There's a Publix at the corner of Valley Ridge Boulevard and Burbank Avenue with a pharmacy drive-thru and a Publix Liquors next door. On the pad in front of it, a Daily's gas station is planned on land split by the Duval-St. Johns county line. Just behind the Publix, on Irondale Road, a salad-and-bowl restaurant opened September 3, and a reformer Pilates studio now has its class schedule up.
Until recently, that corner was not where Nocatee went for errands. Marketplace at Nocatee sits west of Nocatee Town Center along Valley Ridge Boulevard, and the community's master developer calls it Nocatee's newest retail destination. Put this fall's announcements side by side and the corner looks less like a strip center and more like the start of a second everyday center for Nocatee, with groceries, fuel, a fast-casual lunch, fitness, beauty services and eventually an open-air courtyard. Town Center is changing too. Most of its 2026 news involves new tenants in storefronts that already exist.
A Gas Station That Needs Two Counties to Sign Off
The clearest sign that Marketplace at Nocatee is being built from zero is the Daily's. In April 2025, the Jax Daily Record reported that the proposed convenience store and gas station needed approval from both Duval and St. Johns counties, because the county line runs right through the site. Most of the parcel is in St. Johns County. The two counties split the work at the shopping center, with St. Johns reviewing the entry road plans and Duval permitting the buildings.
The plans call for a 6,361-square-foot store with eight pumps, four fueling stations and no car wash, on an outparcel at the southwest end of the center. As of the developer's July 2026 update, the store was listed as "Opening 2026," with fuel, grab-and-go food and drinks, and everyday convenience items. We haven't found a confirmed opening date yet. A project that needed two counties to permit it and a full calendar year to get from plans to "2026" is a reminder that this side of Nocatee is still being built, not repainted.
What's Actually Open Around the Publix
Here's where Marketplace at Nocatee stands as of early October 2026, based on the latest published updates:
| Business | Address | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Publix Supermarket and Publix Liquors | Valley Ridge Blvd at Burbank Ave | Open |
| SoFresh | 75 Irondale Rd, Suite 105 | Opened September 3, 2026 |
| BODYBAR Pilates Ponte Vedra | 75 Irondale Rd, Unit 203 | Open, class schedule live |
| The Nail Boutique Spa | Marketplace at Nocatee | Projected late October 2026 |
| Daily's | Valley Ridge Blvd at Burbank Ave | Projected 2026, no date announced |
| Shores Fine Wine & Spirits | Marketplace at Nocatee | Projected late 2027 |
| The Hub at Nocatee | West of Valley Ridge Blvd South | Planned 2028 |
The developer announced SoFresh as the first restaurant coming to Marketplace at Nocatee. According to QSR Magazine, the Nocatee location opened September 3 at 75 Irondale Road, Suite 105. It's a 1,373-square-foot unit, and its building permit was issued April 9, 2026, so it went from permit to open doors in about five months. The menu is cooked-to-order bowls, salads, wraps, quesadillas and smoothies, with gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian and high-protein options. It also offers online ordering, pickup, delivery and catering.
In the same building, BODYBAR Pilates Ponte Vedra now lists its studio at 75 Irondale Road, Unit 203, with a live class schedule. The developer says the owners live in Twenty Mile at Nocatee. The studio has 14 reformers and a small athletic-wear boutique, and its sister studio is BODYBAR Pilates Mandarin. Its owners live a short drive away, which says something about where this center is pulling from.
The Pipeline Runs Into 2028
The next few openings are the kind of services a neighborhood center adds after the grocery store is in place. Here's the order, using the projected dates published so far:
- The Nail Boutique Spa, late October 2026. A full-service nail salon offering manicures and pedicures plus eyebrow and eyelash services. The developer set that target in July, and we haven't seen a later confirmation.
- Daily's, sometime in 2026. The county-line gas station and convenience store in front of Publix.
