Meridian keeps changing. See the key housing, retail developments slated for ‘26
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- City issued more than 1,450 building permits last year and gained about 4,500 residents.
- Key developments areas include Ten Mile, where develpoer plans hotels, retail, town homes.
- Costco, Village expansion, Idaho 16 extension and new CTE and infrastructure to drive ‘26.
Does it feel like every time you blink, another row of homes or a big-box store is going up over a former farm field in Meridian?
Meridian issued building permits for nearly 1,200 new single-family homes, 200 apartments and more than 50 commercial buildings, according to the city’s construction reports.
While that’s not quite as high as permitting activity in recent years, some major developments are now poised to transform hundreds of acres of land.
So what should you keep an eye on in 2026?
From hundreds of homes to retail giants and a new school building, here are eight key Meridian developments expected to make headway in the new year.
1. Town homes, Target and more coming to Ten Mile
It’s no secret that the area surrounding Ten Mile Road has exploded in recent years since an Interstate 84 interchange opened there in 2011.
Next up to get in on the boom: a more than 200-acre development that includes plans for two hotels, shops and restaurants, roughly 500,000 square feet of industrial space, and up to 400 town homes at the northwest corner of I-84 and Ten Mile.
Dirt is now moving at the site, said Tommy Ahlquist, the Treasure Valley developer at the head of the project, called The District at Ten Mile.
Two industrial buildings are under construction on the development’s west end, while utility work and roadwork are underway on the piece north of Grand Mogul Drive, Ahlquist told the Idaho Statesman in an interview.
The northern piece is expected to include a 147,000-square-foot Target, according to a letter consultants filed with the city in September and site plans on Ahlquist’s website. Ahlquist declined to confirm if Target is indeed coming.
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It would also include a Life Time fitness center, plans filed with the city show. A national chain, Life Time opened its first Treasure Valley gym in Eagle in spring 2025. But Ahlquist said the Ten Mile center would be the first built from the ground up and would be the chain’s “flagship” Idaho location.
A Life Time spokesperson, Dan DeBaun, told the Statesman in an email that the company has “interest” in Meridian but that it is too early to confirm or comment.
Ahlquist said he also has deals with fast-casual spots like Mo’ Bettahs, Panera Bread and Taco Bell, with more announcements to come. He said he expects to break ground to “go vertical” on the northern piece of the development in June.
A second phase of development south of Grand Mogul would be more “Village-esque,” the developer said, referring to the landmark shopping center, The Village at Meridian.
“All the people that aren’t Ten Mile, that want to be on Ten Mile, are over here with us,” he said. “It’s going to be fun to watch Ten Mile kind of take shape this year.”
2. In ‘SoMe,’ a 2,000-home project moves ahead. Next: Costco
Brighton Corp’s 2,000-home master-planned development is forging ahead in pieces at the intersection of Lake Hazel and Locust Grove roads in South Meridian, or “SoMe,” as the developer markets it.
Most recently, the City Council green-lit the developer’s plan for a 228-home gated subdivision for people aged 55 and over at the southwest corner of Lake Hazel and Locust Grove.
Southeast of the intersection, a 150-acre piece called Apex Zenith was previously approved to include 58 acres of residential land with a medium-high density zoning; 100,000 square feet of retail space; 100,000 square feet of medical or office space; and a big-box store later confirmed to be a Costco.
At a Dec. 12 hearing, the City Council approved a preliminary plat allowing Brighton to build on seven more commercial lots by the planned Costco, which would be the city’s second and the Treasure Valley’s fourth. As of that hearing, a Brighton representative said, road construction was underway for Apex Zenith.
Bill Parsons, a Meridian planning supervisor, told the Statesman by phone that he anticipates Costco “will start construction this year.”
“That is imminent,” he said.
Brighton did not make anyone available to the Statesman for comment. A representative previously told the City Council that the store aimed to open by August 2026.
3. ‘Transformative’: New stores, new look at The Village
Expansion is underway at The Village at Meridian to bring six new buildings and over 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space to the west of the existing center.
“We’re deep into construction,” said Hugh Crawford, the vice president of property management for CenterCal, the developer behind The Village.
Crawford said by phone that the first wave of construction would wrap up in spring or summer 2026, with the goal of opening roughly a third of its stores by the end of the year. Stores are split roughly evenly between restaurants and “great retail, fashion and apparel,” he estimated.
He declined to name tenants, but permits filed with the city show interest from California-based clothing brand Vuori, jewelry brand Kendra Scott and Los Angeles yoga brand Alo.
Crawford said the expansion will give The Village a “totally transformative entryway” from Eagle Road, with a new architectural style but an overall “cohesive” feel.
