Ellis Village Center Opened Next to the Pool Site South Tracy Has Waited On Since 2006

On Friday, September 4, a line of shoppers wrapped around the new Sprouts Farmers Market on Ellis Town Drive before the doors opened at 7 a.m. City officials, the Tracy Chamber of Commerce, Surland Communities and Regency Centers came for the ribbon-cutting. Mayor Dan Arriola said the new center finished a city goal: shops and services close to residents in the area.

"For the first time, you have incredible commercial development here in South Tracy," he said.

Most coverage of the opening treated it as a grocery store story. The bigger story is the land next door. The Ellis Village Center sits on the north side of the site set aside for Tracy's new aquatic center. That site spent most of the past decade in legal limbo. It came out of court in August, about two weeks before Sprouts opened. The pool planned for it dates to 2006, and the shopping center now open beside it is the first piece of South Tracy's new core to arrive.

Thirteen storefronts, and the order they fill in

Sprouts is the anchor. The store is 23,300 square feet and employs 114 people. It's open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Its address is 2106 Ellis Town Drive.

Craig Ramey, a partner with Regency Centers, told the Tracy Press that all 12 other spaces are leased. He said leasing "took a while" because the team wanted the right mix of eateries, services and banks. Regency's own property page lists no space available. Here is the full lineup by suite, using Regency's unit numbers:

Slice House is the only tenant with a published opening date. Franchisee Ratika Tyagi confirmed to WhatNow Sacramento that the shop opens November 21 at 2050 Ellis Town Drive, Suite 115. The concept comes from Tony Gemignani, a 13-time World Pizza Champion based in San Francisco. The menu covers New York, Sicilian, Grandma and Detroit styles, with gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options. The rest of the center has only a general target. Sam Serpa of Surland Communities said the remaining shops would open "through the end of the year."

For South Tracy households, the mix matters more than any single store. In one parking lot you'll find groceries, a bank branch, a dentist, a haircut, a coffee counter and seven places to eat. That covers most of a weekly errand loop.

Why the land next door took twenty years

The aquatic center was tied to the Ellis development from the start. The idea goes back to 2006, when the city was drafting the Ellis Specific Plan. The council told staff to make the center part of the new development. Here is how the deal moved, as reported in the Tracy Press:

1. 2008. A court threw out the first development agreement because it gave Surland more residential growth allotments than Ellis needed.
2. 2013. A new agreement required Surland to pay the city $10 million and hand over 16 acres. In return, Surland got 2,250 residential growth allotments, which work as reservations for building permits.
3. 2018. Surland had paid $2 million toward design but missed the deadline for the other $8 million. Instead, it negotiated an amendment that put the developer in charge of designing and building the center. Former Council Member Mary Mitracos sued, and the court threw that amendment out.
4. February 2024. The city sued Surland for failing to meet the 2013 terms.
5. August 19, 2026. The two sides settled. Surland releases the 16 acres and pays the $8 million. In return it gets fee credits and reimbursements for public improvements it builds, about $5.1 million of it for storm drainage, recycled water, traffic and water infrastructure.

At the time, the city's public information officer, Kyla Gluckly, said the court was likely to approve the settlement within 30 days. We haven't found a published report confirming that approval yet. Arriola's statement after the council vote described what the deal changes:

"After multiple years of litigation and more than a year of negotiations, the City now has a clear path towards actually constructing the Aquatics Center and securing the $8 million contribution that will support this long-awaited amenity for our community."

Sixteen days later, at the Sprouts ribbon-cutting, Serpa tied the two projects together. "Between the village center and the aquatic center, there's going to be so much life in the community out here," he said. Ramey called the shopping center "an accumulation of 3-plus years of hard work." The pool plan beside it is twenty years old.

What the land next door is set to become

The aquatic center site is at Summit Drive and Corral Hollow Road, at the entrance to the Ellis subdivision. In June, before the settlement, the City Council voted 4–1 to have its consultant, Group 4 Architecture, start detailed designs. The council dropped a proposed indoor recreation pool in favor of an outdoor one. The plan also includes a 50-meter competition pool, waterslides, a lazy river, a toddler pool and a 3,000-square-foot community building.

The cost debate centered on those extras. Group 4's Dawn Merkes put the core pools at $67.8 million against the city's original $65 million budget. Adding the extra features brings the total to $91.4 million. The lazy river alone accounts for $11.8 million and the community building for $6.9 million. Operating estimates assume the center is open 340 days a year, with entry fees between $4 and $8.

The June timeline called for construction documents by the end of 2026, bids in early 2027 and construction starting the following summer. On that schedule, the center would open in summer 2029. That is still the most recent published schedule, and it was set before the settlement. Expect the city to update it once the court signs off.

Until then, South Tracy has the errand side of its town center and not the gathering side. The 13 storefronts on Ellis Town Drive cover groceries, coffee and a weeknight dinner. A public place where neighbors spend a whole Saturday afternoon is still a few years off.

Where the fall calendar still happens

That gap explains why the fall community calendar still runs through downtown and other city venues. These are the 2026 dates on the City of Tracy calendar and the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts site:

• Every Saturday through November 28. The Downtown Tracy Farmers Market runs 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on N. Central Avenue between 6th and 9th streets.
• Saturday, October 10. The Floating Pumpkin Patch at Joe Wilson Pool, 900 W. Lowell Avenue, runs 12:30 to 5 p.m. Pumpkin dives are 12:45 to 1:45 and 2 to 3 p.m.
• Saturday, October 17. Halloween Eve at Tracy Municipal Airport, 5749 S. Tracy Boulevard, runs 2 to 5 p.m. It's free, with candy, games, photos and food vendors.
• Saturday, October 24. Dia de Los Muertos Family Day and the 10th annual Downtown Tracy Artwalk run 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Grand. The community altar and art show stay up through November 2. The free Candy Crawl follows from 2 to 5 p.m. around Central Avenue, 10th Street and 6th Street.
• Saturday, November 14. The Ornament Stroll runs noon to 9 p.m. at Front Street Plaza, 50 E. 6th Street.

The Floating Pumpkin Patch is the city's current pool event, at Joe Wilson Pool on W. Lowell Avenue. If the June schedule holds, an Ellis address will be within walking distance of the next public pool by summer 2029. One week after the Ornament Stroll, on Saturday, November 21, Slice House opens on Ellis Town Drive.

If you're weighing what this new corner means for a home in Ellis or nearby South Tracy, The O'Lanre Collective follows the Village Center openings and the aquatic center's next council steps closely. We can walk you through how each one figures into your plans. Start Your Legacy Journey with a conversation about your corner of Tracy.