Reader Michael Daines pointed me to a number of web sites related to the proposed Target in Davis, CA.

What I find very interesting about this proposal is just how the community and government is using the Internet to debate this issue. First, the City of Davis has a sub section on it’s website presenting all of the information about this proposal. From site plans, to artist renderings, to impact studies - all of this information is there (see: Proposed Target Store - City of Davis).

Then, there are the pro and anti proposal group websites (see: Target in Davis and Don’t Big-Box Davis).

But the thing that intrigues me the most is the great use of a wiki at DavisWiki. Sections of that website include Target Debate and Second Street Crossing. This wiki allows users to share ideas and opinions on the proposal and seems to have been very active during this process.

I really like the ways that all sides of this project have embraced technology to spread their message and get people involved.

The city of Indiapolis has solicited bids for the redevelopment of the site of the former Market Square Arena. The two plans for redevelopment are slightly different, with one favoring residential development with some retail space, while the other is more mixed-use of residential, office, and retail space. The second plan has a large retailer name attatched - Target.

Drawing of the Market Center Partners twin tower proposal from IndyStar.com. More information, see: New plans for Market Square.

While Target has several stores on the outskirts of Indianapolis, this would be the first location in downtown Indianapolis for the retailer.

Downtown is gaining the density of residents that mass-merchandisers such as Target demand before they locate stores there, said Mark Perlstein, a principal of Sitehawk Retail Real Estate Group of Carmel.

Landing a Target Downtown “would be a real coup for the city, with Target’s reputation and their (customer) draw,” he said. He noted that a Downtown Target “would have minimal cannibalizing on their other stores in the marketplace.”

The city of Indianapolis will make their final decision on which project to proceed with by the Summer. However, both developers are looking for subsidies that could run into the “millions of dollars”. It will be interesting to see how much the city is able to cough up for this redevelopment effort.

When a professional sports team upgrades it’s facilities, it can leave a city with a very large, vacant parcel of land. While it seems that the land from most demolished stadiums/arenas are reused by the new stadium, usually for parking, there are a couple of exceptions:

• After both the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers moved west, the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field were later demolished and turned into apartment complexes and public housing.
• Following the construction of Camden Yards in Balitmore, the former site of Memorial Stadium has been converted into two apartment complexes and “the largest YMCA facility in Maryland”.
• The former site of the Charlotte Coliseum is currently under redevelopment, with the development firm of Pope & Land Entreprises proposing 625,000 square feet of office space, 271,000 square feet of hotel & retail space, 616 apartments, 91 townhomes and 116 single-family homes (more information).
• Currently the city of Detroit is looking towards the demolition of the former Tiger Stadium site. While demolition looks to happen this Summer, former proposals included a Wal-Mart (more information).

These multi-acre parcels are a mixed-use developer’s dream, but as more of these sites become available in the next decade, look for more big box retailers to try to piggyback on them as a way in to congested, downtown urban areas.

Target projects that there is room in the United States for 2,500 to 3,000 stores. That’s a lot of Targets.

Target Corp. said Wednesday that it expects to increase its U.S. presence by 33 percent over the next five years, to about 2,000 stores, and will open its first outlets in Alaska and Hawaii.

Target Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Ulrich said in a presentation to analysts that the company remains focused on adding U.S. stores. Target has shown relatively little interest in adding stores in Canada or other locations outside the United States. That’s in contrast to retailers such as Best Buy Co. Inc. — which has a fast-growing Canadian operation and is expanding into China — and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has nearly a third of its 6,700 stores outside the United States.

For more, see Target to add 500 stores in U.S. over next 5 years.

Here, we’ve already got the first stores in Hawaii and Alaska plotted. Looking forward to see where else Target will be opening up, especially in these two new states.