The Gilmore Is Coming to Val Vista and Germann: A Look at Gilbert's Next Big Mixed-Use Neighborhood

35 Acres at One of Gilbert's Busiest Corners

The Gilmore is a 35-acre mixed-use development at the northwest corner of Val Vista Drive and Germann Road, just off Loop 202 — one of the more accessible, high-traffic corners in Gilbert's southeast. Developer Thompson Thrift is behind the project, which is planned as roughly 200,000 square feet of grocery, retail and restaurant space.

A Safeway-Anchored Retail Core

The retail portion of the development is anchored by a 64,000-square-foot Safeway — a genuinely large-format grocery anchor for a suburban mixed-use project, and the kind of tenant that tends to draw a broader retail mix around it.

Who's Signed On So Far

More than 25 leases had been signed at the project's announcement, including Better Buzz Coffee, Handel's Ice Cream, Jersey Mike's, Sweathouz, Rebel Wine Lounge, Square 1 Food Hall, Nook Kitchen, Phantom Fox Brewery, Level 1 Arcade and Woof Gang Bakery. That's a wide range — coffee, ice cream, sandwiches, a wellness studio, a wine lounge, a food hall, a brewery, family entertainment and a pet-focused retailer — the kind of mix suburban mixed-use developers use to make a project feel like a genuine gathering spot rather than just another strip retail center.

Homes and a Hotel Alongside the Retail

Beyond the retail core, The Gilmore includes 300 luxury apartment homes ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, averaging roughly 1,000 square feet, plus a hotel. Pairing that much new housing directly with a grocery-anchored retail core is a deliberate live-near-where-you-shop layout that's become increasingly common in fast-growing Phoenix-metro suburbs.

The Timeline

The Gilmore broke ground on April 30, 2025. Retail openings are expected in the second half of 2026, with the first residential move-ins targeted for early 2027 — putting the project on a broadly similar timeline to Heritage Park's own 2025-to-2027 buildout on the other side of Gilbert.

What a Project Like This Means for Nearby Construction Debris

A ground-up, 35-acre mixed-use project generates a genuinely large and phased debris stream — site grading and clearing at the start, structural and framing material as the retail buildings and apartment structures rise, and finish and fit-out debris as individual tenants build out their spaces closer to opening. Neighboring residential and commercial properties near Val Vista and Germann may also see a wave of secondary construction and remodeling activity as the area's profile rises — new landscaping, driveway work, and small commercial buildouts often follow a major anchor project like this into the surrounding blocks.

Living Near an Active Mixed-Use Build

Val Vista Drive and Germann Road already carry significant traffic given their proximity to Loop 202, and a large active construction site at that intersection means extra truck traffic, staged material and phased lane closures are a realistic part of the picture through 2026 and into 2027. If your own project sits near The Gilmore's construction footprint, mention that when you call — we'll plan delivery and pickup timing around the same access constraints the site itself is working within.