The big-box retailer, having made drops at UCSD, North Park, OB and several other communities in recent years, is putting in one of its small-format stores in the East Village.
The red-dog news is welcome for shoppers who don't want to get into their cars and schlepp all the way to the Midway District or Mission Valley or any of the other 20 or so supersize versions. The newest San Diego Target will be popping up on G Street, tucked between 9th and 10th Avenues -- a sure stop for hundreds of Padres fans heading to or fro nearby Petco Park. The retailer employs more than 4,000 workers in its dozens of stores spread out across the county.
Now, don't be scared by this number: At 36,000 square feet, this new Target will be petite next to its big-brother and -sister Targets, which weigh in at a hefty 135,000 square feet, just a tad under 3 acres.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
The East Village Target will occupy the ground floor of the Radian High-Rise Tower, which will house 241 apartments. Shovels -- presumably of the shiny, silvery-metal type held by soft executive hands -- are expected to break ground this summer, after which Cisterra Development will bring in the big guns, which will work toward a 2023 completion date.
"Radian will be an exceptionally crafted, modern high-rise that also honors and preserves one of the neighborhood’s historic buildings,” Diane Peabody Straw, executive director of the East Village Association, said in a news release sent out on Tuesday. "East Village is an ideal neighborhood to welcome Radian and Target, which will provide a unique retail and residential experience for residents, employees and visitors in the area."
Not everybody loves a Target, of course. In July 2019, after years of opposition and support, a small-scale iteration opened in San Diego's free-spirited Ocean Beach community. Plans had been in the works since August 2017, when just the idea of putting a Target in the beachside community stirred emotions. Some locals worried OB’s unique character would disappear in the shadow of a chain store. Other opponents were concerned a Target would bring too much competition for surrounding businesses, possibly causing some of the smaller mom-and-pops to shutter. That never happened, of course.
Some locals, though, supported the idea of a Target in the community, saying they would love to be able to shop for household necessities without having to leave OB.
There were similar reactions to the proposed opening of a Target in North Park in March of that same year. The approximately 35,200-square-foot building it would eventually be housed in had quite a history. It began as a JCPenney in 1942, which operated for three decades. The building went on to house other retail stores but, eventually, sat vacant from 2008 until Wang’s took over in early 2012.
Local
Meanwhile down in the East Village, Cisterra said, residents will have access to "indoor/outdoor fitness center, game room, event/dining room, business center/lounge, dog park/wash, outdoor theater and fully amenitized rooftop pool/hot tub area."
Sure, that's all great, but what aisle's the cereal in?
