The shopping center at Oracle and Tangerine is filling its empty storefronts with places where people stay for an hour or two, such as indoor pickleball courts, a family pizza parlor with games, and a playground. The fenced-off lots and the 1 a.m. concrete trucks are the second half of the same plan. They are putting several hundred new residents within walking distance of those businesses.
The two changes depend on each other. Each one explains the other, and both trace back to a problem the Oro Valley Marketplace has had since it opened.
A shopping center sized for a larger town
The Marketplace got its approvals in 2006 and was built between 2007 and 2010, right through the recession, according to BizTucson's 2024 history of the center. That same report noted that Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods had closed by July 2024. Red Lobster closed in May 2024 and its building stayed empty for almost two years.
When ground broke on the redevelopment in October 2025, KOLD reported that the Marketplace had been designed for nearly twice Oro Valley's population. KOLD tied the center's high turnover and vacancies partly to that mismatch. Oro Valley Community and Economic Development Director Paul Melcher told the station the center was coming off "a slower-than-expected summer" and still had several empty buildings.
The Town had two ways to close that gap. It could wait for Oro Valley to grow into the center, or it could bring more people to the center. The current plan does some of both, and the tenants who have arrived since fall 2025 suggest which kind of business the Marketplace now expects to attract.
What moved into the empty spaces
Here is what opened or changed at the Marketplace between fall 2025 and summer 2026, based on Town reports, local news, and the businesses' own announcements.
| What | Where | When | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Picklr | 11855 N. Oracle Road | Opened Sept. 20, 2025 | Indoor pickleball club with 11 courts |
| Happy Joe's Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor | 11695 N. Oracle Road, former Red Lobster | Grand opening March 27, 2026 | Family pizza restaurant with games and an ice cream counter |
| Tee Box OV | 11835 N. Oracle Road, Suite 117 | Ribbon-cutting June 2, 2026 | New Marketplace business |
| North Park | Between Walmart and Tuk Tuk Thai | Ribbon-cutting June 23, 2026 | Public park with slides, swings and seating |
| Centre Stage Dance Studio | 11835 N. Oracle Road, Suite 133 | Relocation listed in the Town's July 2026 report | Existing local studio moving into the center |
None of these businesses replaced a big-box store with another big-box store. The Picklr took over a large footprint and uses it for courts. Happy Joe's, which Tucson Spotlight reported is the chain's first Arizona location, set up in the old Red Lobster building as a place for families to eat and play games. North Park is a playground with nearby parking, just west of Tuk Tuk Thai.
Each one gives people a reason to come for an hour or more, and that is the kind of visit the center's restaurants and shops need. A pickleball session, a child's birthday dinner, or an afternoon at the playground keeps people on site in a way a quick errand does not. Centre Stage Dance Studio choosing to relocate into the Marketplace points the same way. A dance studio means families making regular trips, week after week.
For hours at The Picklr, check directly with the club before you go. Its Oro Valley location page and the Marketplace directory list different closing times.
The 600 neighbors the plan is counting on
Activity tenants bring people in from across town. The other half of the redevelopment puts residents directly next to the center.
HSL Properties is building Encantada at Oro Valley Marketplace, 320 apartments south of Tangerine Road. The Town's October 2025 announcement said Phase 1 would include the apartments, safer pedestrian connections, upgraded intersections, and the public park that opened in June. In its July 2026 executive report, the Town projected that the apartments would be finished in September 2027.
Melcher described the reasoning to KOLD:
"You get local shopping, you get walkability, you get all those enhancements from having 600 residents right next to your retail and shopping offerings."
He also told the station the Town hoped the new housing would bring a "youth movement" to the area. He said the center has always needed residents living within it to support its retail and restaurants.
This is why so much of the construction is about walking. The pedestrian tunnel under Water Harvest Way is meant to connect the apartment areas on either side of the road, and KOLD described it as linking the apartments and stores to the rest of the complex. The planned pedestrian safety improvements along Water Harvest Way serve the same purpose. Safe pedestrian access from Encantada to Happy Joe's, The Picklr, or North Park would provide the steady traffic this center has lacked since it opened.
Where the construction stands this fall
Some of the work has passed its posted target dates without a public confirmation that it is done. Here is what the most recent Town material shows as of early October 2026.
- Pedestrian tunnel under Water Harvest Way. The Town's May 2026 project update said the first half was nearly complete and the second half was expected by the end of April. No later Town update confirms the full tunnel is finished.
- Water Harvest Way pedestrian safety work. The same update planned a May start and a mid-September finish, weather permitting. There is no public confirmation yet that it is complete.
- Late-night concrete pours. HSL Construction Services began Friday pours at 1:00 a.m. on January 23, 2026, and expected them to continue periodically for about ten months. That schedule runs into late 2026. The project superintendent's contact information is posted on the Town's project page.
- Surf Thru Express Car Wash. Tucson Local Media reported construction underway when The Picklr opened in fall 2025. No opening date has been published.
- Hampton Inn & Suites. The Town's project page still lists the four-story hotel as approved. It does not show a groundbreaking.
When construction started, the Town said residents should expect lane restrictions and detours on Water Harvest Way, heavy truck traffic, and ongoing work through 2027. Melcher told KOLD the hotel and more retail belong to later phases, and that the Marketplace would stay open throughout construction. The July 2026 report also listed Spirit Halloween as a new business license or permit at the center, a seasonal tenant you may already have seen this month.
The holiday season at the Marketplace
The center's biggest annual event will be held with North Park open and the new tenants in place. The Oro Valley Holiday Festival of the Arts & Tree Lighting Celebration runs December 5 and 6 at the Marketplace. Admission is free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Before then, other events are happening a few minutes down Oracle Road. The Town's Friday night concerts at Steam Pump Ranch, 10901 N. Oracle Road, feature Good Trouble on October 23 and Ones All Band on November 6. Bark in the Park is at the same ranch on November 14, 5 to 8 p.m. The HallOVeen Spooktacular takes over James D. Kriegh Park on October 17, 5 to 8 p.m., with trunk-or-treat, music, and food trucks.
According to the Town's current schedule, the Encantada apartments are due in September 2027. If that holds, this December's festival will be the last one before the apartments are finished.
If you live near Oracle and Tangerine and want to talk through what the Marketplace changes could mean for your street or your plans, Michelle Bakarich and The Bakarich Team are glad to share what we're seeing across Oro Valley. Let's Connect.
