In March, KRDO described the entire west side of Meridian Road between Bent Grass Meadows Drive and Eastonville Road as "under construction — or soon will be." The station also noted that Owl Place, now the spine of the new Owl Marketplace, used to be an unpaved road running from Meridian to a few homes on its west end.
The new tenant names get the attention: a drive-thru Starbucks, an oil change shop, and nearby, Falcon's first Whataburger. The bigger change for daily errands is the route in. This retail is being planned so drivers come in from behind. Meridian Road is the edge of the new commercial area, and the main way in is the Eastonville Road roundabout and a new street called Meridian Park Drive.
The Turns at Owl Place Are Changing
KRDO reported the access plan in March, quoting Al Watson, a representative for the property's developer. The plan changes three turns at Owl Place:
- The left-turn lane from northbound Meridian into Owl Place is eliminated, so drivers no longer cut across heavy southbound traffic.
- Southbound Meridian gets a right-turn-only lane into Owl Place.
- Drivers leaving Owl Place won't be able to turn right onto Meridian.
Watson gave KRDO the reason in one sentence: "It's because the county doesn't want a lot of traffic trying to merge on and off Meridian at the same spot." Under this design, KRDO reported, drivers headed into the new development turn west onto Eastonville Road. A roundabout was recently built there to serve several new businesses, including a King Soopers. That roundabout also connects to Meridian Park Drive, which KRDO called the key access point for customers of the new businesses.
For anyone coming from Woodmen Hills or Meridian Ranch, that puts the roundabout at the center of the area's errand routes. One right turn from southbound Meridian still gets you into Owl Place. Most other trips into the new retail start at Eastonville.
King Soopers Set the Pattern First
The roundabout was there before any of the Owl Marketplace tenants. The King Soopers listed as "Woodman Falcon," at 7530 Falcon Market Pl., opened to the public at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2024, according to FOX21. Its fuel center had 18 pumps and was planned to run 24 hours a day. The store's own listing still shows a fuel center at the same address.
The grocery store was the anchor, and the roundabout was built to serve it. The newer businesses are being added to the same access point instead of getting curb cuts of their own on Meridian.
Dunkin' Is Already on the Back Street
The first business with a Meridian Park Drive address is already open. According to The New Falcon Herald, the Dunkin' at 8035 Meridian Park Drive held its grand opening on May 16, 2026. It was the chain's first Falcon restaurant. In March, two months before that opening, KRDO had reported that Meridian Park Drive was so new it didn't yet appear on most maps because it was still being built.
So the street had an open business within a few months of being under construction. A shop serving Meridian Road traffic now carries a Meridian Park Drive address, and customers reach it from the roundabout side.
The Next Tenants Fill In Around the Corner
The businesses lined up behind Dunkin' are in different stages, and each one has a public record behind it.
| Business | Location | Public record |
|---|---|---|
| Whataburger | Woodmen Road and Meridian Road | Permits issued by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department on August 12, 2026; estimated cost $1.4 million |
| Starbucks, drive-thru | Owl Marketplace | Site development plan approved by El Paso County on August 6, 2026, file PPR2439 |
| Valvoline Instant Oil Change | Owl Marketplace | Proposed in El Paso County file PPR2513; two service bays |
The Whataburger will be the chain's first location in the Falcon area. When KKTV reported the permits in August, there were five Whataburgers in Colorado Springs and one in Fountain.
The county filings show how closely the Owl Marketplace sites are tied together. The Starbucks site plan describes a drive-thru with its own parking and drive aisles, and it states that "utility stubs to be provided with Owl Marketplace development." The Valvoline file lists the same county parcel number as the Starbucks file. According to the Valvoline proposal, the shop would sit on about 0.894 acres, with two service bays, a small customer waiting area and nine parking stalls.
That shared infrastructure explains the lane closures from earlier in the year. In March, KRDO reported that a right-lane closure on Meridian would continue into early April while crews installed a wastewater line on the north side of the construction zone, between Owl Place and Bent Grass. In the same report, Watson said four new businesses, including two restaurants, were coming to the area.
Meridian Got Its Own Fixes for the Older Centers
The existing shopping centers south of Woodmen have been handled differently. They already have driveways on Meridian, so the work has focused on those turns. In December 2025, KRDO reported a project that closed the northbound turn lane into the Walmart center and the southbound turn lane near McDonald's on Meridian, just south of Woodmen Road. The work was scheduled for 15 days, weather permitting, to improve left turns at both entrances.
Goodwill arrived the same season. The New Falcon Herald's December 2025 Friends of Falcon update reported a Nov. 29 grand opening for the Goodwill at Falcon Marketplace, at Woodmen Road and Meridian Road. That means the store reaches its first anniversary at the end of this month.
Put together, the corner now has two access patterns. The older centers south of Woodmen are reached by improved left turns directly off Meridian. The newer Owl Marketplace north of Eastonville is reached from the back, with Meridian access limited to one right turn in.
Bent Grass Would Extend the Corridor North of Woodmen
The next large project sits across Woodmen Road. The Markets at Bent Grass, at Bent Grass Meadows Drive and East Woodmen Road, is proposed as a 43-acre regional retail center with two large anchor sites and 12 smaller commercial lots, according to The New Falcon Herald's October 2026 Building and real estate update. The developer is Evergreen Devco Inc. Citing El Paso County's development plan review, the Herald reported that the project "remains active and under preliminary plan review" as of September 2026.
At 43 acres, Bent Grass would cover more ground than Owl Marketplace's individual sites, where the Valvoline parcel is under an acre. A center that size on the north side of Woodmen would put retail on both sides of the Woodmen and Meridian intersection. It would also bring the same question KRDO's March report raised at Owl Place, which is how a growing commercial area connects to roads that already carry heavy traffic.
How the Corner Works on an Ordinary Weekday
For a resident running errands this month, the area breaks down by approach:
- Groceries and fuel: King Soopers at 7530 Falcon Market Pl., reached from the Eastonville Road roundabout.
- Coffee on Meridian Park Drive: Dunkin' at 8035 Meridian Park Drive, the street the roundabout connects to.
- Southbound on Meridian: under the reported plan, a right turn into Owl Place is the one direct way into Owl Marketplace from Meridian.
- Northbound on Meridian: under the same plan, the left into Owl Place is gone, so the route runs west on Eastonville through the roundabout.
- Walmart center, McDonald's and Goodwill: reached directly from Meridian south of Woodmen, using the left turns upgraded in December 2025.
As Starbucks and Valvoline join Owl Marketplace, they will use the same back-street access that already serves King Soopers and Dunkin'.
Changes like these affect daily routines, and over time they also affect how people value the homes nearby. That includes how close a home is to the roundabout, how long the trip to groceries takes, and which streets get busier. If you own in Woodmen Hills, Meridian Ranch, Paint Brush Hills or elsewhere near this corner, The Lauber Group can show you how recent sales nearby reflect the new retail. Start with Get Your Home Value, and Chad or Todd will follow up with what they're seeing in your part of Falcon.
