What's Actually Open on Dripping Springs' East End, and What's Still Years Away

In the last month, the headlines have said Dripping Springs is getting its first Target, an Academy Sports + Outdoors, a Tacodeli and a $20 million retail hub. Drive US 290 east of town this week and you'll find a market that just reopened with an arcade, a highway crew finishing the landscaping, and a lot of open frontage. Both are accurate. State construction filings show that most of the east end's new businesses arrive in 2027 and 2028. Right now, the pieces you can actually use are the road and one renovated gathering spot.

The road was the first piece to finish

The biggest change on the east end is out past the city limits. In September, Community Impact reported that TxDOT had reached substantial completion on Oak Hill Parkway. That's the seven-mile rebuild that turned a four-lane undivided road into a six-lane divided highway, with new frontage roads and 14 miles of shared-use paths. A TxDOT spokesperson told the outlet that landscaping and other remaining tasks would continue through the end of the year. The project cost $677 million.

The next stretch toward Dripping Springs is further behind. TxDOT's corridor study covers US 290 from RM 1826 to Rob Shelton Boulevard. Final design and construction are later phases, and construction isn't funded yet. A separate upgrade from Roger Hanks Parkway to Rob Shelton Boulevard, widening that section from four lanes to six with pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, is still in design. TxDOT's project overview gives no completion date. For now, the smooth new highway ends where the new stores are planned.

Headwaters already has its gathering place

Oakwood Public Market at 2500 Beverly Drive reopened in September under new owners. Community Impact's September business roundup reported that the owners brought back the existing concepts and added an arcade.

The market matters beyond its own doors because of who built it. MySA reported that Oryx Land Holding started construction on the Headwaters market in early 2023. Oryx is the same developer now planning the much larger retail center next to it. Its plans also include roughly 1,000 homes, an office park and the Station at Headwaters, described as 90 acres of mixed-use commercial property with restaurants, entertainment, offices and hospitality. The market is the part of that plan you can visit today.

Target is two construction projects on two clocks

Most of the confusion about Target comes from paperwork. In March, the Austin American-Statesman reported that a 147,000-square-foot store would anchor a center called The Village at Dripping Springs at 13786 W. US Hwy. 290. That's next to the existing H-E-B, Chick-fil-A, Torchy's Tacos, Dunkin, Jersey Mike's and OrangeTheory. Target bought more than 10 acres there in January 2026. The plans also include two more commercial buildings totaling about 19,300 square feet and four development lots.

Reports on when construction starts disagree. KXAN reported in late April that construction was officially underway. The city's August 25 Planning and Zoning packet also described the Target-anchored Village as under construction. But a MySA roundup published October 12 said construction on the store is slated to begin in February 2027.

Target has two separate registrations with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, one for each phase of the work.

The site work going on now is the first filing. The store you'll eventually shop in is the second. "Review Complete" refers to the state's plan review and says nothing about construction progress. Neither filing includes an opening date, and TDLR dates are forecasts that can change. As of mid-October 2026, no public source gives a confirmed opening date for Target.

The Headwaters frontage is still mostly plans

Across US 290, near Headwaters Boulevard and Canyonwood Drive, almost every announced business exists only as a lease, a filing or a target year.

• Tacodeli. A spokesperson confirmed to Community Impact in September that the company signed a lease at Hwy. 290 and Canyonwood Drive. The opening date is still to be determined.
• Headwaters East. Oryx's planned 300,000-square-foot retail center would sit on 43 acres within a 166-acre mixed-use development at US 290 and Headwaters Boulevard. Its TDLR registration forecasts construction from January 1, 2027 to August 1, 2028, according to MySA.
• Academy Sports + Outdoors. MySA, citing Austin Business Journal reporting, said a store of about 50,000 square feet is expected to be part of Headwaters East.
• Dripping Springs Sports Club flagship. This 150,000-square-foot facility, with courts, a gymnasium, a cafe and recreation areas, is planned for the front of Headwaters. Community Impact reported in September that construction is expected to start in 2027, with a public opening at the end of 2028.

The Sports Club's own timeline shows how much these dates move. In December 2025, Community Impact reported a groundbreaking in late 2026. Ten months later, that start had moved to 2027. The city's 2026 site-development ledger lists the Sports Club project and several Headwaters East pad sites as under review. A separate entry for 14 commercial lots at Hwy. 290 and Canyonwood is also under review. The public record doesn't make clear whether the parcels marketed at that corner and Oryx's Headwaters East are the same tract, so they're best treated as neighboring projects.

What has opened in the meantime

While the big projects wait their turn, smaller businesses have kept opening, mostly in existing buildings along the highway and closer to town.

1. The Alley opened a bubble tea shop at 12400 Hwy. 290, Suite 230, near Belterra, on March 28.
2. Golden Chick opened at 104 Hwy. 290 on April 28.
3. Beerburg Beer Garden opened May 28 at 13476 Fitzhugh Road. Weekend hours were reported as 2 to 8 p.m.
4. Ziggi's Cafe, a Greek cafe with pitas, pies, baked goods and drinks, opened in August at 28485 RR 12.
5. Pig Pen BBQ at 301 Hwy. 290 is celebrating five years in its brick-and-mortar location.

The next opening on the calendar is a sit-down restaurant. MySA, citing a TDLR filing, reported that Proper Ash Steakhouse at 136 Drifting Wind Run, Suite 101, is scheduled to start construction in mid-October, with completion tentatively set for mid-June 2027. Plans call for live music and room for about 160 guests, including a patio. If that schedule holds, a steakhouse would open about seven months before the Target building's forecast completion and more than a year before Headwaters East's.

Closer to downtown, the city's $8.9 million plan to improve Old Fitzhugh Road for traffic flow, pedestrian access and connectivity was supposed to break ground in August. It's waiting on TxDOT approval. City communications director Lisa Sullivan told Community Impact the work will take 18 months to two years once it starts, and the timeline is currently listed as TBA.

If you're wondering how the next two years of construction along 290 will affect your commute, your errands or what your own property is worth, Jamie Novak Group follows these filings parcel by parcel and is glad to talk through what each project could mean for your corner of Dripping Springs. Schedule your concierge consultation.