Construction of the regional shopping center, Eastlake Marketplace, at Interstate 10 and Eastlake Boulevard, is coming along.

“COVID hasn’t affected our timeline, but it’s affected some of the retailers,” said Adam Frank, president of River Oaks Properties, who is building the shopping center. “The center will be completed in the next couple of months and then tenants will have a scaled opening. A lot of retailers have delayed opening because of the COVID shutdown of 2020,” he said. The Dollar Tree will be the first store to open in the center in 2021. Other stores coming into the center are Ross Dress for Less, dd’s Discount, Rack Room, and Five Below. “This will be our third location we will be opening with Five Below. It’s a new retailer, and some people really like it,” he said. The store offers various products that appeal to young people, from games and tech accessories to decorative items and pet items. “And then opening shortly will be McDonald’s, Burger King, Whataburger, Cracker Barrel and a lot of other restaurants,” he said. Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s and Pieology also plan to open at the center.

Frank anticipates new retailers opening throughout 2021 and into 2022. The shopping center consists of 252,000 square feet with plenty of landscaping. “It’s a great new area with access to a lot of different directions. We anticipate all the new homeowners from up Mission Ridge, just up Eastlake, to shop there and everyone coming up from Socorro. And it’s the first center as you enter the county of El Paso so we think it will get national traffic driving through,” he said. Frank said he is hopeful Cinemark will continue to open a Movie Bistro in late 2021 or early 2022. The theater franchise put construction on hold because of the coronavirus. “We do anticipate them proceeding,” he said.

María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @EPTMaria on Twitter.