Whole Foods-Anchored Shopping Center Breaks Ground at Bruce B. Downs and Aronwood

Construction crews have broken ground on Wesley Chapel Station, a 75,968-square-foot shopping center anchored by a Whole Foods Market at the corner of Bruce B. Downs and Aronwood boulevards. Atlanta-based developer SJC Ventures expects the first stores to open in the second quarter of 2027, giving Wesley Chapel a dated timeline for one of its most anticipated retail projects.

The Whole Foods store will measure 35,518 square feet, making it the center's anchor tenant by a wide margin. SJC Ventures has also locked in a lineup of fast-casual and specialty tenants that skews toward food and wellness: PopUp Bagels, CAVA, Naked Farmer, Petfolk and The Tox have all signed on, along with a nail salon. About 15,000 square feet of space remains available, meaning a handful of storefronts are still up for grabs as leasing continues.

Next door, on an adjacent parcel, SJC Ventures is also building an 85,000-square-foot Life Time Fitness club. The two projects together will reshape a stretch of Bruce B. Downs that has seen steady residential growth but has lacked a grocery-anchored shopping center of this scale.

What's going in next to Whole Foods

The tenant list gives a sense of the center's direction: quick bites, pet care and personal wellness rather than big-box retail. CAVA and PopUp Bagels bring two of the fastest-growing fast-casual chains in the country to the corridor. Petfolk, a veterinary and pet wellness brand, and The Tox, a wellness concept, round out a lineup aimed at daily errands and routine visits rather than destination shopping trips.

• Anchor: Whole Foods Market, 35,518 square feet
• Total center size: 75,968 square feet
• Committed tenants: PopUp Bagels, CAVA, Naked Farmer, Petfolk, The Tox, a nail salon
• Available space: about 15,000 square feet
• Adjacent project: 85,000-square-foot Life Time Fitness
• Expected opening: second quarter of 2027

That stretch of Bruce B. Downs has filled in quickly over the past several years with rooftops, and the intersection with Aronwood sits close to existing neighborhoods that have had to drive farther out for a full-service grocer with Whole Foods' range of prepared foods, bakery and specialty departments. The 2027 opening window means residents will be watching construction progress for more than a year before the doors open.

SJC Ventures has not announced individual opening dates for the smaller tenants, and the identity of the remaining 15,000 square feet of available space has not been released. The next milestone to watch is vertical construction on the Whole Foods building itself, which will likely be the clearest sign of how close the center is to opening.

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