Target officially announced Wednesday that it plans to open its doors on the 16th Street Mall next summer.
Earlier this year, Denver approved shelling out $4 million — one of the largest incentives in half a decade — to attract the store. Target took the bait, announcing Wednesday it plans to bring a "small-format store" to Denver near 16th and California streets.
“Target is thrilled to bring our first small-format store to Colorado and be part of a thriving community in downtown Denver,” said Mark Schindele, senior vice president of properties for Target
“The modern design of our downtown Denver store will showcase unique features for people who live, work and play in this neighborhood, including a third-level glass atrium that offers views up and down the 16th Street Mall," Schindele said in a statement.
Target's plans to open more than 130 small-format stores in dense urban and suburban neighborhoods, as well as on college campuses, by 2019.
The roughly 28,000-square-foot Target slated for Denver is expected to offer the usual target products like fresh produce and grab-and-go items, home office and stationery products, clothes, and health, personal care and beauty products as well as feature concrete floors, wood plank walls and ceilings, pendant and LED lighting and elevated merchandise assortment displays, according to a release.
The store will also offer shoppers the ability to buy online and pickup in store within one hour after they placed the order or customers can have online orders shipped to the location and held at the store.
"This represents a huge win for downtown Denver," said Mark Sidell, president of Gart Properties LLC in a statement. "Adding Target to the retail mix delivers a long sought-after and key component necessary to support a viable and thriving Downtown."
Gart Properties LLC owns 1600 California St. where Target plans to open along with Rifkin Family Investment Co. The building has been more than half-empty since owners closed a second-story food court in 2006. Existing ground-floor tenants Chipotle, Red Robin, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Great Clips will stay on, according to the Denver Post which first reported the Target announcement Tuesday.
Gart Properties, which also owns the Denver Pavilions shopping center about two blocks southeast of where Target is going in, is used to attracting big names to downtown Denver. Since 2011, the property company has brought both H&M and Uniqlo to the mall. In April, the company announced Sephora plans to open in the Pavilions sometime this summer.
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Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or@adriandgarcia on Twitter.
