Delaware's new Kroger Marketplace at 1650 Sunbury Road held its ribbon-cutting at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 2. The first 200 shoppers got gift cards worth $5 to $500, and social media showed lines out the door, 614NOW reported. The opening also came well before the mid-2027 completion date projected at the groundbreaking.
The change you notice behind the wheel came earlier. Glenn Road reopened the night of Sept. 18 with a new roundabout at Mill Run Crossing, two weeks before the store's doors opened. On Delaware's east side, the roads have been arriving ahead of the stores, and the biggest stores are the furthest out. Knowing that sequence makes it easier to plan a Saturday errand run now and next spring.
Glenn Road changed first, and it was built for more than one store
The Glenn Road project covered the stretch between Mill Run Crossing and US 36/SR 37. According to the City of Delaware's project page, it widened the road, added turn lanes for the Kroger and Meijer entrances, built the roundabout at Mill Run Crossing and extended Nutter Farms Lane west to meet it. Nutter Farms Lane now runs through between Glenn Road and Davidson Lane, which gives drivers a new east-west link that didn't exist this summer.
The roundabout came out of the Kroger deal itself. In May, City Engineer Johnathan Owen told council that the city's community reinvestment area incentives for the development had helped pay for the land needed for the roadwork, Delaware Source reported:
"[The agreements] were for the express purpose of incentivizing or inducing the development to upgrade Glenn Road. Not just for what the development needed, but for the broader city purpose of constructing this roundabout."
The city's direct cost was buying right-of-way from six nearby parcels, which Owen estimated at about $17,282. Council passed emergency legislation so the roadwork would finish in step with Kroger's building schedule. The closure that followed took 60 days and detoured traffic onto Curve Road, Lackey Old State Road and US 36/SR 37. As of the city's Oct. 1 engineer's report, only minor roadside work remained, with minimal traffic impact.
The new Kroger adds a store. Your usual one is still open.
The Marketplace format is much bigger than a standard Kroger. The Sunbury Road store covers more than 118,000 square feet, cost $33 million and employs more than 200 people. Inside are a bakery, deli, meat and seafood counters, sushi, a cheese shop and apparel, and outside is a fuel center. It's open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
From the start it was planned as Delaware's third Kroger, not as a replacement. When NBC4 covered the plan in April 2025, it listed the two existing stores at 1840 Columbus Pike and 801 N. Houk Road. Kroger's store locator still lists the Houk Road store with daily hours. The new store went up on farmland next to Glennwood Commons, not on the site of an older store.
| Kroger in Delaware | Address | Status as of late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Kroger Marketplace | 1650 Sunbury Road | Opened Oct. 2, 2026 |
| Houk Road | 801 N. Houk Road | Still listed with daily hours |
| Columbus Pike | 1840 Columbus Pike | Existing store named in 2025 coverage |
The timeline shows how fast it moved. When the Delaware Gazette covered the groundbreaking in fall 2025, completion was projected for mid-2027. The store opened in October 2026, roughly a year after that ceremony.
The Point is the one piece still finishing
The other big project on the east side is The Point, the US 36/SR 37 underpass beneath the Norfolk Southern bridge. It hasn't moved on the same schedule. The project costs $44.36 million, ODOT manages it, and Shelly & Sands holds the construction contract, according to the city's Point project page. At a council meeting in May, the mayor said The Point would open Aug. 27. On July 31, the city posted an update moving completion from Aug. 17 to "later this fall."
According to the city's Oct. 1 engineer's report, crews were taking apart the temporary railroad bridge the week of Oct. 4, with the steel girders scheduled to come off Oct. 8. A crane was set to make four lifts during the day, stopping traffic for about five minutes each time. After that comes the remaining road widening in the railroad right-of-way, and then the whole project area gets its final asphalt surface in overnight work. The same report explains the bumps at manhole covers: the lids sit above the current pavement and will be flush once the final surface goes down. ODOT's project page still lists construction as in progress.
Until it's finished, expect two eastbound lanes and one westbound lane under the bridge, plus intermittent lane closures. The finished design adds dual approach lanes west of the bridge so more cars clear each green light, more turn lanes at Bowtown Road and Ohio 521, a multi-use path on the north side to the 521 intersection and a north-side sidewalk east to Bowtown Road. Some of it is already done. In January the city reported dual eastbound left-turn lanes to SR 521 and dual northbound left-turn lanes from Mill Run Crossing were open.
If you come up I-71, the northbound ramp to US 36/SR 37 has been down to one lane since April 8, and ODOT lists that restriction as running through fall 2026.
What's open, what's next and what's years out
The Kroger is the biggest single opening on the corridor, but it isn't the only one. At the Trailhead Crossings groundbreaking, City Manager Paul Brake said 16 businesses had opened along Sunbury Road in the past year or would open soon, naming a Chase bank, 7Brew, McDonald's and the Kroger. Here's the order things arrive in, based on what has been announced:
- Open now. The Kroger Marketplace at 1650 Sunbury Road, the Glenn Road roundabout and the Nutter Farms Lane extension. 7Brew opened its drive-thru stand at 1424 Sunbury Road in June. Chase lists its Delaware East branch at 1550 Sunbury Road.
- Finishing this fall. The Point's final widening, overnight paving, seeding and landscaping.
- Next spring. Trailhead Crossings phase one, on a lot of more than 10 acres in front of the Seattle House Apartments and across Sunbury Road from City Barbeque. GTZ Properties broke ground Oct. 1, 2026. The confirmed tenants are Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin', Nothing Bundt Cakes, Pacific Dental, Take 5 Oil Change and a national daycare provider that hasn't been named yet. Managing Principal Mitch Goltz told Delaware Source the tenants are aiming to open "some time in the spring, probably May."
- 2028 or 2029. Target, on a 16-acre parcel just east of phase one, with residential development proposed to the north. Goltz called it a "much bigger project."
Trailhead comes with its own road connection, much like the Kroger did. As part of the project, GTZ will extend Biltmore Drive east to reach the new businesses. When it's all built out, Trailhead will cover more than 50 acres, and Goltz puts the total investment at more than $100 million. The Trailhead tenant buildings hadn't started construction as of the Oct. 1 groundbreaking. Goltz said they would begin going up "within the next few weeks," so through November and December you'll likely see the lot across from City Barbeque change faster than any other part of the corridor.
A Sunbury Road that lands Chick-fil-A, Chipotle and a Target has a different selling story than the corridor did two years ago, and buyers will be driving that same Glenn Road roundabout on their way to showings. If you live on Delaware's east side and want to see how this buildout affects your home's value, The Agency Real Estate Group can show you how nearby homes are pricing as Sunbury Road fills in. Get your instant home valuation.
