If you have lived in Mustang Lakes for more than a year, you already know the drill. Errands used to mean a drive to Frisco or Prosper. Dinner options within five minutes of the front gate could be counted on one hand. The Preston Road corridor was mostly promise, not payoff.
That changed in 2026. Between January and August, the stretch of Preston between Frontier Parkway and Ownsby has quietly turned into a working daily-needs hub, and Downtown Celina's fall calendar has grown into a reason to walk the Square nearly every weekend from now through December. Here is what actually opened, what is landing next, and what is worth putting on the family calendar before the holidays.
The Preston Corridor Filled In, Fast
Look at the openings clustered inside a two-mile radius of the Mustang Lakes entrance. This is not a coming-soon list. Most of these doors are already open.
- Torchy's Tacos opened at 3505 S. Preston Road, Suite 120, on April 15, 2026. It is the northernmost Torchy's in the chain, and the location was announced with a ribbon cutting at 10 am, a DJ, photobooth, giveaways, and Torchy's mascot onsite.
- Mo' Bettahs, the Hawaiian plate-lunch chain, opened its new Celina location this March, offering a traditional plate lunch featuring a choice of meats paired with macaroni salad and white rice.
- Chipotle, with its drive-thru Chipotlane, opened at 3520 S. Preston on July 7, 2026. It sits adjacent to the Lowe's and Costco anchors, positioned to capture heavy traffic from the Preston Road corridor.
- Bojangles is landing at 3615 S. Preston Road with a summer 2026 opening, adding a chicken-and-biscuit option to the stretch.
- Desi District, a combined Indian restaurant and grocery, opened in Celina in early 2026 with a variety of Indian dishes, including vegetarian options such as chili paneer and dal tadka.
- Thai 360, near the Prosper–Celina border, is coming with Thai dishes such as red curry, chicken satay and Thai noodles.
The list matters less than the pattern. Six new restaurants inside a walkable-if-you-had-to arc, all opened or announced in a nine-month window. That kind of density is what turns a corridor from "on the way to somewhere" into a destination on its own.
The Anchor Everyone Has Been Waiting For
The reason so many of these tenants signed leases within months of each other is the same reason your neighbors keep asking when the doors open: Costco.
Costco is set to open its new Celina location on August 26th, 2026. As of late July, the exterior is fully complete, the permanent signage is installed, and the parking lot landscaping is planted as crews are currently finalizing the interior buildout as Costco prepares to transition to stocking and opening preparations.
For Mustang Lakes households, the practical read is simple. The nearest Costco warehouse trip has been a Frisco or Plano round trip. After August 26, it is a fifteen-minute errand. That single shift changes the shopping calculus for a lot of families in the neighborhood, and it explains why Chipotle timed its Chipotlane to the same pad site and why the Preston corridor picked up so quickly this year.
A Quieter Option West of the Tollway
Preston is one story. The Dallas North Tollway side is a different one, and it is worth knowing about because it does not read as a chain-strip.
The Creeks at Celina is a boutique 28,000-square-foot lifestyle and dining center at the northwest corner of the Tollway and Frontier Parkway. It is designed to feel less like a shopping center and more like a small district. Features signature restaurant end-caps with roughly 900 square-foot patios overlooking a central 6-acre pond, creating a unique third space atmosphere for the community. The two anchors setting the tone are Haraz Coffee House and Capo's Pizza & Pasta, establishing the district as the primary dining and social magnet for the DNT corridor.
If Preston is where you knock out a Saturday errand list, the Creeks is where you sit on a patio for two hours. Both have their place. Most Mustang Lakes residents I talk to had not realized how different the two corridors would end up feeling.
The Downtown Square Is a Fall Weekend Machine
Preston is convenience. The Historic Downtown Square, ten minutes east, is where Celina spends its evenings. The 2026 event calendar is unusually stacked from August through the holidays, and most of it costs nothing to attend.
Here is what is coming up between now and Christmas, all confirmed on the city and event calendars:
- Friday Night Market, August 7, 6 to 9 p.m., Downtown Celina, 141 N. Ohio Street. Free monthly market with live music, local food, and locally grown, fresh, and high-quality produced products giving local farmers, producers, and artisans an economic outlet. Runs again in September, October, and November.
- Movie Night at the Park, Friday, August 21, at Old Celina Park. The 2026 pick is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and it is presented by Sinacola.
- Celina Oktoberfest, Saturday, October 3, 3 p.m., Downtown Square. Expect the official keg tapping, the Dachshund Derby and brat-eating contests.
- Beware! of the Square, Saturday, October 24, 4 p.m., Downtown Square. Celina calls itself the Halloween Capital of North Texas, and this is the flagship event, with trick-or-treating, a haunted house, and a pumpkin decorating contest.
- Troubadour Festival, November 2026 at Old Celina Park. Date still to be confirmed, but the Texas BBQ and songwriter festival has a reputation for bringing legendary songwriters and top-tier pitmasters to Old Celina Park; if you are a fan of the Troubadour Fest circuit, keep an eye out for ticket announcements later in the year, as this Celina event sells out fast.
- Christmas on the Square, Wednesday, December 2, 5 p.m., Downtown Celina and The Square. The city's holiday capstone, a charming, home-town Christmas celebration reminiscent of a Hallmark movie.
Six events, four months, none of them requiring you to leave Celina. If you are the kind of household that used to drive to Frisco Square or Legacy for a Friday night, that mental map is outdated.
One Fall Saturday, Assembled
Here is what an early-October Saturday can look like without leaving the zip code, using only what is now open:
Morning coffee and a pastry at Haraz at the Creeks, a lap around the pond, then a Costco run once the warehouse is open after August 26. Lunch at Torchy's or Mo' Bettahs on the way back. Afternoon at home. Head to the Square by 3 p.m. for Oktoberfest, catch the keg tapping, stay for the Dachshund Derby, walk two blocks for dinner, and be back through the Mustang Lakes gate before nine.
A year ago that itinerary required two municipalities and a highway. Now it fits inside Celina city limits.
What This Means If You Are Already Here
Most Mustang Lakes owners bought in with a bet on this corridor. The bet is starting to pay in ways that show up in daily life before they show up in list prices. A Costco within fifteen minutes, a walkable downtown with an actual event calendar, and a Preston Road that finally has enough tenants to matter are the kinds of quality-of-life shifts that residents feel long before appraisers price them in.
The practical takeaways are small but real. Weeknight dinners no longer require a plan. Saturday errand routes have shortened. Out-of-town guests can be entertained downtown without an apology. And the community around your neighborhood is filling in on a schedule that, for once, is ahead of expectations rather than behind them.
If you would like to talk through what all of this activity means for your home's current value, or you are simply curious how the Mustang Lakes market is responding to everything opening up around it, Deborah Diviney at North Texas Dream Homes is here to help. Schedule a free home valuation and consultation and we will walk through the numbers, the neighborhood, and what comes next together.
