Dawson Trails Castle Rock Development, October 2026: The Costco Is Going Up, Exit 179 Is Half Open, and the Interchange Is Now Summer 2027

This is the first of a new tracker. The New in Douglas County editions cover doors opening; this one covers dirt, concrete and council votes, every other Thursday, built from the town's own project reports and the Legistar record rather than renderings. We start on Castle Rock's west side, where most of the county's big money is being spent right now, and we will say "we do not know" wherever the town has not said.

The interchange is the whole story

Everything else on this list depends on a bridge. The Crystal Valley interchange is a full interchange on I-25 at Crystal Valley Parkway: a bridge over the interstate, ramps in both directions, a second bridge over the BNSF tracks and a relocated frontage road. The town's project page puts the cost at about $144.7 million: $53.6 million from the developer, $24 million from Douglas County plus $11 million for the West Frontage Road (which becomes Dawson Trails Boulevard), $8.9 million from the Denver Regional Council of Governments, a $5.4 million federal BUILD grant, smaller pieces from town electric credits and BNSF, and the rest from the town's Transportation Capital Fund.

The first northbound on-ramp opened June 12, by the town's own notice, from the roundabout on the east side. By July 2 all the northbound ramps were open as Exit 179, per DougCo Social's reading of the town's July 2 notice, which the town's website would not serve us today. The southbound ramps are the elevated structures still being built west of the interstate. The town's Third Quarter Major Projects Update, delivered to council October 6, calls the interchange "the Town's top infrastructure priority" and says it "remains ahead of schedule, with completion expected by summer 2027." The project page still says 2027 without a season; the quarterly report is newer and more specific, so summer 2027 is the date we will hold them to. A CDOT-required park-and-ride next to the interchange is "tracking for completion about the same time"; its construction contract went to the Public Works Commission on October 5.

The Costco is real, and still 2027

Two years ago CBS Colorado quoted a 2026 opening for the Costco. That date is gone. What exists now, per the October 6 Development Services memo to council, is "site and building construction" of a 161,000-square-foot retail warehouse with a fueling station on 18.4 acres east of Dawson Trails Boulevard and north of the interchange. The Denver Gazette's account of the 2024 approval had 886 parking spaces, a 16-pump fuel station, a 2027 opening and this condition: "Costco anticipates opening once the interchange is complete." Put the two documents together and the Costco opens no earlier than the southbound ramps do. Anyone telling you spring is guessing.

The King Soopers is the quieter of the two anchors. Council approved its site development plan on August 18 (12.1 acres southwest of Dawson Trails Boulevard and Gambel Ridge Boulevard), and the October memo lists it as "site construction underway" for a 100,000-square-foot store with fuel. A Dutch Bros and a New Horizon Academy daycare (13,000 square feet, 178 children) have both filed pre-application requests in Dawson Trails, which is the step before an application. Neither is approved.

The houses

The October memo counts the housing in one list. Under construction: 256 single-family lots and 13 acres of open space in Planning Area D, and 230 detached lots with a one-acre park in Planning Area B-1, up against Twin Oaks. Approved: 100 townhomes in Planning Area E2 (council, July 7), west of the future Quandary Peak Drive. In review: a 324-unit apartment complex on 12.6 acres southwest of Dawson Trails Boulevard and Blanca Peak Parkway. South of Territorial Road, about 338 acres are being graded, which is not a house but is the shape of the next several thousand. Taylor Morrison lists its three collections as "coming soon," the Destination Collection from the $900s at 2,469 to 4,949 square feet, with 10 miles of trails, two school sites and 35 percent open space promised. Nobody has published a model-home date.

The field house

The Gold Crown Foundation's 83,000-square-foot indoor field house is in site plan review near Dawson Trails Boulevard and Ike Street. Council approved the three-way funding agreement with the county and the foundation on July 21 and, the same night, waived up to $1 million in impact and land-use fees. Douglas County approved $7.5 million on August 4, per DougCo Social's account of the county announcement, which also has the town contributing land valued at about $10 million, the foundation $5 million plus donations, and a remaining gap of about $11.7 million the partners expect to narrow to roughly $2.7 million. Two phases, 81,000 square feet of turf, eight basketball and sixteen volleyball courts at buildout; groundbreaking targeted for April 2027 and an early-2028 opening. If you have a kid in club volleyball, this is the building you have been driving to Aurora for.

Fire Station 156

Northeast rather than west, but the same report. The town's sixth station, on Castle Oaks Drive serving Cobblestone Ranch and Terrain, is "estimated to cost $21 million" in the quarterly update (CBS Colorado reported $21.5 million in April); it pairs a 13,000-square-foot station with a 13,000-square-foot logistics and fleet-maintenance center. Council awarded the construction contract to O-A-K Colorado on March 3, crews broke ground April 16, and the quarterly update has "retaining wall and foundation work" done with the building to "go vertical next quarter." Operational in 2027. Fire Chief Norris Croom told CBS the northeast corner sees 14-to-15-minute response times and the station should cut them "in more than half."

Also in the memo, briefly

• Castle Rock Sports Center: "under construction and proceeding according to schedule, with completion expected in mid-2027."
• The Brickyard: site plan approved and construction underway for a mixed-use project with up to 600 apartments at the south end of Prairie Hawk Drive.
• The Promenade: Lazy Dog's site plan amendment is under review "for revised architecture" at Castlegate Drive West and Promenade Parkway, and Lazy Dog's own locations page still lists 5949 Alpine Vista Circle as coming soon with no date. A 3,380-square-foot Whataburger and a 9,300-square-foot multi-tenant building are in review.
• AdventHealth: the ER and urgent care at Plum Creek Boulevard and Crystal Valley Parkway is in site and building construction. Fall 2026 is still the only target anyone has published.
• Castle Pines, Happy Canyon Road: the city's project page has a $42 million diverging-diamond rebuild of the I-25 interchange ($14.5 million city and developments, $16.5 million county, $11 million CDOT), starting fall 2026 once CDOT signs off and finishing mid-2028, with nighttime I-25 closures for bridge demolition.
• Lockheed Martin: the county's October 8 release has up to 450 jobs over four years in about 190,000 square feet of expanded space at existing Douglas County facilities, with the county rebating its share of business personal property tax. No site, no rebate figure yet.

The data center question

Amelia Thomas, running for mayor, writes on her issues page: "I won't support something like a data center moving into town while we're already facing water constraints." We looked for the project she might mean. There is no matter with "data center" in its title in the town's Legistar record, nothing in the October 6 development memo, and nothing on file that we could find. The nearest real one is Flexential's 249,000-square-foot, 22.5-megawatt building at 15255 Compark Boulevard outside Parker, which DougCo Social lists as under construction with a 2026 opening per the company. So the Castle Rock pledge is a position, not a response to an application. It is still worth knowing where each candidate stands before one arrives. The mayor's race, all three candidates.

Next edition October 29. Tips, corrections and site photos to hello@discoverdougco.com.