Two shopping centers are headed for the stretch of US 290 east of downtown Dripping Springs, and both are further along on paper than on the ground. The Target-anchored Village at Dripping Springs is under construction near Belterra. Headwaters East Commercial is the 43-acre site between Headwaters Boulevard and Canyonwood Drive, where the leases signed so far include T.J. Maxx and Tacodeli. Target's construction filings run through late 2027 and into early 2028, and the Sports Club lists an August 2028 opening. The layout, the parking and the turn lanes are being settled this fall.
| Project | Where | Who is involved | Latest filed or stated timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headwaters East Commercial | North of US 290, Headwaters Blvd to Canyonwood Dr | T.J. Maxx and Tacodeli leases | Parking variance before the Board of Adjustments Oct. 6, 2026 |
| Dripping Springs Sports Club flagship | US 290 and Canyonwood Dr | Sports Club | August 2028 |
| The Village at Dripping Springs | 13786 W. US 290, near Belterra | Target anchor, Property Commerce developer | Site work through Nov. 19, 2027; store building Feb. 2027 to late Jan. 2028 |
The Headwaters corner, pad by pad
Headwaters East Commercial is one piece of the larger Headwaters development, which covers 1,509 acres. According to a City of Dripping Springs planning staff report, roughly 66 percent of that acreage is preserved as open space and about 7 percent is set aside for commercial use. The 43-acre tract is part of that commercial land. The applicant is Marathon Equity and the property owner is Oryx Land Holdings.
The report's building schedule totals 282,320 square feet. The largest pieces are a 94,000-square-foot anchor, three junior anchor spaces of 16,501, 25,001 and 50,000 square feet, and a 23,300-square-foot space labeled grocery. The rest is a bank pad, an auto-oriented restaurant pad, several restaurant pads and a run of smaller shop buildings.
The first names to attach to the site fit those spaces closely. Community Impact reported in October that T.J. Maxx leased about 25,000 square feet at Headwaters, citing a CoStar Research report. The city's schedule lists one junior anchor at exactly 25,001 square feet. In September, Community Impact also reported that Tacodeli had signed a lease at the intersection of Hwy. 290 and Canyonwood Drive.
Next door, the Dripping Springs Sports Club is planning a 211,401-square-foot flagship on 11.5 acres at US 290 and Canyonwood and lists an August 2028 opening. According to the club's site, design development is complete and construction documents are underway. Community Impact reported that the flagship will include a wellness and recovery center, a cafe and childcare. The club's current Warehouse location keeps running volleyball, basketball, performance training and open gym in the meantime.
Thirty-three spaces short, and built for walking between stores
The most detailed picture of how Headwaters will work comes from a parking request. Under Dripping Springs code, retail needs one space per 200 square feet of floor area, and restaurants need one per 100 square feet of seating and waiting area. Measured lot by lot, the anchor comes up 118 spaces short of that standard and the junior anchor parcels come up 92 short. Measured across the whole center, the plan provides 1,508 spaces where 1,541 are required. That gap of 33 spaces works out to about 2 percent.
To make its case, the applicant pointed to centers residents already know. According to the staff report, the anchor lot at Belterra Village holds a movie theater, a full-size gym and two full-service restaurants, and it runs at under 4.0 spaces per 1,000 square feet. The Target-anchored Village was planned at 3.4 per 1,000 overall. Headwaters is asking for 5.36. Without the variance, the report says, the center would need to cut about 25,000 square feet of building space to make room for more parking. That is roughly the size of the T.J. Maxx space.
On Aug. 25, 2026, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4 to 1 to recommend approval. City staff recommended approval as well, with one recommended condition: an updated site plan with "adequate pedestrian connections between adjacent properties." The report says those connections may encourage visitors to "park in adjacent lots and walk between multiple retail destinations." The final decision went to the Board of Adjustments, which had the variance on its Oct. 6 agenda. The plan also adds 93 parallel parking spaces along Dripstone Trail. Of the public responses received before the report was posted, one came from a Sunset Canyon resident who supported the project and asked for pedestrian and bike improvements.
The turn lane at Canyonwood
Getting in and out of the Headwaters corner is covered by a separate agreement. The City Council's May 19, 2026 agenda included an agreement among the City, Hays County and the Headwaters developer, ME Headwaters REG, for work at US 290 and Canyonwood. The agreement lists the following work:
- A 250-foot southbound right-turn lane on Canyonwood with a 50-foot taper
- An added right-turn signal head
- Signal timing adjustments at the intersection
The planning estimate is $160,000. Hays County reimburses up to $32,160, and the developer handles design, permitting and construction. The right-turn lane serves drivers heading south on Canyonwood and turning onto 290, which suggests the planning is built around trips leaving the center.
Across the highway, Target follows a state construction schedule
The Village at Dripping Springs is a nearly 26.5-acre center from Houston-based developer Property Commerce, and Target is its anchor. Unlike Headwaters, its key dates come from state filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The first filing covers site improvements valued at about $7.5 million, starting May 4, 2026 and finishing Nov. 19, 2027. A second filing, reported by MySA in May, puts the store itself at about 143,695 square feet and $19.3 million, with building work set to begin in February 2027 and wrap up by late January 2028.
The two sites also fall under different rules. Headwaters East is inside city limits, so its parking and pedestrian layout went before Planning and Zoning. KXAN reported in April that, according to officials, the Target property sits outside the City of Dripping Springs' regulatory authority, so city tree and landscaping ordinances do not apply there. In the same KXAN report, Hays County Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith explained where the site's water comes from.
"That property is actually getting its water not from wells, but from the West Travis County Public Utility Agency so, again, that's outside the purview of the county."
MySA lists H-E-B, Torchy's Tacos, Dunkin, Hat Creek Burger, Chick-fil-A, James Avery and OrangeTheory Fitness as existing businesses near The Village. Many residents already make their regular stops there. When Target opens, it will add to an errand route that already exists.
What opened since August sits off RR 12 and down in Driftwood
The new places that opened between August and October are away from the highway, and most of them are small businesses rather than chains.
- Ziggi's Cafe, 28485 RR 12. A Greek spot serving baked goods, pitas and pies. It opened in August.
- The Iron Grind, a food truck parked at Fairlane Cocktails and Coffee, 29035 RR 12. It has served smash burgers, wings and fries since Aug. 7.
- Oakwood Public Market, 2500 Beverly Drive. It reopened in September under new owners, who brought back the existing concepts and added an arcade.
- Drip Haus Barbershop, 27320 Ranch Road, Suite B. It opened Oct. 3.
- Briggs Distilling Co., 121 Brownson Lane in Driftwood. A family-owned distillery that opened Oct. 17 in a 9,000-square-foot space with room for live music and an outdoor patio.
December still happens downtown
The holiday events listed for Dripping Springs this year are downtown and at the historic farmstead. Community Impact's holiday events roundup lists two:
- Christmas on Mercer, Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on downtown Mercer Street. Free, with local retailers, food, children's activities and Santa.
- Christmas at the Pound House Farmstead, Saturday, Dec. 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 419-B Founders Park Road. Vendors, Santa photos, crafts, refreshments and music.
According to the filed schedules, Target's site work is scheduled to finish Nov. 19, 2027, and the Sports Club lists August 2028 for its flagship.
If you own a home near Canyonwood, Headwaters or Belterra and want to think through how these projects could affect your property's position over the next few years, Bridget Ramey would be glad to walk through it with you. Schedule a private consultation.