SAN DIEGO — Target announced it is no longer planning on opening its new location on Ninth St and G Street inside a new apartment building in downtown San Diego.
“I guess we are in mourning right now because we had been talking for years about bringing Target to downtown, our community and East Village community,” said Jason Wood, Cisterra Development Principal.
Target is shuttering plans to open a store inside the new Radian Apartments.
“Everything was centered around them initially,” Wood said.
Target signed a non-binding term sheet with the building developers, Cisterra, in 2019 and a 1-15-year lease in 2021. The apartments opened in June 2023.
But Wood said early on in Target’s construction, Target decided to wait until an October open. Then the retailer pushed back to an early 2024 opening, according to Wood.
Wood said the construction work for Target is 95% completed, including bringing in items such as coolers. The retailer announced in a statement to FOX 5:
“We routinely assess our current projects and have made the decision to no longer pursue a store in this location. We continue to operate 27 stores in San Diego.”
Wood said Target “wouldn’t be overly specific” for their reasoning.
“The market dynamics in which they entered into the term sheet with us in 2019…and lease in 2021 changed, they don’t see this store as economically viable anymore,” Wood answered. “From there, we can all speculate on what we are hearing nationally about retail theft and retail loss.”
Amid a rash of retail thefts, Target announced in September the closure of nine stores across four states, including three stores in the San Francisco/Oakland area.
According to the National Retail Federation, in 2022 retailers lost $112.1 billion in retail crime.
“Right here in this general area I haven’t felt unsafe yet, I can walk my dog and feel pretty OK, but I can see the issue,” said Radian resident Hannah Stanek-Chu.
Stanek-Chu moved to the Radian from Buffalo last weekend. Her main reason for moving into the Radian was the anticipated Target downstairs.
“It’s a little disappointing, I wish they would, everyone has to run their business the way they want to run their business,” Stanek-Chu said.
Under the lease agreement, Target must now give Cisterra permission to find alternative tenants. Another option is that Target can sit on the space for its entire 15-year lease, but they will have to start paying rent in March 2024, per their lease agreement.
When and if Target gives Cisterra permission to find another tenant, and Cisterra finds that new tenant, they will enter lease termination discussions with Target.
“I really hope they would change their mind, I would love for there to be a Target, I want to go down and and buy my sheets and groceries here and there,” Stanek-Chu said.
“Or whatever the negative might have been that they are not telling us in further detail that it’s possible six months a year from now, they might change their mind again and say maybe we do want a downtown location,” Wood said.
Wood says Target has followed all its obligations in its lease agreement.
