"There is activation happening, your restaurants are full. Your hotels are full," economic development expert Danielle O'Leary told the Newark City Council in February. "People are wanting to go to the asset. But at night the darkness, the lack of a path, they end up staying in."
That was her diagnosis of NewPark Mall. Eight months later, most of what draws people to the property sits outside the enclosed mall. In October that means the parking lot, the restaurants along the outer ring, the theater and a grocery anchor still to come. The interior is no longer the main draw. The outer edge is.
What the Panel Told the Council
The February 26 presentation came from land use, real estate, economics and law professionals, including people from Dishnica Company, Prologis and Good City Company. Before presenting, they interviewed city officials, residents, workers and local business owners. Tri-City Voice summarized the main feedback as "more lights and sidewalks at the parking lot."
The interviews also turned up a few specific gaps:
- Routine events were missing, especially events for teens.
- Paying rent in a big mall is hard for a small business owner.
- Experience-based uses could help, such as a small music venue that could also host stand-up comedy, performances and banquets.
- Bowling came up and got enthusiastic support from Councilmember Eve Marie Little.
One expert suggested taking Newark's summer concert series and running programming all year. Councilmember Julie del Catancio raised the idea of a university extension or satellite offices. City staff said they would update the council "over the next several months" and reach out to the community. We could not find a public update on that follow-up after July, so as of early October it still looks pending.
The ideas themselves matter less than what they had in common. Nearly every suggestion was about the outside of the mall: lighting, paths, gathering space and events. This month, that part of the property is busy.
Sunday Morning Already Has a Fixed Slot
The steadiest thing at NewPark is the Newark Farmers Market. It runs every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, at 2086 Newpark Mall. The Agricultural Institute of Marin runs it, and Annie Cheng manages the market. Tomorrow, October 11, is on the 2026 market calendar.
The market describes itself as one of the most diverse in the East Bay. Its list of produce includes okra, sugar cane, daikon, bitter melon, pluots and jujubes, and it says many of these items "are difficult to find fresh anywhere else in the Bay." The participant directory includes a dairy vendor that makes paneer, farmer cheese, burrata, ghee and shrikhand. That vendor says its paneer won a bronze medal in the soft cheese category at the World Cheese Championship in Wisconsin.
The organizers also point to what the parking lot is good for: "abundant space for community gathering and noshing," ample parking and an AC Transit stop nearby. That is the same open asphalt the panel wanted lit and connected by paths. On Sunday mornings it already fills up with shoppers, without any capital project.
After Dark, the Same Address Changes Hands
The market lists its location as 2086 Newpark Mall. So does Fear Overload Scream Park, which runs its 2026 season from October 3 through November 7. Its official site bills it as "The Bay Area's 2 Scariest Haunted Houses," one ticket covers both haunts, and as of this week it says it is "Now Open Most Nights."
The mall's own events page adds a carnival with food, games, booths and rides from October 16 to 25. The listing doesn't print a year, so check the NewPark events page before you go. The posted hours run later than a typical mall:
| Day | Carnival hours listed |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Saturday | 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. |
| Sunday | 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. |
Inside the rest of the complex, AMC NewPark 12 at 400 Newpark Mall is still selling tickets. Its schedule includes a film released October 9, 2026.
In February the panel singled out evenings and teens as the gaps. During the second half of October, the property has a ticketed haunt, a carnival listing that runs past 10 p.m. most nights, and a 12-screen theater all open after dark. If the carnival dates hold, a single October weekend could look like this:
- Saturday afternoon: the carnival opens at noon.
- Saturday evening: dinner at one of the restaurants on the ring, then a movie at AMC NewPark 12.
- Saturday night: Fear Overload, if your group handles scares well, and the carnival runs until 11 p.m.
- Sunday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: produce and paneer at the farmers market.
- Sunday afternoon: the carnival is back at noon and closes at 10 p.m.
The haunted houses and the carnival are seasonal. The farmers market and the theater run all year. Put together, they show how much of NewPark's activity happens away from the enclosed shops.
Dinner Before the Movie
In its March story, Tri-City Voice ran a photo of the restaurants with the caption, "While the interior flounders, the restaurant row is a bright spot in NewPark Mall." In July the same paper said the mall's "saving graces have become a few restaurants, the AMC Theatre and Costco."
Here is what's on the food list right now:
- Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar at 3100 Newpark Mall. Its location page has current hours, table booking and online ordering.
- Jack's Restaurant & Bar, Simmer Huang and Vinum Bar And Tapas, all listed under Food in the mall's official directory.
- Yugo Ramen, the indoor option. It's on the mall's second floor, and its own site posts daily hours.
A directory listing doesn't confirm that a restaurant is open on a given night, so call ahead for Simmer Huang and Vinum in particular. We found no local reporting on restaurant openings or closures at the mall in 2025 or 2026.
The Old Macy's Gets a Grocery Store With a Kitchen
The one big change on the calendar is at 200 NewPark Mall Road. Macy's anchored that building until it closed in March 2025. Patch had listed the Newark store among the chain's announced closures in January 2025.
In June, T&T Supermarket said it would fill the space. The Mercury News reported that the Newark store will be 72,600 square feet, the chain's largest in California. T&T's first California store opened that same month in a 50,000-square-foot space at Westgate Center in San Jose. T&T says Newark will be "expected to open in the winter of 2027" and will serve "Newark, Fremont, Union City, Hayward and surrounding East Bay communities."
Most of what T&T has described is prepared food:
- made-to-order fantuan, or Taiwanese rice rolls, and street-style savory crepes
- a bakery with more than 150 kinds of breads, pastries and desserts
- live seafood and restaurant-quality prepared foods
- Asian beauty products and more than 300 T&T private-label items
The concept images published with the announcement show outdoor eating areas near the entrance. T&T also says the store will create about 400 local jobs.
Tri-City Voice reported that T&T was founded in Vancouver in 1993 by Cindy and Jack Lee. Their daughter, Tina Lee, now runs the company. In a social media post, she explained the size of the Newark store:
"I think the East Bay really needs a T&T…That's why we picked a super big store."
T&T will be the mall's second grocery anchor. Costco opened in November 2023. That's two food destinations on the mall's outer footprint, each with its own parking and its own entrance.
The winter 2027 date is an estimate from June. We found no public report of permits, a construction start or a new opening date since then.
What Is Still Open-Ended
The panel's most specific request, lighting and sidewalks across the parking lot, hasn't produced a visible project that we could find. The city's promised staff update and community outreach also have no published results yet.
So the walk from the farmers market stalls to Lazy Dog, and later from the theater to the haunt, still crosses the same lot O'Leary described. For now, NewPark's busiest October dates still depend on that open asphalt: the Sunday market, the haunt season through November 7, the carnival listing for October 16 to 25, and eventually a grocery store with a bakery near the old Macy's doors.
If T&T opening down the road has you wondering what it could mean for your home's value, The Sidhu Team watches changes like this across the Tri-City area. We can walk you through recent nearby sales and give you a clear, no-pressure home valuation whenever you'd like one.
