Saratoga Springs' business district, in small-city terms, is booming.

The city reached a milestone this past month with the opening of its first McDonald's. Wal-Mart is on the horizon, and other businesses are exploring their options in the city.

"There's a lot of activity, a lot of developers wanting (approval), mostly residential," said Clark Labrum, Saratoga Springs planning director. "The commercial usually follows."

The crossroads area at State Road 73 and Redwood Road has become the hub of most of the activity, where the Wal-Mart is planned to anchor the northwest corner. There's already a Smith's grocery store, gas stations and strip malls in the area.

Wal-Mart is proposing a smaller building, 175,000 square feet, from its initial plan for 200,000 square feet.

Other commercial developments include a 12-acre commercial residential project called Sergeant Court on Redwood Road; a 22-acre shopping center, Millbrook Plaza; and a two-lot retail development at Jacob's Ranch.

Nine acres of Sergeant Court will be single-family townhomes with a park blending into a walkable commercial district with 26,000 square feet of professional office space and about 14,000 square feet of retail space.

"We've tried to capture a unique blend with the retail into the townhomes," said Garn McMillin, commercial developer, adding a dance studio would be right next to the corner of the park.

He said they plan to start building in April. The professional office areas will house financial and medical services. There will be a general family practice, a pediatric dentist, an orthodontist, a number of specialty ear nose and throat practices, and maybe an orthopedic practice.

Other developments are not as far into the development process as Sergeant Court. Millbrook Plaza is temporarily on hold, according to Labrum, because its 22-acre site is in the proposed pathway of UDOT's Mountain View Corridor.

The plaza's concept plan has five large store fronts and four small pads in front of the parking lot.

Another much smaller proposed commercial retail development is at Jacob's Ranch by Talons Cove Golf Course -- two neighborhood community lots turned retail called Jacob's Plaza.

"There's not really much else going on," Labrum said. "You need the roof tops."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1.