- Shores Fine Wine & Spirits, late 2027. About 15,000 square feet of beer, wine, spirits and cigars, plus a wine and cheese bar the developer describes as a casual gathering space for the community.
- The Hub at Nocatee, 2028. The largest piece. It's 63,225 square feet next to the Publix, west of Valley Ridge Boulevard South.
The Hub shows what this corner is meant to become. Tampa-based Center Connect Development announced it on July 6 and has built two similar projects, The Hub at Bexley in Land O'Lakes and The Hub at Lexington Oaks in Wesley Chapel. According to the Jax Daily Record, tenants at those centers include pet groomers, martial arts studios, barbershops, escape rooms, nail salons, a candle bar and golf simulators. Food options there include ice cream shops, sports bars, and Indian, Vietnamese and Caribbean restaurants. The Nocatee site plan puts several retail buildings around an open-air courtyard with outdoor seating, weekend live music and events, and dedicated golf cart parking. The tenant list for Nocatee hasn't been announced, so the two Tampa-area centers are the best preview available. The golf cart parking is the one detail that's clearly made for Nocatee.
On Crosswater, New Names in Existing Spaces
East of Valley Ridge, around Town Center and along Crosswater Parkway, 2026 has had plenty of food news too. Most of it is about who moves in next.
- Easy Açaí is taking over the former Clean Juice storefront east of Crosswater Parkway in Nocatee Town Center. It's expected this fall, with no exact date announced.
- Asado Life signed a lease for 100 Marketside Avenue, No. 301, the old Dick's Wings & Grill space, which closed earlier in 2026. The Jax Daily Record describes it as communal fire grilling built on traditional Argentinian-inspired cooking methods. Nick and Christie Carrera own it, and Nocatee will be their third location after the St. Augustine flagship and a recently opened Downtown Jacksonville spot. No opening date has been announced.
- Salata Salad Kitchen opened April 7 at 641 Crosswater Parkway, Suite B, and held its grand opening April 23, the Ponte Vedra Recorder reported.
Asado Life stands out on that list. A wing bar is being replaced by a fire-grilling restaurant with roots in St. Augustine, in a building that's already there. Town Center doesn't need a county-line permit to change its personality. It just needs a lease.
Firehouse Subs Brings a Hometown Chain Down Crosswater
The east side's most locally rooted opening this fall is a chain that started in Jacksonville. Firehouse Subs plans to open at 1035 Crosswater Parkway in late November. The developer places it at The Corner Markets at Nocatee. Brothers Chris and Robin Sorensen, both former firefighters, founded the company in Jacksonville in 1994 and opened their first restaurant on San Jose Boulevard.
The Nocatee store is going in a few paces from a working St. Johns County fire station. The interior will display firefighting equipment and photos from area fire departments. Joe Puskas, the company's chief mural artist, is painting a custom piece with a local fire truck next to Nocatee's water slide. The exact opening date and hours haven't been announced.
One more Crosswater project is still on paper. A 4,847-square-foot Chick-fil-A with a drive-thru is proposed north of Pine Lake Drive near the Nocatee and Crosswater parkways. As of September, the county application was still under review and no opening date had been announced.
Between Now and Thanksgiving
For the next seven weeks or so, the openings to watch fall on both sides of Valley Ridge. The Nail Boutique Spa's late-October target is close, and Easy Açaí's fall window is open now. Firehouse Subs is aiming for late November. Daily's is the only Marketplace project still holding a 2026 date with no month attached. SoFresh and BODYBAR are the two sure things right now, both at 75 Irondale Road, with SoFresh serving since September 3 and BODYBAR's class schedule live.
This side of Nocatee is changing faster than the maps and listing photos can keep up with, and that affects how a home here is priced and presented. If you're curious how a growing center at Valley Ridge and Burbank might figure into your own plans down the road, Daly N Braxton can walk you through it street by street. Schedule Your Consultation.
