What's Coming to Willow Creek and Jenna Lane, and Why Water Sets the Schedule

For Pinon Oaks, the closest new shopping and medical care is being planned north of the neighborhood, at Willow Creek Road and Jenna Lane. Prescott City Council has now given water to both of the large projects there. One is an open-air shopping center of about 371,000 square feet at State Route 89 and Jenna Lane. The other is a Dignity Health Yavapai Regional Medical Center campus with a freestanding emergency department, planned for the northeast corner of Willow Creek and Jenna.

In Prescott, water is usually the hardest approval to get. Both projects asked for more than the city's own rules normally allow, and both received it. With water settled, the timeline now depends on things that have no public dates: tenants, buildings and a wider road.

Where each piece stood this fall

The status column comes from the City of Prescott's September 23, 2026 Private Development Summary. That report lists pad preparation on Jenna Lane, between Willow Creek Road and Highway 89, as underway. It also notes the site's water service was approved at the April 14 council meeting.

A shopping center that needed more than a half-year of water

Prescott sets aside water for new projects in six-month blocks. For January through June 2026, the city budgeted 25 acre-feet per year for new non-residential projects such as shops, offices and medical buildings. That's according to the March 3, 2026 minutes of the Council Subcommittee on Water Issues. City staff estimated the Jenna Lane shopping center would use 27.9 acre-feet per year. That breaks down as 20.3 for the buildings and 7.6 for about 5.1 acres of landscaping. So the center on its own needed more water than the city had set aside for every commercial project over six months.

The city's Guideline 14 sets a limit for situations like this. No single application may be approved for more than half of the remaining semiannual budget. An applicant can wait for the next budget period, or appeal by showing benefits such as jobs, wages, sales tax or other community value. Commerce Construction appealed. Tom Cozzolino of Majestic Realty, Commerce Construction's parent company, described the project as an "open-air power center." He said it would have national and regional big-box tenants plus a district of smaller shops and restaurants "designed for social and leisure activities." The company projected about $4 million in sales tax, about $580,000 in property tax, and around 800 permanent jobs.

The same minutes record a comment from the chair that speaks directly to anyone who drives south for errands. Chair Rusing said shopping is needed in the area. She noted the city had chosen not to widen Highway 89, hoping services would one day come to North Prescott so people wouldn't have to drive through the Dells.

The full council approved the appeal 7–0 on April 14. According to the council minutes, Mayor Rusing said it would be the city's first commercial project since Trader Joe's and Costco. Councilman Garing said 10,000 to 15,000 new homes are coming to the area and will need services nearby.

The emergency campus took most of what was left

The second request shows how tight the budget is. The Daily Courier reported that Dignity Health YRMC's proposed medical campus asked Prescott for a large share of its remaining commercial water. The council had set 25 acre-feet of non-residential water for July through December. Five projects approved between July 14 and Aug. 19 used 2.15 acre-feet, leaving 22.85. The medical campus asked for 18.02 acre-feet per year, which the Courier put at nearly four-fifths of what remained.

The Courier described the campus this way:

• Phase 1: a 12,000-square-foot freestanding emergency department and urgent care center, plus a two-story, 46,800-square-foot medical office building
• Phase 2: two more medical office buildings of 60,000 and 30,000 square feet
• Landscaping: growing from 1.9 acres in the first phase to 4.8 acres at full buildout

The application argued that the campus would bring emergency and outpatient care to Prescott's northern growth corridor before much of the area's planned housing is built.

The council approved it 6–0 on September 8 with two conditions: the application must include an OEI splay map, and the landscaping must use xeriscaping. The September 8 minutes show that most of the discussion was about rain, not the hospital. Councilman Ruby asked whether the project included rainwater harvesting. Staff said it did not. Mayor Rusing and several council members said the city needs a rainwater harvesting policy. The applicant's representative said exterior landscaping would likely use less than 3 acre-feet a year, but didn't commit to a specific method.

There's another reason commercial water is the bottleneck in this part of town. The Courier reported that the Deep Well Ranch master plan runs under a development agreement that sets aside 1,850 acre-feet of water for residential uses. That residential water isn't subject to the semiannual budget. Non-residential projects inside Deep Well Ranch still have to come out of the city's budget. So water for houses in this corridor is already set aside, while every shop, office and clinic has to compete for its share.

What still has no date

With water approved, the remaining unknowns are the ones a neighbor cares about most:

1. Tenants. No store, restaurant or grocery has been publicly named for the Jenna Lane shopping center. The only public description is national and regional big-box anchors plus smaller shops and restaurants.
2. Construction length. The two estimates on record don't match. At the March subcommittee, Majestic's representative said the project would take roughly two to three years to finish after entitlement, depending on tenant and construction timelines. In April, Commerce Construction's Jim Hardison told council that construction would likely take 12 to 18 months.
3. The emergency department. Dignity Health YRMC hasn't given a public construction start or opening date. In a statement to the Courier, a Dignity Health spokesperson said the health system "is committed to doing what is necessary to meet the needs of our patients."

The road between Pinon Oaks and Jenna Lane

Whenever the shopping center and campus open, the drive north to them will change too. The City of Prescott's October 2026 project sheet covers about 2,540 feet of Willow Creek Road, from Jenna Lane north to James Lane. That stretch will go from two lanes to a five-lane minor arterial with a center turn lane, curb and gutter, and pedestrian facilities. The project also extends the southbound turn lane on SR 89 by about 600 feet, starting at the SR 89 and SR 89A intersection. Lyon Engineering is designing it, with plans in 30% review. Construction is expected to begin early in 2027. The city hasn't published a completion date. The project manager is Jason Ferguson at the City of Prescott, (928) 777-1130.

The same September development summary shows building closer to home as well:

• At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 3700 Willow Creek Road, a new Student Union, two mixed dorm-and-business buildings and a modular dorm are all under construction. The university's campus map lists Building 42, the Student Union, as "Coming Soon," along with "Dining at the Student Union."
• Hidden Hills Phase 2, a 73-lot final plat north of Pioneer Parkway and west of Pinon Oaks, is waiting on a financial assurance submittal before going to Council.
• South Ranch South, 226 lots west of Willow Creek between Pioneer Parkway and Jenna Lane, has its grading and drainage permit, and construction is underway.

Put together, the city is adding a wider road and more homes along Willow Creek Road at the same time it waits for the Jenna Lane shops and emergency campus to be built. The water for both is approved, and their schedules now depend on tenants, construction and the road project starting in early 2027.

If you own in Pinon Oaks and are wondering how a new shopping center and emergency campus up the road might fit into your own plans, Jill Hughes is happy to talk it through. With more than 30 years in Prescott, Jill follows these north-side projects closely. Schedule your free consultation or request an instant home valuation, and you'll get a local, unhurried read on what the changes along Willow Creek Road could mean for your home.