Dutch Bros Coffee is planned for The Shops at Lake Pleasant in north Peoria — making it the first drive-thru coffee of its kind along Lake Pleasant Parkway. The center is owned and developed by Vestar, the largest privately held shopping center owner in the western United States.
Your coffee run is about to get a lot shorter
If you live in north Peoria near the Lake Pleasant Parkway corridor, you already know the tradeoff. The area has grown fast, but the retail and dining options have taken longer to catch up with the rooftops. A drive-thru coffee run has meant heading south or east, deeper into the Valley.
Dutch Bros changes that. It will be the first drive-thru coffee of its kind on this stretch of Lake Pleasant Parkway. That matters on a practical level — a shorter morning commute — and on a broader one. Each new national tenant that commits to a corridor signals to other retailers that the customer base is there. That cycle tends to support home values in areas that are still filling in.
North Peoria is exactly that kind of area. Vestar has pointed directly to the region’s growing population and strong demographics as the reason it keeps investing here. That is not a coincidence for homeowners watching their neighborhood take shape.
A Vestar rendering of The Shops at Lake Pleasant retail strip center in north Peoria. (Vestar)
Where exactly the Dutch Bros is going — and why the location matters
The Shops at Lake Pleasant sits at Lake Pleasant Parkway and Yearling Road. That address is easy to mix up with the adjacent Lake Pleasant Towne Center, which anchors the northwest corner of Lake Pleasant Parkway and Happy Valley Road.
These are two separate Vestar projects. Lake Pleasant Towne Center is a power center spanning 620,000 square feet on 65 acres. The Shops at Lake Pleasant is a smaller, more restaurant-and-service-focused center — 90,000 square feet on 26 acres. Dutch Bros is going into the smaller of the two.
Vestar built The Shops at Lake Pleasant on land acquired from the Arizona State Land Department. The project cost $50 million.
How the drive-thru got approved
The Peoria Planning and Zoning Commission approved the property for two fast food restaurants and an automotive repair user. That approval is the regulatory foundation that makes the Dutch Bros drive-thru possible at this location. Dutch Bros is one of those fast-food pads.
Who Vestar is — and why it matters that they chose north Peoria twice
Vestar is the largest privately held shopping center owner and manager in the western United States. The Shops at Lake Pleasant is their second project in north Peoria, after Lake Pleasant Towne Center.
Companies of Vestar’s scale do not build speculatively. Their continued investment along this corridor — first a 620,000-square-foot power center, then a $50 million neighborhood center — reflects a deliberate read on where north Peoria’s population is heading.
An aerial view of construction underway at The Shops at Lake Pleasant site in north Peoria. (Vestar)
Who’s already open and who’s still coming
The Shops at Lake Pleasant is nearly 100% leased. Three tenants are already open: Raising Cane’s, Over Easy, and Reformed Pilates.
Eight more tenants are still on the way. The announced lineup includes OverEasy, Visionworks, Restore, Cinnaholic, European Wax, Handel’s Ice Cream, Wild Fork, and HonorHealth — alongside Dutch Bros.
The Raising Cane’s grand opening at The Shops at Lake Pleasant drew a crowd — one of three tenants already open at the 90,000-square-foot center. (Shops at Lake Pleasant)
Dutch Bros is known for its drive-thru iced coffee drinks. The brand is set to open its first location on Lake Pleasant Parkway in north Peoria. (file photo)
When Dutch Bros opens at The Shops at Lake Pleasant
An opening date for the Dutch Bros location has not been announced publicly. The center itself is nearly fully leased, and construction activity has been ongoing. As more tenants open and the Dutch Bros buildout gets underway, a timeline should become clearer. Watch this page for updates as details are confirmed.
For more on what Vestar and other developers are building along the west Valley’s growth corridors, see our coverage of the Halo Vista retail and healthcare project on the TSMC corridor in Peoria and the Saddleback Basecamp groundbreaking in Peoria. And if you want to understand how retail investment like this connects to housing values in north Peoria, our Peoria housing market overview has the context.
