What's Actually Open, Opening, And Worth The Drive In Perry This Fall

Perry is not having one growth story right now. It is having three, and they are happening on three different streets. Downtown is filling in with small independent shops above and beside the Chalet Lofts. Perry Parkway is where the national chains are lining up permits. Sam Nunn Boulevard is quietly turning over its older parcels into hotels, urgent care, and drive-in nostalgia. If you already live here, the useful trick this fall is not remembering every new sign. It is knowing which corridor an outing belongs to before you leave the house.

Here is what has opened, what is coming, and how the three corridors are shaping up between now and New Year's Eve.

Downtown: Small, Walkable, And Filling In Fast

The most interesting thing about downtown Perry in 2026 is that it is being treated as a neighborhood, not a destination. The Chalet Lofts building added 12 apartments above ground-floor restaurants and retail, with Fuego Fresco delivering lively Mexican fare and Ciao Bella introducing an Italian market, espresso bar, and fresh panini. Ciao Bella sits at 1009 Northside Drive and is run by Telisa and Daniele Asaro, and stocks imported Italian wines, artisanal cheeses, pastas, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, espresso, panini, pastries, and gourmet gifts, plus pasta-making classes with an Italian-trained chef, tastings, and community events. If you were downtown the weekend it opened, you probably heard the story already: their sandwiches sold out in under two hours on opening weekend.

Fuego Fresco is the other tenant on that ground floor, and between the two of them, the block now supports a lunch trip that did not exist a year ago.

The bigger downtown project is on Ball Street. The Muse Theatre expansion is real. As of March 2026, the expansion is going through historic preservation approvals, permits are being filed, and site prep is underway, and the project adds five micro-restaurants, a rooftop bar, LED screens, and outdoor stages to the existing venue. That is a meaningful change in what a Friday night downtown can look like, and it is worth watching if you like knowing where the next patio is going to be.

One more downtown item on the calendar: Left at the Pig is a craft brewery and event venue under construction on Jernigan Street in downtown Perry, expected to open in late 2026. The City of Perry has described it as "adding craft culture and gathering space" to the downtown mix.

If your Saturday routine already includes the Downtown Perry Farmers Market every Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 1000 Ball Street, none of this requires you to change the route. It just gives you more reasons to stay longer.

Perry Parkway: The Chain Corridor

Perry Parkway is a different story. This is where the national and regional brands are placing their bets, and the reason is not mysterious. Over 3,300 new homes are planned in northeast Perry, and that kind of residential growth is exactly what attracts this level of commercial investment.

The anchor is a 118,000 sq ft Kroger Marketplace, with Surcheros, Meridian Craft Kitchen, Olive & Ivy Wellness, Dunkin', and a nail salon in the permitting pipeline. The current Sam Nunn Kroger is not closing tomorrow. It will remain open until the new Kroger Marketplace on Perry Parkway is complete, expected spring 2027, and the new store replaces it. There has been no public announcement about what happens to the existing Sam Nunn building after the move.

If you have not been down Perry Parkway lately, the storefront turnover has already started. Completed openings include KidStrong, a Pilates studio, a Waffle House, and a new convenience center with Holy Pie Pizzeria, and each arrival signals confidence from operators who study traffic, rooftops, and revenue before they invest. Holy Pie in particular is a useful weeknight option if you live on the north end of town and do not want to drive to downtown or Houston Lake Road.

Sam Nunn Boulevard: Reinvestment, Not Redevelopment

Sam Nunn is doing something quieter. Old parcels are being reused rather than replaced with new pads. The Hilton Garden Inn is open with a bar and restaurant, catering to visitors and local gatherings; the old Chick-fil-A parcel will be rebuilt for Aspen Dental and Piedmont Urgent Care; the former Zaxby's is set to become a Sonic; a long-vacant Applebee's is planned to be a sit-down Japanese hibachi; and the Hampton Inn is preparing for a major renovation.

For a resident, the practical read is that healthcare access is expanding on Sam Nunn at the same time the fast-food mix is shifting. If you have been dodging the urgent care wait times in Warner Robins, the Piedmont location is worth knowing about when it opens.

Out at the Georgia National Fairgrounds, a hotel is joining the event side of the property. A dual-branded Marriott, split between TownePlace Suites and Fairfield Inn, is coming to the Georgia National Fairgrounds, with a restaurant, a beer garden, and amenities designed for both event traffic and family travel. If you host family during fair week, the room-shortage math is about to change.

The Fall And Holiday Calendar

Here is the anchor list, drawn from the City of Perry and the Historic Downtown Perry calendars. Dates below are for 2026.

A few notes on how to actually use this list.

The Georgia National Fair is the one that reshapes traffic patterns for the entire city for ten days. If your errands are on Sam Nunn or you have to cross Highway 41, plan the long way around during evenings and both weekends. The new Marriott at the fairgrounds will not change that this year.

Ghouls Night Out and Sweets & Treats are eight days apart in the same downtown blocks. Treat them as two different formats rather than a duplicate. Ghouls Night Out has been the earlier-evening, family-forward option. Sweets & Treats sits right on the edge of Halloween and tends to draw the trick-or-treat crowd downtown before neighborhood rounds.

The Buzzard Drop is the piece of Perry that outsiders never quite understand until they show up. If you have not taken guests, this is the year to do it.

What The Three-Corridor Split Actually Means For A Saturday

The reason to hold the three corridors in your head separately is that they answer different questions. Downtown is for the slow errand: an espresso at Ciao Bella, produce from the farmers market, a wander toward Ball Street to see how far along the Muse project is. Perry Parkway is for the efficient errand: the grocery run that is about to get a lot easier when the new Kroger Marketplace opens in 2027, plus the weeknight pizza pickup. Sam Nunn is the appointment corridor: the hotel stay for out-of-town family, the urgent care visit, the drive-in dinner when Sonic opens.

The mistake a lot of residents make is treating "downtown Perry" as shorthand for the whole city and then getting frustrated when a Perry Parkway trip does not feel like a downtown trip. They are not supposed to. That is the point of what the city is doing right now. Three corridors, three jobs, and enough new tenants on each to make each one worth its own visit.

If you have been in Perry long enough to remember when the Applebee's closed, the pace of change over the next 18 months is going to feel like a lot. It is easier to absorb one corridor at a time.

If you are thinking about the housing side of all this growth, whether that means selling into a market with 3,300 new homes coming, buying near one of the three corridors, or renting out a property while you watch what Perry becomes, Jacque Applegate has spent 21 years watching Middle Georgia change and is glad to talk through what it means for your specific block. Get a Free Home Valuation to start with the number that matters most.