If you live off Sisk Avenue, you already know the rhythm of Oxford Commons. Coffee run past Chick-fil-A East, a Malco matinee, an evening walk that ends at Fox Pizza Den because the kids voted. What you may not have registered is how much of that rhythm is about to change in a single calendar year. Between the boutiques already unlocking their doors and the anchors breaking ground, 2026 is the busiest twelve months this master-planned community has seen since the Chick-fil-A at 800 Sisk opened in August 2024.
The through-line is easy to miss when the announcements arrive one press release at a time. Taken together, the changes point in one direction: Oxford Commons is finishing its transition from a convenience strip on the east side of town into a self-contained daily-life district. The tell is the grocery.
The Sullivan's Move Is The Real Headline
For eighteen months, the plan on the books had Sullivan's Marketplace going up in Colonnade Crossing off Highway 30. The Oxford Eagle reported in March that developer David Blackburn has moved the 35,000-square-foot store onto the Ed Perry Boulevard frontage road inside The Summit at Oxford Commons instead. The site plan for that Colonnade Crossing store was originally approved back in September 2024, then went quiet.
If you have been in Oxford long enough to remember when the closest full-service grocery run from Sisk meant a drive to Kroger on Jackson Avenue West, that relocation matters more than any restaurant on this list. A grocery anchor changes foot-traffic patterns for every retailer around it. It also finishes what the master plan started when 1,189 homes were platted between The Preserve, The Heights, and The Pearl: a neighborhood where the weekly errand loop stays inside the neighborhood.
What's Actually Landing On Sisk
The Sisk Avenue corridor between Chick-fil-A and Chipotle is where the pace is most visible. Three separate projects are stacked on adjacent lots.
- Dutch Bros. The drive-thru coffee chain is set to break ground in spring 2026 next to Chipotle. It is the first Dutch Bros location in Oxford.
- Whataburger. The Texas burger chain has the next lot over on Sisk and is expected to break ground in early summer. Many of its locations run 24 hours, which would give the east side of town an all-night option it has not had.
- Citizens Bank. A two-story branch is going up on 1.2 acres at the southwest corner of Sisk Avenue and Commonwealth Boulevard, across the street from Chick-fil-A. The Oxford Planning Commission approved the site in late 2024, and Blackburn told the Eagle in March that groundbreaking was expected inside the next 90 days.
Three parcels, three brands, one stretch of road. If you drive Sisk daily, plan for construction detours through the summer and a very different skyline at that intersection by football season.
The Terrace Keeps Filling In
The Terrace shopping center, which already houses 20/20 Lux Spa and the Oxford Commons Design Center, has two new tenants confirmed for 2026.
Baskin-Robbins opens next to the Design Center this summer. It is a small footprint, but it is the first dedicated ice cream shop in walking distance of The Preserve, and it will read as an easy after-dinner destination for the Della Davidson Elementary and Oxford High School crowds.
Able Mabel opens next to 20/20 Lux Spa in late summer. Developed by the Newcomb family, the shop specializes in pre-made casseroles, cakes, and pies. It is the kind of business that a full-service grocery store makes viable, which is another reason the Sullivan's timing matters.
Already open in The Terrace and worth a first visit if you have not stopped in: Fran, a women's boutique that opened in late February as a sister store to Jane on the Square. Visit Oxford covers Fran alongside College Corner at 825 Sisk Suite 105 for Rebel gear, H Squared for apparel, and Gift Bar for the sort of hostess-gift trip that turns into three purchases.
The Pearl Side: Food And Small Retail
Two buildings in The Commons at Oxford Commons, sitting just in front of The Pearl residential development, are nearly complete. Frank Dyer, the broker with Gill Properties handling the leases, confirmed four signed tenants last spring.
The one to circle on your calendar is Aplós Simple Mediterranean. Owner Alex Eaton is bringing his third Mississippi location to The Pearl in late spring or summer 2026, joining the Jackson and Ridgeland flagships. Oxford has plenty of Southern and student-priced options. It has had very little in the fast-casual Mediterranean category, and Aplós fills that gap right at the front door of The Pearl.
Sharing the building with Aplós:
- H Squared, the women's apparel store from Ole Miss alumna Haley Kelly. She opened her first shop in Cleveland thirteen years ago, and Oxford is location number two.
- Legally Tan, a spray-tan studio.
- A Pilates studio and juice bar are also expected in the same building once leases finalize.
An established Oxford business is joining them: Magnolia Soaps is relocating from its current spot to The Commons at Oxford Commons.
The McDonald's Corner And The Tractor Supply Effect
The lot next to Tractor Supply, where a former daycare building sat empty, is going to McDonald's. Construction begins this summer, per Blackburn. That corner has been dead space for years, and the parcel activates the north end of the development in a way that pairs with the busier south end around Chipotle and Chick-fil-A.
Read the map now and you can see what is happening. The old logic of Oxford Commons was two poles, Chick-fil-A on the south, Tractor Supply on the north, with quiet asphalt between them. The 2026 build-out fills that middle: coffee at Dutch Bros, a burger at Whataburger, banking at Citizens, a full grocery at Sullivan's, and enough small retail on either side of Commonwealth to make the walk between them worth taking.
On Your Radar This Year
Approximate timing, based on developer and operator confirmations to the Oxford Eagle in March 2026:
- Now open: Fran boutique in The Terrace.
- Spring: Dutch Bros breaks ground on Sisk; Citizens Bank breaks ground at Sisk and Commonwealth.
- Late spring to summer: Aplós Simple Mediterranean opens at The Pearl; Baskin-Robbins opens in The Terrace.
- Early summer: Whataburger breaks ground on Sisk; McDonald's begins construction next to Tractor Supply.
- Late summer: Able Mabel opens in The Terrace.
- Longer horizon: Sullivan's Marketplace on Ed Perry Boulevard, plus The Summit Phase 3 mixed-use build-out on the 20 acres connecting Lakewood Hill Drive to Summit Drive.
A Note On Traffic And The Trail
Two practical things to expect. First, the Ed Perry frontage road extension that connects the Summit to Highway 30 is going to change how you leave the neighborhood. If you have been cutting north through Sisk to reach Highway 30, the frontage-road route will be shorter once Sullivan's is under construction. Second, the walking trail loop through Oxford Commons stays intact through all of this. The construction footprints are on the commercial parcels, not the residential greenway.
The short version for anyone who already calls this side of Oxford home: the amenities you have been driving across town to reach are, one by one, moving to your side of Highway 7. The address does not change. The reason to leave the neighborhood does.
If you own a home in Oxford Commons and you are curious how the buildout is affecting resale values in The Preserve, The Heights, or The Pearl, or if you are watching one of the newer sections and wondering whether to move now or after Sullivan's opens, I keep close tabs on how these commercial milestones move the residential market. Reach out through Zach Callicutt to book an appointment, and we can walk through the numbers for your specific street.
