to the north, and Target, Marshalls and the quick-service restaurants to the south. The lake, the home-furnishings stores and the new-to-Iowa restaurants are the 2027 pieces, and they'll arrive on a corner that already handles everyday shopping.
If you're watching the new businesses at Hickman and Alice's and wondering what they could mean for your street or your next move, Megan Mitchum + CO follows Waukee's growth closely. We can help you sort out what's open, what's planned and what's still only on paper. Contact Us anytime.
