On a Tuesday evening in mid-July, the new Boardwalk at Town Center feels like a place the city is still learning how to use. Wide walking paths, fresh plantings, a reshaped lake, and an amphitheater whose tables you can actually reserve. The people who found it early get the version most cities never have: the polished, half-empty draft.
That draft has an expiration date. On October 29, Medley opens across the property line, and the Boardwalk stops being the destination. It becomes the walking bridge to the destination. If you live here, this is the last summer Johns Creek's public life has one center of gravity instead of two.
The Boardwalk Opened Quietly. That Was the Point.
The official grand opening was Friday, May 8. Boy Band Review headlined, Music Authority's Eclipse opened, and the whole thing folded into the first night of the 2026 Summer Concert Series. If you missed it, you missed less than you'd think. The city has treated the Boardwalk's early months as a soft launch, letting the space fill in through repeat weekly use rather than a single anchor event.
The tradeoff shows up in the afternoon sun. The Boardwalk is best experienced in the morning or toward evening, when the light softens and the lack of shade matters less. The plantings will help in a few seasons. For now, plan around the sun, not against it.
What's Actually Left on the Concert Calendar
Two dates remain in the 2026 series after this post publishes:
- Friday, August 7 — Guardians of the Jukebox and Flannel Nation at Newtown Park (Mark Burkhalter Amphitheater, 3150 Old Alabama Road)
- Saturday, September 12 — Nashville Nation and Everyday Dogs at the Boardwalk at Town Center
Gates open at 6 p.m., music starts at 7 p.m., seating is first-come, first-served, and bring your own blankets or chairs. Food trucks are on-site with beer and wine available for purchase. Concerts run rain or shine. Umbrellas are fine, tents and canopies are not, and pets and outside alcohol are not allowed. The food truck rotation on opening night included Auggie's Lucky Tacos, Gekko Hibachi Grill, Azucar Cuban Cuisine, King of Pops, and YOM, which is a reasonable read on what to expect at the September date.
One small feature worth knowing about if you host: the amphitheater lets you reserve tables, which suggests the city expects the space to be used for birthdays, small group gatherings, and planned evenings out, not just casual drop-ins. For reservation questions, Recreation Coordinator Dylan Penick handles them at 678-512-3203.
The Tunnel Under 141 Is the Real Story
Here is the piece of Town Center that almost no one is talking about, and it is the one that will change your daily map more than any single restaurant opening.
A pedestrian tunnel is under construction beneath SR 141. It is designed to connect Creekside Park and the eastern side of Town Center directly to the retail and restaurant areas on the west side. Construction began in late 2024, and completion is targeted for summer 2026.
If you live in Johns Creek, you already know Medlock Bridge Road as a barrier rather than a road. It is the reason the Town Center has felt like two separate places for years, even though the parcels touch. Without safe pedestrian access, Town Center remains fragmented. With the tunnel, residents could walk from parks to restaurants without crossing multiple lanes of traffic. That changes how often people choose to stay, linger, and spend time in the area.
Medley's grand opening in October will get the headline. The tunnel is what makes the headline true.
A 100-Day Countdown, Tenant by Tenant
Medley's grand opening is scheduled for October 29, 2026, which as of mid-July puts the district roughly 100 days out. Retail and dining space is over 75 percent leased, and the tenant list is now specific enough to plan around.
| Category | What's coming |
|---|---|
| Anchor bar and kitchen | STIR, a Chattanooga cocktail bar and scratch kitchen taking 6,000 square feet on the central plaza, plus Tonic House, a 1,000-square-foot walk-up satellite next door |
| Chef-driven | Little Rey from Ford Fry, Fadó Irish Pub, Fogón and Lions, Minnie Olivia wood-fired pizza |
| Neighborhood everyday | The Nest Cafe (first expansion beyond Alpharetta and Milton), 26 Thai Kitchen and Bar, Five Daughters Bakery |
| Grocery | Trader Joe's |
| Retail and services | Warby Parker, Drybar Shops, The Commodore barber shop, 13 Hub Lane, Amorino, Pause, Burdlife, Minnie Olivia, Clean Your Dirty Face |
| Office anchor | Boehringer Ingelheim, roughly 70,000 square feet and about 500 employees at its new US animal health headquarters |
A few of these deserve a second look. Five Daughters Bakery is a Nashville family business known for its 100-layer doughnut, and Medley will be its first location outside the Perimeter. STIR is bringing its oyster bar, weekend brunch, hand-carved ice from 300-pound blocks frozen and shaped in-house, house-made syrups and bitters, and more than 300 liquor selections. The Nest Cafe, which opened in Alpharetta in 2016 and later expanded to Milton, is expected to open this fall alongside The Commodore, Warby Parker, and 13 Hub Lane.
The office side matters too, even if you never step inside. Boehringer Ingelheim will occupy over 70,000 square feet, and the space will become the company's new US headquarters with close to 500 employees when it opens. Combine that with the Boston Scientific life sciences research and development facility, adjacent to the Medley development, which opened earlier this year with plans to bring more than 300 employees to the area, and the daytime population of that intersection changes materially before the restaurants ever unlock their doors.
What Changes About a Wednesday Night
Right now, a Wednesday evening in Johns Creek looks like a decision between State Bridge, Medlock Bridge, or a drive to Alpharetta. The Boardwalk is a walk, not a meal. That is the whole current geometry.
After October 29, the geometry rotates. The Boardwalk becomes the front porch of a walkable district, the pedestrian tunnel closes the SR 141 gap, and the same evening becomes: park at Creekside, walk to a doughnut or a Thai dinner, cross the tunnel, catch a set at the amphitheater, walk back. A large indoor venue would have added significant evening and weekend activity to the district. Without it, Town Center's growth will rely more heavily on Medley, the Boardwalk, and employer-driven daytime demand. The voters made that call in 2025 when the proposed performing arts center funding failed. The result is a district that leans harder on outdoor programming and everyday retail, which is exactly what the tenant mix at Medley is built for.
For residents already here, the practical read is this: the second half of 2026 is the window to bank quiet mornings on the Boardwalk before the traffic pattern shifts. By November, the same paths will be doing double duty as an event lawn and a walking commute.
One More Thing Already Open
While everyone watches Medley, a piece of the everyday map has already changed. Whataburger opened its Johns Creek location on Monday, February 23, with Mayor John Bradberry at the ribbon cutting. The store is open 24 hours a day. The address is 5825 State Bridge Road, and the décor includes athletic jerseys from nearby Johns Creek High School. It is a small, funny detail, and it is also the kind of thing you only notice if you live here. Which is the point of writing any of this down.
The rest of the summer is quieter than what comes next. Use it.
If you are watching how Town Center is reshaping which parts of Johns Creek feel most walkable, and what that will mean for the streets and pockets around it, that is the conversation The Key Group has every week with owners, buyers, and neighbors here. When you want a read on your specific block, schedule a free consultation and we will bring the map.
