Castle Rock is getting a third King Soopers, and the question everyone asks about a third store already has an answer on the record.
Town Council has approved the site improvement plan for a King Soopers southwest of where Dawson Trails Boulevard meets Gambel Ridge Boulevard, on the east side of town near I-25 and the Crystal Valley Interchange. It follows roughly two years of planning, and the store is expected to open in 2027.
No, the other two are not closing
Council members raised the obvious concern, and a representative from Kroger answered it directly at the meeting: the Dawson Trails location is in addition to the existing stores, not a replacement.
"We anticipate the third store will kind of alleviate pressure from the Ridge store and also Promenade. No signs of closure anytime soon."
Tara Vargish, Castle Rock's director of the development services department, made a similar point about the surrounding retail: "This store and fuel station is also surrounded by other stores. They all tend to balance each other out."
What is actually being built
- 100,054 square feet of grocery store, standing no taller than 46 feet, with full cut-off lighting
- 410 parking spaces, plus 15 spaces reserved for grocery pickup and 20 bicycle spaces
- A pharmacy with a drive-up window, on the south side of the building
- A designated pickup area for online orders
- A separate 5,418-square-foot fueling station with seven fuel pumps and a kiosk
The store sits on the western half of the lot, with the main entrance and parking oriented toward Dawson Trails Boulevard. Site access comes from Gambel Ridge Boulevard and Dawson Trails Boulevard; the fueling station is reached from a private street to the north.
The parking math, because someone always asks
Town code would have required just over 500 spaces. The plan provides 410.
Castle Rock's municipal code allows up to a 25% reduction in required commercial parking, and King Soopers asked for 19.5%. The parking study behind the request points to the short-term pickup spaces, online-order pickup hours running roughly 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., home delivery handled out of the Kroger Fulfillment Center, and the drive-through pharmacy — all things that move cars through faster than a traditional grocery trip. Asked whether staff considered the reduced count sufficient, Vargish said yes, based on how the store functions.
The study also argues a smaller lot is the more environmentally sound choice, describing right-sized parking as a step that "reduces the heat island effect created by a vast acreage of impervious asphalt."
What the neighbors got changed
Aaron McLean of Galloway & Company, presenting on behalf of King Soopers, said three neighborhood meetings produced real revisions: architectural elevations were enhanced and site access was adjusted, along with answers on general operations and lighting.
The Twin Oaks subdivision sits above the site, since the grocery store pad is lower than the neighborhood. The Dawson Trails plan requires a 50-foot-wide buffer on the west side of the lot, and the plan adds landscaping on top of that.
A lot that has been waiting since 1986
The site was originally part of the Castle Rock Ranch Planned Development in 1986. It has been rezoned twice in the decades since, which is what made this kind of development possible.
Under the Dawson Trails Planned Development, this parcel falls in the east character area, largely because of how close it sits to I-25, the Crystal Valley Interchange and Dawson Trails Boulevard. That designation calls for higher density and a wide range of non-residential uses — offices, retail, restaurants and other commercial.
McLean said the grocery store is part of a larger development with at least 10 lots. Other tenants expected in the planning area include a restaurant, a coffee shop, a financial institution and a car service. A private drive and a pedestrian-oriented district will be built with the initial phase of the King Soopers development.
What's next
Nothing opens for a while — 2027 is the target. We'll update this article as construction starts and as the other Dawson Trails tenants are announced.
Sources: Town of Castle Rock Council site improvement plan approval and staff report, including remarks from development services director Tara Vargish, a Kroger representative and Aaron McLean of Galloway & Company, as reported by Colorado Community Media, Aug. 27, 2026.