Verrado Marketplace in Buckeye is open and growing fast. The 500,000-square-foot center sits at Interstate 10 and Verrado Way. Anchor tenants are already running. A new outdoor gathering space called The District is now open. An immersive speakeasy called Emersa arrives in November 2026.
Your front door just got a lot more useful
If you live in Verrado, you know the drive. Groceries, date night, a quick errand — most of it meant getting on the freeway. That changes now. Verrado Marketplace sits at the entrance to the 8,800-acre Verrado master-planned community built by DMB Associates. It is not a strip mall near the neighborhood. It is the thing you pass on your way home.
That location matters for more than convenience. The development carries a $275 million total investment. It is projected to generate more than $50 million in tax revenue for Buckeye. On top of that, it is expected to contribute an estimated $1.8 billion in economic output over the next decade-plus. That money funds city services — roads, parks, public safety — for the whole community. For anyone who bought or is thinking of buying in this part of the West Valley, the long-term calculus just shifted.
The practical benefit is simpler too. You now have a serious local option for shopping, dining and nightlife. No drive into central Phoenix required.
A rendering of the open-air retail and dining area at Verrado Marketplace, showing Shake Shack and the Harkins District monument sign. (Vestar)
The anchors already open: Target, Marshalls, Ross and HomeGoods by the square foot
National anchors Target, Harkins BackLot, Safeway, Marshalls, Ross and HomeGoods all opened at Verrado Marketplace in late 2025. The scale is worth knowing. Target alone takes up nearly 150,000 square feet at the southeast corner of the property. Marshalls, Ross and HomeGoods together fill about 70,000 square feet of discount retail space.
If you have been driving to Goodyear or Glendale for those stores, that trip is done.
Target opened in a nearly 150,000-square-foot space at the southeast corner of Verrado Marketplace. (file photo)
The District debuted Oct. 15: splash pad, live stage and the restaurants open on day one
The District is the outdoor heart of Verrado Marketplace. It opened October 15 with a half-acre community green, a splash pad for kids, and a live performance stage with a large video screen. Dining options surround the green.
On day one, the lineup included SALT, Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream and Shake Shack. Ohso Brewery and Thai Chili also opened around the community green. Food, a lawn, a stage — that combination makes a place a destination, not just a parking lot amenity.
Emersa: the observatory speakeasy built by the team behind 36 Below
The most unusual tenant coming to Verrado Marketplace is Emersa. Josh and Chiara Katz — the owners of Phoenix’s underground cocktail bar 36 Below — are behind the concept. Emersa opens in November. It is an observatory-inspired cocktail lounge. It features 4K VR displays, projection mapping, and controlled light, sound and atmosphere.
The experience runs in timed 90-minute sessions. Image stitching and high-resolution screens shift the visual environment around a central bar throughout each session. The result is somewhere between a cocktail bar and a planetarium — and nothing else in the West Valley does that.
Sip & Stroll and a full events calendar: why this is not a standard shopping center
Vestar runs a Sip & Stroll program at the center. Guests 21 and older can carry alcoholic beverages in designated common areas while they shop or explore. That pairs with a regular schedule of live music, holiday celebrations and community events. A walkable drink-in-hand policy plus a real events calendar — those two things set Verrado Marketplace apart from a standard big-box strip.
What is still coming through the end of 2026
Zara Nails & Spa is opening soon. Vestar leasing and development manager Harrison Cole has said more restaurants, retailers and entertainment concepts are on the way this fall and winter. Verrado Marketplace was built to hold more than 50 date-night dining and shopping options. That build-out runs through the end of 2026.
Want to track what opens and when? See our running coverage of new stores along the I-10 Verrado Way corridor in Buckeye. For a broader Valley view, check what is opening at Tempe Marketplace in 2026.
