Walmart has bought nearly 20 acres of land between Highway 16 and 12th Street in Emmett, Idaho, clearing the way for the retailer's first-ever store in the small Gem County city. The purchase will anchor a new commercial development called Longhorn Station, bringing a Walmart supercenter-style store, a fuel station, and a cluster of other retail tenants to a stretch of land just off the highway.
According to BoiseDev, the store will anchor the Longhorn Station development from Rocky Mountain Companies, and Walmart also plans to build its own fuel station on the property. Marketing materials from Rocky Mountain Companies, the developer behind the project, list the exact address as Highway 16 and East 12th Street and name Walmart as a co-tenant alongside Washington Trust Bank, a Cobblestone Car Wash, and what the firm describes as nine additional retail pads, according to Rocky Mountain Companies' property listing.
Camille Lothrop, speaking for Rocky Mountain Companies, confirmed that Walmart will build its own gas station on-site, per the same BoiseDev report. That would make Emmett the latest Treasure Valley community to get a dedicated Walmart fuel station, a format the company has used at other Idaho locations for more than a decade.
Emmett Joins a Crowded Treasure Valley Grocery Market
This will be Emmett's first Walmart, with the nearest existing location currently sitting in North Meridian off Ten Mile Road, BoiseDev reports. The company already operates nine supercenters and one neighborhood market across the Treasure Valley, including a store in Ontario, so the Emmett project would extend that footprint further west.
Walmart isn't the dominant grocery player in the region, though. Based on 2022 market-share data, the station's report notes Walmart ranks third among Treasure Valley grocers, trailing both Albertsons and Fred Meyer. Social media users following the project on a retail forum pointed out that the site sits close to an existing Albertsons shopping center, with one commenter on retailwatchers.com writing that the new development would practically be an extension of it.
Construction Phases and a Disputed Traffic Signal
Rocky Mountain Companies' listing shows Phase 1 of Longhorn Station, covering lots 1 through 7, has already been delivered and is ready for development. Phase 2, covering lots 8 through 12, is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2027 alongside a new traffic signal, though the two sources describe that signal's location differently. Rocky Mountain Companies says the signal will connect Highway 16 and 12th Avenue, while BoiseDev reported it would go in at the corner of Highway 16 and Foxfire Road.
Separately, a portfolio listing from Specific Space describes the development's fuel station and restaurant as designed in the style of a 1920s train station, a detail that distinguishes Longhorn Station's architectural concept from a typical big-box retail pad.
Retail Demand Across the Treasure Valley Is Tight
The Emmett project arrives amid a broader squeeze on retail space across the region. Vacancy in Ada County sits at about 4.3%, while Meridian's three retail submarkets average a razor-thin 1.2%, according to the Idaho Business Review. Canyon County's overall retail vacancy rate stands at 6.3%, with Caldwell at 6% and the Caldwell Boulevard corridor at 7.5%, while south Nampa's vacancy rate is just 0.64% — a stretch one panelist called very, very, very attractive and still very difficult to find space in.
Class A retail rents for new construction in the Treasure Valley have climbed into the mid-$40s per square foot, the outlet also reported, up from the high $20s in recent years. A panelist at the same event noted that anchor-tenant retail projects, including those anchored by grocery stores, tend to be relatively easy to finance — a dynamic that could help explain why a project anchored by a major retailer like Walmart is moving forward even as space tightens elsewhere in the region.
Walmart's Fuel Station Track Record in Idaho
Walmart has operated gas stations in Idaho since 2010, including one at 5875 E. Franklin Road in Nampa, according to the Idaho Statesman. The company opened gas stations at three of its Boise and Meridian supercenters back in March 2017. More recently, Walmart has proposed a new fuel station at 155 S. Middleton Road in south Nampa, which BoiseDev reported would include a canopy, service station, and trash enclosure next to a Walmart Neighborhood Market the company already owns and operates nearby.
News of the Emmett purchase was first detailed by The Sun, which reported on Walmart's acquisition of the roughly 20-acre site as part of the retailer's broader expansion plans. Specifics such as the proposed store's square footage, a construction timeline, an opening date, and whether construction has begun have not been confirmed.
