Aubrey’s future Walmart development is already beginning to attract more restaurants — and now Popeyes is joining the lineup.
A new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is planned at the northeast corner of U.S. Highway 377 and Spring Hill Road/FM 428, according to construction records filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Plans call for a 2,560-square-foot, ground-up restaurant with an estimated construction cost of $1.4 million. The project has already reached Review Complete status. Construction is currently scheduled to begin October 1, 2026, with completion targeted for June 30, 2027.
That completion date represents the construction schedule, however, and should not be considered an official opening date.
But Popeyes is only one piece of what’s coming to this corner.
Walmart is bringing a major new anchor to Aubrey
Earlier this year, the City of Aubrey officially announced plans for a new Next Generation Walmart Supercenter at the same northeast corner of US 377 and Spring Hill Road.
And this won’t be a small store.
The agreement calls for a Walmart measuring at least 150,000 square feet on approximately 18 acres, representing an estimated $40 million private investment in Aubrey.
The announcement finally put a name to the large grocery anchor that had appeared on commercial development plans for the property.
Those plans show the anchor surrounded by 12 additional commercial lots, creating room for restaurants, retail and other businesses around the future Walmart. Venture Commercial is currently marketing the US 377 and Spring Hill Road pad development, which totals approximately 27.24 acres.
Now Popeyes gives us another indication that those surrounding pads are beginning to attract tenants.
Aubrey expected Walmart to spark more development
In fact, that’s exactly what city leaders said was beginning to happen.
Following Walmart’s property agreement, Aubrey Mayor Chris Rich said interest in the surrounding area had “noticeably increased,” with businesses and restaurants beginning to explore opportunities around the new anchor.
The Popeyes filing gives Aubrey another restaurant project at precisely the intersection where that commercial growth is planned.
There’s also transportation infrastructure involved.
The city says plans are being developed for a future collector road connecting Highway 377 with Spring Hill Road, including a signalized intersection. That road also appears on commercial development plans for the property and would help move traffic through the larger retail area.
And there will be plenty of new rooftops nearby to support all of it.
Highpointe Ranch is growing right behind it
Immediately behind the commercial development is Highpointe Ranch, one of Aubrey’s major residential projects.
The City of Aubrey’s comprehensive plan identifies Highpointe Ranch Residential with approximately 1,450 planned units at buildout, while separately identifying a Highpointe Ranch Commercial component along the highway.
That’s important to the bigger story.
This isn’t simply Walmart and Popeyes appearing at an isolated highway intersection. Aubrey is adding a substantial residential population directly behind the commercial property, while new retail and restaurant sites develop along US 377.
The commercial plan you’ve probably seen floating around online makes that relationship especially clear: the future anchor occupies the center of the project, commercial pads wrap around it, and the growing Highpointe Ranch community sits immediately behind everything.
In other words, the rooftops and retail are arriving together.
Popeyes would add another chicken option to the US 377 corridor
The new restaurant also appears poised to become Aubrey’s first Popeyes within the city itself.
There is already a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen along US 380 in neighboring Cross Roads, and additional locations operate in Denton and surrounding communities. But current location results don’t show an existing Popeyes in Aubrey proper.
The new restaurant will bring the chain’s familiar lineup of fried chicken, tenders, wings, biscuits and chicken sandwiches to the growing US 377 corridor.
And given what’s happening around it, Popeyes probably won’t be the last restaurant name we see attached to these pads.
More development is coming to this corner
There’s still plenty we don’t know.
The Popeyes filing identifies the location only as the northeast corner of US 377 and Spring Hill Road, so we’re not going to guess which numbered pad on the commercial site plan will ultimately hold the restaurant.
Likewise, the June 2027 construction completion date does not give us an official opening date.
What we do know is substantial.
Aubrey has secured a 150,000-plus-square-foot Walmart Supercenter. Commercial plans surround that anchor with additional development sites. Roughly 1,450 homes are planned at Highpointe Ranch behind it. And now a $1.4 million Popeyes has reached Review Complete status at the same intersection.
Aubrey officials predicted Walmart would bring more restaurants and businesses looking at this corner.
We’re already starting to see it happen.
Bottom line — Popeyes is coming to Aubrey, but the bigger story may be what’s taking shape around it. The future Walmart development at US 377 and Spring Hill Road is beginning to fill in.