"This flagship H Mart further reinforces Pacific Commons as a leading retail destination in Northern California and its continued evolution into a true shopping, dining, and entertainment district." Rick Hearn, Vice President of Leasing for Vestar, said that in a January 20, 2026 announcement about the former Kohl's building on Christy Street.
Shopping center press releases often sound like that. This time the tenant list backs it up. Over the past year, the spaces that emptied out at Pacific Commons have mostly gone to stores with a seat, a café, a food hall or a slice counter, where the old tenants sold shoes or ran a department store. Several of the new tenants are also the largest store their brand has anywhere. The changes are arriving on very different schedules, though. One is already open, one should open within weeks, one is due before the holidays, and the biggest one hasn't started construction yet.
Four addresses, four timelines
Here is where each change stands as of October 8, 2026, matched to the space it is filling.
| Address | Previous tenant | New tenant | Status as of Oct. 8, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43485 Boscell Road | Not reported | MINISO | Open since January 17, 2026 |
| 43456 S. Boscell Road | Dog Haus | Slice House by Tony Gemignani | October opening expected; not yet confirmed |
| 43598 Christy Street | DSW | Barnes & Noble | Retailer lists December 2026 |
| 43782 Christy Street | Kohl's, closed April 2025 | H Mart | Construction expected to begin late 2026 |
The table splits the center in two. The Boscell Road changes are smaller and arriving now. The Christy Street changes are the big ones, and they are further out.
Boscell Road is already changing
The first of the new arrivals has been open all year. MINISO celebrated the grand opening of its 12,000-square-foot store at 43485 Boscell Road on January 17, 2026, and The Registry reported it as the brand's largest U.S. store. That set the pattern for the year. The center is landing tenants that treat Fremont as a showcase location.
A short walk down the same road, Slice House by Tony Gemignani is moving into the former Dog Haus space at 43456 S. Boscell Road. The pizza is only part of the story. Gemignani is a Fremont native and a Washington High School alum, and the East Bay Times reported in September that this shop is his first in his hometown. The menu covers New York, Sicilian, Grandma and Detroit-style pizza, sold by the slice or as whole pies. The franchisee, Pritika Rajasanshi, also runs the Slice House in Mountain View and is a fellow Washington High grad.
The timing is still loose. An August Silicon Valley Business Journal preview pointed to September. The East Bay Times story, published September 2 and updated September 7, said a Slice House representative expected an October opening, with no specific day. As of early October, the Pacific Commons store page still lists it as "Coming Soon." Until the center or the restaurant posts a date, October is a target, not a promise.
A bookstore comes back after more than fifteen years
The Barnes & Noble opening reaches further back than this year. Fremont's previous Barnes & Noble was in the Fremont Plaza shopping center near Fremont Boulevard and Mowry Avenue. In November 2010, the Mercury News reported that it would close at the end of that December. That means Fremont has gone more than fifteen years without one of the chain's stores.
The new store goes into the former DSW space at 43598 Christy Street. In its August 2026 economic bulletin, the City of Fremont described a 24,638-square-foot bookstore with a café and indoor and outdoor seating. That follows the same pattern. A shoe store is a quick in-and-out stop. A bookstore with outdoor seating is built for people to stay a while.
The opening date has moved once. The city's August bulletin said "this November." Barnes & Noble's own store locator page now says "Opening December 2026." The retailer's date is the more recent of the two and the one to plan around. The center's online directory still lists DSW, so the directory is behind on this one.
The Kohl's building is the long wait
H Mart is the change with the most ambition and the longest timeline. Kohl's closed its roughly 98,000-square-foot store at 43782 Christy Street in April 2025. In January 2026, Vestar announced that H Mart would put a two-story flagship of more than 100,000 square feet in that space. The release called it H Mart's largest U.S. location, its largest in California, and the largest investment in the company's history. It will also be H Mart's first Fremont store, on the west side of the center near Bunche Drive and Interstate 880.
What goes inside matters more than the size. The release describes a new multi-level prototype with a food hall, which it called H Mart's first-ever, holding fast-casual eateries, full-service sit-down restaurants, a bar and entertainment, in addition to the grocery store. The Mercury News covered the plans the same week. A department store has turned into a grocery store with a dining and evening crowd built in.
The schedule takes patience. The January release said construction was "expected to begin in late 2026," and gave no opening date. The city's September bulletin had no H Mart update. Construction has only just reached its expected start window, and no source gives a date for the store or the food hall to open. For now the Kohl's building stays a closed box.
The tenants kept signing while the center was for sale
All of this has happened while Pacific Commons itself was on the market. The city's August bulletin said Barnes & Noble's lease "reflects Pacific Commons' continued ability to attract major retailers despite being listed for sale," and put occupancy at about 92 percent as of that August 2026 bulletin.
On September 1, 2026, The Registry reported that DLC Management Corp., a shopping center investor based in Elmsford, New York, had "moved to the front of the pack" to buy the 887,000-square-foot center for a reported price of about $240 million. The story said the deal would be DLC's first major move into the Bay Area. That was a report on a likely buyer, not a closed sale, and none of the reporting describes a new redevelopment plan.
The sequence still matters. The tenants that make the center more of a destination signed on while its ownership was unsettled, so any buyer takes over a center that already has these leases. The H Mart release named Heitman and the City of Fremont as Vestar's partners in "adapting to our consumers' shopping preferences."
The city is pushing the same way elsewhere in Fremont. When Tee & Timber opened at 40480 Albrae Street with mini golf, axe throwing, Krazy Darts and a full bar, the city's bulletin said the venue "helps address the community's long-standing desire for more local activities and places to gather." At Pacific Commons, that kind of gathering place now goes into old retail boxes.
What's on the calendar between now and New Year's
Here is what is scheduled or expected for the rest of 2026. Only the tree lighting has a fixed date.
- October: Slice House's expected opening month, per the East Bay Times. The center's site still says "Coming Soon."
- November 29, 6 to 8 p.m.: The Pacific Commons Holiday Celebration & Tree Lighting, near Market Broiler, with Santa photos, holiday music, face painting, balloon art and treat bags while supplies last.
- December: Barnes & Noble's listed opening month at 43598 Christy Street.
- Late 2026: The expected start of construction on H Mart, with no opening date announced.
As of early October, the center's events page lists the November 29 tree lighting and no December events, so more holiday programming may still be added.
If you're selling a home near Pacific Commons, buyers will ask what's opening nearby and when. Fracisco Realty and Investments can help you answer with real dates, like the ones above. To see what your home might sell for, start with an instant home valuation from Fracisco Realty and Investments.
