The Promenade Shops at Briargate Spent 2026 Rebuilding Around Shorter Trips

Two businesses closed at The Promenade Shops at Briargate within four days of each other this April. One was Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano, a sit-down Italian dinner spot. The other was The Container Store, which drew people planning a closet or garage project. Next week, the businesses filling in behind them start opening. A fast-casual sandwich shop opens Tuesday, and an outdoor-gear store opens three days later. A string of apparel brands is adding or enlarging stores before the end of the year.

Together, these changes leave a center whose tenant mix now favors quick, repeat stops: lunch, a jacket, a phone repair, a pair of leggings. That suits people who live a few minutes away and can stop in on a weekday more than it suits a planned evening out.

What left, and what's arriving

Two closings, four days apart

Biaggi's had been closed since November 2025 because of extensive plumbing and soil-erosion problems before it announced its permanent closure on April 14, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported. That means the center had already gone about five months without its Italian dinner option before the closure became official. No new use has been announced for the building at 1805 Briargate Parkway.

On April 18, The Container Store closed its Briargate location, as FOX21 reported when the closure was announced in March. The store occupied roughly 13,000 square feet at 1925 Briargate Parkway on the center's east edge.

Those were two very different stores. One was a restaurant for a long dinner, and the other served a specific home project. The businesses arriving this fall are mostly the kind people visit more often and for less time.

Lunch arrives first, on Tuesday

Mendocino Farms opens Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 1765 Briargate Parkway, Suite 807, according to FOX21. The Gazette's September story had first given a different opening date and later corrected it. The Oct. 27 date matches the restaurant's own grand-opening announcement.

The Gazette calls the Southern California chain a fast-casual restaurant. It's known for sandwiches, wraps, salads and seasonal soups, and its best-known sandwiches are the "Not So Fried" chicken and the Peruvian steak. The menu includes a kids' section plus vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Hours tell you the most about what a restaurant expects to be used for. Mendocino Farms plans to open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. The center's regular hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. That puts the restaurant open an hour past the shops on weekday and Saturday evenings and three hours past them on Sunday. You'll be able to get dinner at Briargate after the stores close, but it will be counter-service food.

Briargate isn't the brand's first Colorado test. Mendocino Farms opened its first Colorado location in Denver's Cherry Creek in May 2025, followed by locations in the Highlands in March 2026 and on Denver's 16th Street in May 2026. Briargate is the fourth. The chain picked this center for its first Colorado Springs location after a year and a half of Denver openings.

The home-project store becomes a trailhead stop

L.L.Bean is scheduled to open Friday, Oct. 30, in the former Container Store space, with a store of more than 13,000 square feet, KOAA reported, citing a company news release. KOAA, citing the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, reported a $2 million remodel, and the company planned to hire about 40 full- and part-time workers. The release says this is L.L.Bean's second store in Colorado. As of mid-October, the center's own site still listed it as "coming soon."

Kenon Mitchell, an L.L.Bean district manager, tied the company's pitch to local terrain in the KOAA story. "Colorado Springs offers incredible access to the outdoors, from the trails and red rock formations of Garden of the Gods to the landscapes surrounding Pikes Peak," he said.

The same floor space now has a different purpose. The Container Store sold products for organizing a house. L.L.Bean sells boots, layers and gear for getting outside. People tend to make the first trip once per project and the second every season.

The apparel moves point the same way

Clothing and accessories make up the rest of the fall changes. SpringsMag reported on Sept. 2 that American Eagle and Kendra Scott were both expected to open before the end of 2026, that Lululemon would expand in the fourth quarter, and that Apple had already reopened in a newly expanded space. The Gazette placed the Apple store next to Ulta. No exact opening dates have been posted for American Eagle, Kendra Scott or the bigger Lululemon.

Each of these brands is something people come back to between holidays. Apple adding floor space and Lululemon expanding suggests both expect steady traffic from shoppers who return often, beyond the one-time holiday rush.

A sale in February, a stated strategy by September

Ownership changed earlier in the year. Hines Global Income Trust's annual report says the trust sold The Promenade Shops at Briargate in February 2026 for a contract price of $150.7 million. By early September, SpringsMag was identifying Asana Partners as the retail real estate firm that owns the center.

In that article, Lara Silversmith, Asana's director of leasing strategy, said the center's "vision and merchandising strategy remain focused on introducing highly desired brands and fresh experiences to Colorado Springs." She also said the new stores would give "guests even more reasons to shop, dine and gather throughout the year."

"Throughout the year" is the phrase that matches what's happening on the ground. Neither closing has been publicly connected to the sale. Biaggi's had building problems that dated to late 2025, before the February sale. Still, the stores signed since the sale are the kind people visit year-round.

What's on the calendar, by date

From this weekend through mid-November, the schedule looks like this:

1. Saturday, Oct. 24, 3 to 5 p.m. Boo at Briargate, the center's trick-or-treating and costume afternoon.
2. Tuesday, Oct. 27. Mendocino Farms opens at Suite 807, open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
3. Friday, Oct. 30. L.L.Bean is scheduled to open at 1925 Briargate Parkway.
4. Through Nov. 13. The center's winter coat drive keeps collecting donations.
5. Ongoing. Movies Under the Mountains, the center's free fall movie series, continues. The property management office also accepts drop-off donations for Care & Share.

What hasn't been decided yet

The Biaggi's building is still the biggest open question. It's a freestanding restaurant site at 1805 Briargate Parkway with a history of soil and plumbing problems, and no plan for it has been announced. Whatever goes there will be the first real indication of whether the center's next restaurant is another quick stop or a return to sit-down dining.

The holiday calendar isn't set yet either. Visit Colorado Springs lists Santa's Cottage at the center for 2026, with dates and times still marked TBA. The listing describes free photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, cocoa and cookies, and a sock donation for Springs Rescue Mission, held in Suite 415 next to Altar'd State. The center hasn't posted extended holiday hours, so the 8 p.m. weekday and 6 p.m. Sunday closing times still apply. On Sunday evenings, Mendocino Farms stays open three hours past the shops, until 9 p.m.

If you're in north Colorado Springs and wondering how this fall's changes at Briargate fit with your own plans for the next few years, Harrison McWilliams is glad to talk it through over coffee, maybe at a table at Mendocino Farms once it opens. Schedule a free consultation, and let's plan your next move.