Far-north Buckeye’s Festival Ranch community may finally be getting its own full-service grocery store, as Pederson Group pitches a Safeway-anchored shopping center for the area. Branded as Festival Ranch Marketplace, the roughly 114,000-square-foot project is planned near Sun Valley Parkway and Canyon Springs Boulevard and is aimed at giving nearby residents basic shopping options a lot closer to home.
According to the project’s marketing materials, Festival Ranch Marketplace is positioned as an “upscale,” 114,000-square-foot center with shop spaces ranging from about 1,000 to 16,000 square feet, plus pads for restaurants and service tenants. The brochure bills the site as the first retail center serving the immediate trade area and leans heavily on strong housing growth in Festival Ranch to sell the concept to prospective tenants. Those details appear in the Festival Ranch Marketplace brochure.
City Notes Early Plans
The City of Buckeye has already listed Pederson Group’s concept in its business-development news feed, a sign that the project is on the city’s radar even before formal applications move forward. The item shows up in the city’s online news list; see City of Buckeye.
Developer’s Pitch on Demand
The developer’s leasing pitch leans on projected rooftops and income. The marketing flyer pegs the trade area at about 6,535 households in 2026, growing to more than 11,000 by 2030, with a projected 2026 average household income above $130,000. It also argues that the center would be the closest grocery option within roughly an 11.5-mile driving radius, which Pederson Group says helps justify a full-service anchor tenant. These figures are outlined in the Festival Ranch Marketplace brochure.
Buckeye’s Retail Boom
Festival Ranch Marketplace is the latest in a series of big retail plays in Buckeye. The proposal follows Vestar’s 500,000-square-foot Verrado Marketplace, anchored by Target, Safeway and Harkins BackLot, which has opened or is opening in the same general corridor as new homes continue to march west. ABC15 has tracked those openings and the broader wave of national chains chasing the city’s rapid growth.
What’s Next
For now, Pederson Group is actively marketing shop spaces and pad sites while the project awaits formal city filings, lease deals and approvals that will ultimately determine when construction can start. The plans were first reported by the Phoenix Business Journal on June 29, 2026. Residents curious about when a closer grocery run might become reality should keep an eye on Buckeye planning-board agendas and city notices for official applications and hearing dates.
