North of Grapevine Mills, between Grapevine Mills Boulevard and Grapevine Mills Parkway, there are 28.7 acres of open land that have sat vacant for years. Inside the mall, the past few months have brought a steady run of new storefronts. These two things are connected. The mall's owner has a say in what can go up next door, so Grapevine's last large commercial tract is being built to send people into the mall.
The fall openings inside the mall
Grapevine Mills opened on Oct. 30, 1997. Its interior was renovated in 2016 and the food court in 2019. Since late summer, Community Impact has tracked these arrivals along the corridors:
| Store | Suite | What it sells | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timberland | 416 | Waterproof and work boots, casual apparel, backpacks | Aug. 28 |
| Moda | 507 | Women's boots, sandals, heels, bags, hats, jewelry | Sept. 10 |
| Flip Flop Shops | 303 | Olukai, Cobian, Crocs, Havaianas, Birkenstock | Sept. 24 |
| Latte Factory | 341 | Lattes made with locally roasted coffee, matcha, pastries | Sept. 26 |
| Ulta Beauty | 128A | Makeup, fragrance, skin and hair care | Nov. 6 was the announced date |
Flip Flop Shops is the California chain's second Texas store. Latte Factory now has two cafes in the same mall, which a company representative told Community Impact will make things more convenient for customers.
Earlier in the year, Pop Mart moved into the former GameStop space in Suite 501 and opened May 10. The store spent $450,000 renovating that space. A few doors away, Daiso closed its Suite 311 store on Aug. 30. One store closed, four opened, and Ulta Beauty set Nov. 6 as its opening date. Most of the new stores sell things people come back for, like boots before winter, a coffee stop and beauty refills.
Bubble Planet set the tone for this round of leasing. The immersive attraction, run by Merlin Entertainment, opened Oct. 23, 2025 with 11 interactive rooms. Before it opened, the mall's general manager, Szymaszek, expected it to draw 250,000 to 300,000 people in its first calendar year. The mall also spent $125,000 on a new cut-through beside it so shoppers could take a shortcut across what Community Impact calls a "1-mile-long destination."
Why the land next door had so few options
Two limits shaped what could go on the acreage north of the mall.
The first limit comes from Simon Property Group, which owns the mall. The surrounding land carries deed restrictions that date to the mall's original development. At a July 2024 joint meeting of the Grapevine City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission, Trammell Crow Company said it had worked with Simon on those restrictions and that the most recent one had been lifted at the beginning of 2024. Community Impact reported in September that Trammell Crow paid Simon to loosen the restrictions. Even so, Grapevine planning director Erica Marohnic said uses that would compete with the mall are still limited. A big new retail center across the street from Grapevine Mills was never really an option.
The second limit comes from DFW Airport. Its published noise study makes some types of housing incompatible with the area. "Through that zoning district and all the permitted uses, you get to a point where you're just striking through single-family," Marohnic told Community Impact.
That left a short list of possible uses: hotels, apartments, restaurants and services that don't compete with the mall. The city also has very little land left. Marohnic said about 4% of Grapevine's land is still available to develop. At the 2024 hearing, Mayor William D. Tate explained what he wanted out of the site, as Community Impact reported:
"This is the last real commercial tract we have. What you are proposing is going to produce very, very little sales tax. The hotel, I could vote for that but I can't see me voting for anything else."
So Simon limited what could compete with the mall, the airport noise map ruled out single-family homes, and the city wanted tax revenue. Hotels met all three conditions.
Three decisions in under two years
Grapevine Village went through three public decisions before it was approved, and each new version leaned harder on hotels.
- July 16, 2024. Trammell Crow proposed 296 multifamily units, a six-story Sandman Signature hotel with 249 rooms, and a third lot for a future second hotel. The Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council each voted 7-0 to deny it. Council and commission members also raised concerns about parking and the townhome design.
- May 19, 2026. A revised plan with up to 248 multifamily units and a 222-room Sandman Signature was denied.
