Dozen businesses join Costco, In-N-Out at Pioneer Street-Interstate 5 junction in RidgefieldSubscriber Exclusive

More than a dozen new businesses will join Costco and In-N-Out at the Pioneer Street junction with Interstate 5 in Ridgefield.

City documents show 13 new commercial tenants are expected to move into Union Ridge Town Center, while even more businesses are anticipated to open in the city’s other nearby developments.

Warehouse retailer Costco opened at Union Ridge Town Center in August, and California fast-food chain In-N-Out proposed its first Washington location there in February. In-N-Out expects the Ridgefield location to open in summer 2025.

The Union Ridge Town Center buildings will range in size from 2,400 square feet to 26,000 square feet, according to a real estate listing with HSM Pacific Realty. The shopping center’s anchor store Costco is about 160,000 square feet.

City records show the adjacent Ridgefield Gateway development will include six retailers, including McDonald’s and Panda Express, as well as a convenience store and car wash already in the works.

Nine buildings are expected on the east side of the freeway at the Tri-Mountain Station Development, including Goodwill, according to city records. Meanwhile, Tractor Supply Co., Domino’s Pizza and Junebug Play & Learning Space all opened in the last year or so east of South 56th Avenue at Ridgefield Crossing, south of Pioneer Street.

Ridgefield has long eyed the Pioneer Street-Interstate 5 junction as a spot for retailers that could appeal to the broader region, as well as employment opportunities with the development of a light industrial park.

Businesses farther west, near the Royle Road and Pioneer Street intersection, are intended to draw city residents — a grocery store, banks, restaurants and a medical office.

As the city’s population has boomed in recent years, the city has worked to diversify its revenue to include more tax revenue from retail sales rather than being dependent on new home sales.

The sales tax base has successfully switched in the past few years, with retail rather than new home construction driving it. That trend is expected to continue as more new retail shops move into the once predominantly rural city.