4. Apartments west of Eagle Road soon available to rent
Permitting for multifamily residential developments in Meridian has “slowed down quite a bit” recently, according to Parsons and the city’s construction reports.
But one multifamily development is now wrapping up construction. Called Delano Apartments, the 84-apartment complex by Corey Barton’s Challenger Development sits at 3850 N. Centrepoint Way, west of Eagle Road.
CeCe Cheney, a communications director for Corey Barton Homes, said in an email that some of the apartments are now available, and that new ones are “coming online in early spring.”
Half a mile south, at 3100 N. Centrepoint Way, another site was previously approved for more than 200 affordable apartments, but developer Devco pulled the plug in 2025, citing financial and other risks. In December, the city approved Studio PBA, a Denver architect’s plans for 213 market-rate apartments there.
Also of note, Elk Ventures aims to break ground in 2026 on the 516-unit Outer Banks development at the southwest corner of Franklin and Ten Mile roads, said a representative, Landon Pilegaard. Pilegaard said by email that construction is expected to take 14 to 16 months, with its first apartments hoped to come online in summer 2027. Plans include 26 town homes.
5. Downtown project revived, with new plans coming
Don’t forget about Downtown Meridian. Union 93, the stalled development looming near City Hall, was bought by Ahlquist and The Pacific Cos. of Eagle in October.
The pair promised to “reimagine” the development, originally envisioned with 350 apartments, according to a news release from Ahlquist after the purchase.
Ahlquist said he expects to submit new plans to the city in the next six months for approval. In the meantime, he said, the developers are cleaning up the site, repairing its fencing and adding signs.
Josh Evarts, a Meridian business owner and development manager for The Pacific Cos., told the Statesman that parking could be a priority in future plans.
6. NW Meridian is next ‘area to watch’ for new homes
Northwest Meridian may not yet be as crowded as Eagle Road or Ten Mile, but a boom is coming, Meridian officials say.
Bolstered by the Idaho 16 extension-in-progress, developers have eyed hundreds of acres of nearby farmland, submitting plans that could bring almost 3,500 homes to the area.
Parsons, the Meridian planner, noted that “it may be some time before we see development” west of the Idaho 16 extension between Chinden and Ustick roads. But Parsons emphasized that it’s a “new area to watch.”
A $26 million sewer lift station is in the works to bring needed infrastructure for development to follow. It’s expected to wrap up by the end of the year
National luxury-home builder Toll Brothers got the city’s OK in July to build nearly 700 homes, including 71 town homes, and 60,000 square feet of commercial space at the corner of Ustick and McDermott roads. Becky McKay, the owner of Engineering Solutions, who headed design of the project, told the Statesman that the developer plans to start on its own sewer extension in February and hopes to start other site improvements six to eight months after.
“Vertical” construction of homes is further out, McKay anticipates, in spring or summer 2027.
7. Transportation: New freeway, highway overpass, more
As development persists, the pressure will be on infrastructure to keep up.
Idaho 16 is on track to open in 2027, according to Jill Youmans, an Idaho Transportation Department spokesperson. Youmans said by email that ITD will wait to open the freeway until the “full corridor is complete, which allows crews to work more efficiently and helps keep the overall construction timeline on track.”
But construction, including of a new Flying Wye-like interchange at I-84, will be “visible” throughout 2026, Youmans said. Once complete, the extension is expected to reduce north-south commutes by almost half.
Youmans encourages drivers to keep an eye out for changes on Eagle Road, where new variable speed limits are expected to go live in the next month or so; and Linder Road, where work on a $24 million overpass over I-84 is expected to start this summer. The Ada County Highway District will build the overpass.
8. New career-technical building, new school sites
In the West Ada School District, a new career-technical education, or CTE, building at 335 S. Locust Grove Road is anticipated to come online by the end of the year, according to district spokesperson Michelle Edmonds. The school district acquired the building and an adjacent one-acre lot for $12.8 million, Edmonds said.
The building will be renovated in a first phase over the next year or so to launch a new program in power-sports equipment, as well as expand existing programs in residential construction and welding, according to Will Schumaker, West Ada’s director of CTE. Later expansion would follow.
In preliminary-application filings with the city, developers have hinted at possible future West Ada schools: one at the northeast corner of Ten Mile and Victory roads, and another west of Locust Grove Road in the Brighton Pinnacle development.
Edmonds did not confirm these plans and said timelines of any potential schools would depend on funding. “The school district is always looking ahead on land use for possible new schools, but without funding, the buildings obviously cannot be built,” she said.
“I can tell you that West Ada has overcrowding in schools in both the north part of our district and the southern portion,” she added. “The Board of Trustees would ultimately decide what and when to build and their first priority (according to policy) is to ease overcrowding.”
