Sendero Is Open for Business: Eight New Eateries, 342 Apartments, and a Marriott Rising on SH 71 | News

In May we wrote about dining that was headed to Sendero. By mid-September, you can eat there.

The 75-acre mixed-use project at SH 71 and FM 969, developed by Houston-based Pearl River Companies with Bastrop native Mason Mote as co-founder, has moved from groundbreaking photos to open doors. Commercial Phase 1 broke ground April 10, 2025. Full buildout can run toward 2030. The part that matters to households this week is simpler: eight named restaurants and coffee spots are serving, Phase 1 of the apartments is leased up, and a dual-brand Marriott is starting construction on the same frontage.

That is the quality-of-life side of Bastrop County’s boom. Data centers and Starlink plants widen the commercial property roll. Sendero widens the sales tax roll, and it shows up in the windshield long before a hyperscale campus pays full freight.

What’s Open Right Now

All addresses are on SH 71 West inside Sendero unless noted.

Business	Opened	Address
Chuy’s	May 18, 2026	909 SH 71 W
Einstein Bros. Bagels	June 15, 2026	853 SH 71 W, Ste. 100
Jersey Mike’s Subs	June 24, 2026	853 SH 71 W, Ste. 104
Texas Roadhouse	July 27, 2026	829 SH 71 W
Crust Pizza Co.	Aug 12, 2026	853 SH 71 W, Ste. 158
Scooter’s Coffee	Aug 24, 2026	821 SH 71 W
The Toasted Yolk Cafe	Aug 24, 2026	853 SH 71 W, Ste. 150
McDonald’s (second Bastrop location)	Aug 27, 2026	917 SH 71 W

Eight openings in about fifteen weeks. That is not a promise on a render. That is lunch.

Early leasing also included a nail salon and Westlake Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery among the health-and-wellness tenants Pearl River has been recruiting. Confirm those open dates separately before listing them as serving customers.

The Rest of the Campus

Housing. Wood Partners’ Alta Trails Phase 1 is open with 342 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. Sendero’s multifamily total is planned at 782. Housing was a stated priority because options were scarce, which matters for workers at SpaceX, EdgeConneX contractors, film crews, and everyone else commuting the SH 71 corridor. Apartments add taxable value and school enrollment. Say both out loud.

Retail scale. More than 250,000 square feet of retail and dining is planned across the project.

Health and wellness. About 90,000 square feet is aimed at fitness, pediatric care, dental, physical therapy, pharmacy, and related uses.

Hotel. American Liberty Hospitality’s $10 million, 64,000-square-foot, four-story dual-brand Fairfield Inn and TownePlace Suites by Marriott sits at 837 SH 71 W. Construction was expected to begin around September 14, 2026, with an early-2028 opening target (TDLR filings run into July 2028). TownePlace covers extended stay; Fairfield covers traditional nights. Hotel rooms mean hotel occupancy tax and overnight spend for visitors who already work Lost Pines, downtown, FM 1209, and Cedar Creek.

Why This Belongs on Building Bastrop County

Sendero sits inside a larger SH 71 story. Community Impact reported in May that about 500 acres of mixed-use (Sendero, Burleson Crossing East, and Bastrop West) is planned along a three-mile stretch. Burleson Crossing East already has LongHorn, Sprouts, and First Watch. Bastrop West is still in hospital and hotel-convention study mode. Sendero is the one with eight restaurants open.

That distinction matters for the argument this site makes every week:

Commercial activity that residents can see builds trust faster than a map of abated industrial acreage.
Sales tax and hotel tax are different ledgers from Chapter 312 property-tax abatements on data centers. Both can fund public services. They do not move on the same clock.
SH 71 is the spine. TxDOT’s Tucker Hill overpass and corridor work are not abstract once Chuy’s and Texas Roadhouse put cars in the turn lane every night.

Mayor Ishmael Harris told Community Impact the city’s job is to guide growth so projects like Sendero strengthen the local economy and keep Bastrop a place people are proud to call home. Fair standard. The open-door list above is how you measure whether the commercial half of the boom is real.

What to Watch Next

Alta Trails phases toward 782 units
Lease-up of the ~90,000 sq ft wellness block
Fairfield / TownePlace vertical construction and the 2028 opening
Blakey Lane and interior road connections tied to the SH 71 frontage
A full year of city sales-tax and HOT receipts once Sendero’s first dining class has a complete calendar year on the books. No invented estimates.

Sources: Community Impact (May 19, May 21, June 15, June 24, July 30, Aug 26, Sep 9, 2026); Austin American-Statesman (April 1, 2025); Pearl River Companies / groundbreaking coverage.