Baja Fresh Is Coming to Waynesville. What Do We Actually Know About Patriots Landing?

"We're excited to welcome Baja Fresh, Kahala Coffee Traders, La Diperie, and BAZ Entertainment to our community!"

The City of Waynesville posted that line on August 21, 2026, with a graphic and the hashtag #WelcomeToWaynesville. The city's announcement asked residents to give the four businesses "a BIG Waynesville welcome." It did not give an address, an opening date, or a description of any of them.

The details are in a different city document from the night before. All four names trace back to a single proposed project called Patriots Landing. Two months later, that project's public record is one presentation at one council meeting. That presentation was the project's first public step, and the welcome post came a day after it. Neither one said anything was ready to open.

The night before the welcome post

At the August 20, 2026 City Council meeting, Mayor Sean A. Wilson introduced a special presentation on economic growth and new business development. He recognized local businessman Rajwant Bedi and his mother, Shivjot Bedi, and thanked them for being willing to invest in the community.

Mr. Bedi then presented Patriots Landing. According to the August 20 council minutes, it is a proposed multi-phase commercial development that had been in planning for about 14 to 16 months. The minutes describe it this way:

• About five buildings in total
• About 50,000 square feet of retail and office space
• Dining, entertainment, walking trails and common areas
• A goal of making the City of Waynesville more visible from the Interstate 44 corridor

The minutes also say Mr. Bedi described the development as a way to support local business growth and give the community a gathering place. Phase One is expected to include the first retail building, the walking trail and the common areas.

So the four businesses in the welcome post are not four separate projects happening around town. They are the planned tenants for the first building of one development. When that building moves forward, they move with it.

Two documents, slightly different lists

Read the council minutes next to the city's social post and they don't match exactly. Both are official city documents, written a day apart.

Baja Fresh is the only brand named in both documents. In the minutes, the coffee and dessert spots are described by category only, and the entertainment venue is spelled two ways. The minutes call it "Bos," while the city post calls it "BAZ." If you're trying to look up the arcade and party venue, try both spellings.

The minutes describe the venue in the most detail of the four, with an arcade and a toddler play area. That's the only description of what any of these businesses will offer that appears in a city document.

The minutes also say space is still available. Mr. Bedi encouraged interested businesses to contact him about space in the development. The tenant list for the first building may still change, and the other four buildings don't have tenants announced yet.

What has happened at City Hall since

The council and Planning and Zoning records from August through mid-October have no Patriots Landing agenda item of any kind, including rezoning, site plans, plats or a development agreement.

August. The presentation was listed under Mayoral Comments. The August minutes show no separate council discussion item on the project and say that Planning and Zoning did not meet that month.

September. The September 17 open-session minutes say Planning and Zoning held no meetings during the reporting period. They list no resolutions or ordinances among the items of consideration.

October. The tentative agenda in the October 15 council packet covers the FY2027 budget discussion and an ordinance on animal-control fees. It has no Patriots Landing item and no rezoning, site plan, annexation, plat, TIF or CID item, and no development agreement.

The city's online Planning and Zoning archive lists 2026 meeting items for January 13 and May 12 only. The council minutes archive runs through the September 30 special session.

No groundbreaking, construction start or Phase One completion date has been announced. The August presentation lists what Phase One will include but gives no dates. The public record also doesn't name a road, exit or parcel. The only location detail is the goal of being visible from I-44.

Mr. Bedi told the council the project had already been in planning for 14 to 16 months before it reached a public meeting. Even so, the questions you probably have, like where it will be and when you can get a burrito there, haven't been answered in any public city record yet.

How the next steps will show up

The city posts its council packets and minutes online, along with Planning and Zoning agendas. The council met on Thursday, August 20, Thursday, September 17, and Thursday, October 15. These are the places a new detail could show up:

1. A Planning and Zoning agenda. The city's 2026 archive is on the city website. It lists no Patriots Landing item so far.
2. A council agenda item with a project name or address. The October 15 agenda is the most recent one, and it had no such item.
3. A Waynesville–St. Robert Chamber ribbon cutting. The Chamber's site had no Patriots Landing news item as of its most recent posts.
4. A brand naming the location. Kahala Coffee Traders and La Diperie aren't confirmed by name in the council minutes. When one of them announces a Waynesville location itself, that will settle which coffee and dessert shops are coming.

Any of these would add details to what has been a two-document story so far: the council minutes and the city's welcome post.

Downtown, meanwhile

At the August 20 meeting, the same night Patriots Landing was presented, the Mayor named The Riverside Shop as the Business Spotlight of the Month. The minutes place it in downtown Waynesville, east of the Roubidoux Bridge.

The two items fit together in a simple way. The I-44 project is meant to get travelers on the interstate to notice Waynesville. The spotlighted shop is in the older part of town by the river, and it's open today.

Development plans like Patriots Landing raise practical questions for people who own property nearby or are thinking about a commercial space, and the answers depend on details the city hasn't released yet. If you'd like to talk about what a project like this could mean for your plans in Waynesville, Acar Real Estate is glad to help. We follow these agendas closely and can tell you what's changed when you call. Contact Us.