- June 2, 2026. The council approved the project unanimously. The developer said later phases could bring the site to 750 hotel rooms across three hotels.
The approved plan is expected to bring in more for the city than the one it rejected. Joel Behrens of Trammell Crow put the projected tax impact at $2.9 million a year, compared with $1.8 million for the 2024 proposal that had more apartments and fewer hotel rooms. Plans for the Sandman Signature include a 275-seat full-service restaurant and 4,000 square feet of banquet space.
State construction filings show the timeline. The hotel at 3400 Grapevine Mills Blvd. N. has an estimated cost of $30 million and an estimated construction window of Nov. 15, 2026, to Nov. 15, 2028. The apartments at 2800 Grapevine Mills Parkway are planned as 11 buildings at an estimated $38 million, with construction estimated from Feb. 1, 2027, to Feb. 1, 2028. If those dates hold, hotel work starts on the field this holiday season and the first guests arrive around the 2028 holidays.
The mall wants more visitors
The mall has been open about why the hotels matter to it. "The addition of new hotels and residential options will bring more visitors and neighbors to the area, benefiting our retailers, attractions and the broader community," Andrea Taylor, the mall's director of marketing and business development, told Community Impact.
The mall's own edges show why foot traffic matters. Several outparcels around the mall belong to other owners, and some have been empty for a long time, including the former Chair King, Daylight Golf and Golden Corral sites. At a luncheon in September 2025, Szymaszek told Community Impact that "we need to either look at buying some of those parcels back and redeveloping them or trying to figure it out." He added that he hoped more visitors from Dig World and Bubble Planet would "energize those [empty] spots." One outparcel has already filled. Pollo Regio opened May 10, 2024, in a former Steak 'n Shake that had been empty since 2019. Dig World, the construction-themed park, is across the street at 2200 W. Grapevine Mills Circle.
Szymaszek also mentioned smaller fixes. Some of the artwork at the entrances is easy to recognize, like the bluebonnets and the football. The piece by Round1 is harder to read. He said he worked at the mall for four years before he learned it was a wine barrel. Redoing each entrance is priced at about $1 million, so those updates will take a while.
Hotel guests help pay for the Christmas festival
Hotels also matter to people who live here and never book a room. Grapevine charges a 7% local hotel occupancy tax on top of the state's 6%, for 13% in total. The city uses that revenue to promote events such as Christmas Capital of Texas and Main Street Fest.
The city's own figures show how much that revenue has grown. Hotel occupancy tax revenue fell to $11.72 million in fiscal 2019-20. It reached $24.57 million in fiscal 2023-24 and was $23.51 million in fiscal 2024-25. Grapevine has just under 6,000 hotel rooms across more than 20 hotels, according to the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau. The 750 rooms planned for Grapevine Village would add roughly one more room for every eight the city has now. Joe Thompson, managing director of sales, services and facility revenue management, said the Sandman Signature's meeting space will help Grapevine compete for large citywide conventions that are usually based at the Gaylord Texan Resort.
Marohnic also said city officials have seen people from the area book two or three nights at a Grapevine hotel and take day trips from there.
Holiday hours at the mall this year
Grapevine Village is still a field for this year's holiday shopping. Here are the dates to know at the mall, from Simon's posted hours and event listings:
- Santa photos: Nov. 13 through Dec. 24 at Entry 4, between Clarks and Pop Mart.
- Thanksgiving, Nov. 26: Closed.
- Black Friday, Nov. 27: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Christmas Eve, Dec. 24: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Christmas Day, Dec. 25: Closed.
On Black Friday morning, the new stores are a good place to start: Timberland in Suite 416, Flip Flop Shops in Suite 303, and the second Latte Factory in Suite 341.
The Pistana Group follows these council votes and construction filings closely for our Grapevine and Colleyville clients. If you're wondering how Grapevine Village or the next outparcel deal could affect your home's position on the market, request a Premium Listing Consultation and we'll go through it with you.
