"Costco has, is well underway. The demolition of theater is in progress or nearly complete." Lake Forest Planning Commissioner Grama said that during closing remarks at the commission's September 3 meeting, and it is the most recent official word on the project.
From The Meadows at Bake Parkway and Rancho Parkway, the project sits a short drive north at Foothill Ranch Towne Centre. The plans approved this year describe a warehouse that will reshape the weekly bulk-shopping trip. They do not describe one that changes where you fill your tank. The opening date many people have repeated also comes from a statement made before the project's two biggest hurdles.
What Is Actually Coming Down
The building being cleared opened in 1999 as a Regal Cinemas theater. Cinemark was its last tenant, and it closed in September 2024. Patch reported that demolition started the week of August 26, 2026. Orange County resident Brian Le saw the tractors at work while visiting the center.
Le told Patch he had "mixed feelings." He and his wife had gone to the theater before 2020, and he'd assumed they would go back. When he learned the replacement would be a Costco, he said he was "very pleasantly surprised. We're big Costco fans here!"
The site is part of Phase 4 of Foothill Ranch Towne Centre, bounded by Bake Parkway, Towne Centre Drive, Market Place and SR-241. The new warehouse will share that block with the Food Festival, the pad buildings for Chipotle, Islands and Chuck E. Cheese, and the three Towne Centre office buildings. Walmart and PetSmart are just to the north. The center already changed once since the theater closed. Goodwill opened in the former 99 Cents Only space in November 2025.
The Store on Paper, and the Pumps That Aren't There
The city staff report puts the nearest existing Costco about 6.6 miles from this site, at 115 Technology Drive in Irvine. That gap is what the new store closes. For most of what people drive to Technology Drive for, the approved plans offer a closer option.
| In the approved plans | Detail from the city staff report |
|---|---|
| Building size | 161,295 sq. ft. plus a 3,773 sq. ft. entrance canopy, 165,068 sq. ft. total |
| Height | 34 feet maximum |
| Services | Pharmacy, optical exams and sales, hearing center, hot and cold food, alcoholic beverage sales |
| Tire center | About 5,065 sq. ft., five service bays facing east |
| Seasonal use | Part of the parking lot set aside for seasonal sales such as Christmas trees |
| Parking | 913 stalls on Costco's parcel, 2,068 shared across Phase 4 |
| Weekday hours | 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., with 9 a.m. entry for Executive members |
| Gas station | None |
Planned weekend hours are 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, with the same 9 a.m. Executive entry every day.
The empty last row is no oversight. In June 2025, the Orange County Register reported that a January project summary had included a gas station, along with rooftop parking above the store to make up for spaces the fuel center would take. By a May 27 filing, Costco had dropped both and was describing a single-story building, ground-level parking and no gas station. The plans the Planning Commission later approved kept that simpler version. Costco's stores bring in a lot of sales tax, and the Register noted annual sales can run $250 million or more, which helps explain why the city was eager to land the store in whatever form worked on this lot.
The size has a baseline too. A typical Costco is around 140,000 square feet, according to the Register, so the Lake Forest store will be somewhat larger than average. It will be Costco's 14th store in Orange County and the first in Lake Forest.
So the change for The Meadows comes in two parts. The bulk-goods trip, the pharmacy pickup, tire service and the December tree run can all stay close to home. The gas stop that many members pair with a Costco visit will still mean a trip to a store with pumps.
Why the Roads Around Bake Parkway Stay As They Are
Bake Parkway won't look any different once the store opens, and the plans explain why. The traffic study, prepared by Kittelson and Associates for the applicant, found that the existing roads and intersection turn pockets need no changes. Customers will use the existing signalized intersections on Towne Centre Drive at Market Place and at Entertainment.
Bake Parkway also appears in the delivery plan. Receiving trucks will come by way of Bake Parkway to Portola Parkway, then turn into the site at the existing signal at Market Place. The four truck loading bays are on the south side of the building, the side closest to SR-241. Staff expect an average of ten truck deliveries on a typical weekday, most of them outside regular store hours.
The study concluded that all nearby intersections will keep operating above city standards. Costco has still agreed to help pay for traffic signal monitoring and operations equipment in the area. That supports a goal in the city's 2025-2032 Strategic Business Plan to manage real-time traffic conditions and incidents. If traffic gets heavier after opening, the response is meant to come from signal timing, not new lanes.
Not everyone accepted that conclusion. In a February 5 public comment, Foothill Ranch resident Andrew O'Connor raised concerns about congestion and pavement on Bake Parkway, northbound traffic on Portola, turn lanes backing up, air quality from delivery trucks, and parking-lot lights spilling into the neighborhood. A local clinic physician supported the store but worried that Costco shoppers might take parking that patients need.
The Calendar, Read in Order
You may have heard the store will open "by the end of the year." That phrase is in the city's own announcement, but the timing behind it matters. These are the steps so far:
- February 5, 2026. The Planning Commission approves the project. The city says a 15-day appeal period runs through February 23 and that "the applicant has indicated a goal of opening by the end of the year."
- March 17, 2026. An appeal is filed, and the City Council unanimously denies it, upholding the approval. Coverage of the hearing said the dispute centered on the project's vehicle-miles-traveled analysis.
- Week of August 26, 2026. Demolition of the theater begins. City officials did not immediately respond to Patch's question about when the store would open.
- September 3, 2026. A planning commissioner describes the demolition as "in progress or nearly complete."
- September 5, 2026. Costco updates its official New Locations page. Lake Forest is not listed. The California stores on the list are Camarillo, slated for October 2026, and Vallejo, slated for November 2026.
The end-of-year goal dates from step one. Steps two through four came after it, and the first two of those were an appeal and the demolition of a 1999 theater that, in February, was still standing. As of early October, no newer public opening date, building permit or construction start has turned up in the city's news archive, the trade press or Costco's own list. A 165,000-square-foot warehouse is still waiting to go up on a site that was being cleared a month ago. A 2026 opening looks hopeful, and the most reliable sign of a real date will be Lake Forest showing up on Costco's New Locations page.
Errands You Can Run in the Meantime
Some new stores have already opened closer to home. Burlington opened at Hunter Court Shopping Center, 24372 Rockfield Blvd., in a former CVS, and the Register reported its ribbon cutting in the last week of September. The store carries housewares, apparel and more. At Foothill Ranch Towne Centre, Walmart, PetSmart, Goodwill and the Food Festival stay open around the construction site. For warehouse runs, the trip is still Technology Drive in Irvine.
At Ayumi Lewis, we follow projects like this closely because they change the everyday errand map for homes around Bake Parkway, and they come up when homeowners in The Meadows ask what nearby development means for their property. If you'd like to know how the Towne Centre changes fit into your home's value, we'd be glad to put together a complimentary home valuation and consultation.
