Target To Fill Hole Behind Hilldale on University Avenue?

With an official announcement pending, the news that Target is making plans to fill the hole on University Avenue behind Hilldale is welcome news. The development was confirmed this morning by Alderman Chris Schmidt, whose district includes the site. 

My mood is just watching it carefully - it could be a good thing, but it is a big box," he said, adding, "It's better than a hole, it's jobs, it brings in traffic, it keeps a lot of traffic from going out of the neighborhood to the other Target(s)."

(Update: More detail in Dean Mosiman's WSJ story here.)

For almost twenty years the national retailer attempted to locate within Madison's beltline to no avail - either land was not available or the price of assembling a buildable package was prohibitive. Now they will fill the location originally intended for Whole Foods. The trick will be to minimize the impacts on the residential neighbors.

Upon hearing the news, my first reaction was that Sara would be delighted. She was a fan of the retailer in the 1980s when she discovered them in California. To have one literally a stone's throw from the Metcalf Hilldale Sentry pleases her to no end.

Looking beyond the family to the more important needs of our community also brings praise. It will be good to see that abandoned site, intended for retail, appropriately utilized.

The new Target clearly poses challenges for both Wal-Mart and Macy's, each at the opposite end of the retail spectrum. Wal-Mart and Target are engaged in a national battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of shoppers. Anything that deals a severe blow to Wal-Mart is welcome.

Locally, Target can pose a serious challenge to Macy's, the anchor in the Hilldale Mall. Let's hope both can survive healthy competition in an area that is now one of the oldest parts of Madison.

In any case, the opening of the Target is a welcome addition to both the employment and the property tax base.  Just ask all the unemployed staff from the numerous retailers and restaurants that recently closed.

Comments

[froggyprager]

I agree with all your points here and also think that while this store could compete with some local stores, it could also bring more traffic into Madison that now often stays in Middleton, West Towne, or Fitchburg. We want folks to stay in or come to Madison to shop, eat, etc. More of my thoughts.....http://tinyurl.com/kv6fhg

[paulwesterberg]

If the new target wastes land with a typical big box store and huge paved parking area I will hate it.

Hilldale has been making positive strides in the last 5 years by adding residential(condos), building ramps for parking and using the extra space for open air retail. This main street type development has elevated Hilldale over floundering retail centers like Westgate mall that continue to waste land.

[Jonathan Mertzig]

I don't see how the new Target could possibly waste the land of a conventional big box--there simply isn't that much land available on the site they're looking at. I'm assuming this will have to be a much more compact design, either using a smaller store format or a multi-level arrangement to compensate for the smaller footprint. I've always though Target could do quite well with a shrinking of their format to suit smaller center-city developments (European retailers like HEMA and C&A offer good models of what an urban version of Target could look like).

I'm just hoping the neighborhood NIMBY faction doesn't manage to scare Target away... there's going to be a lot of ranting about traffic, but frankly, I doubt this will massively increase traffic in the neighborhood--it will synergistically work with existing shopping destinations in the neighborhood, so the people who already go to Metcalfe's, Copps, Borders, Whole Foods, etc. will likely form the core market of the neighborhood Target. A Target on the near-west side and not too far from downtown will also do wonders to reduce or shorten car trips to the urban fringe, and the location is already served by plethora of bus lines, so this is sure to be transit-friendly as well.

[anon]

I'm starting to get convinced that people really want it, though I still genuinely don't understand what people get from there so often that they need one that close. (I live a few blocks from Hilldale and would visit a Farm & Fleet one on end or Ikea on the other more often than a Target.) That aside, what effects might it have on the little center across the way where the Company Store is, where Pizza Hut, Jos. Banks, Yost used to be? Would there be spillover effect? And back at Hilldale, would Macy's change its strategy at all?

[Elaine O]

I personally hate to see a big box store such as Target invade our near west side area. This is totally contradictory to the "feel" of the neighborhood. The Hilldale development is a disaster as it is now; and obviously is a result of the overly ambitious proposal of the developer, Freed, AKA Greed. I agree something desperately needs to be done with the "open pit". It remains a terrible eyesore and use of open space. But I am reluctant to see that space go to a merchant such as Target. Big box, big parking lot, more congestion. Let's keep these types of vendors/merchants on the other side of the belt line where they belong.

Another pending "open pit" is Sequoya Commons. Looks like the ambitious proposal to build over 100 additional condos is on hold. Next thing we will see that the developer wants to put in a WalMart, so they can compete with the Hilldale Target.

[Molly]

Back in Madison to visit in late June, I wept for my old neighborhood. It's almost unrecognizable. Are you trying to make it a "new downtown"? Please don't.

Elaine O is right. Target and Walmart are "dogging" each other across the country. Here out west where I now live - they are within a block of each other - city after city.

And both stores sell poorly made clothes that last only a year. Planned obsolescence at its best.

I'd be really pissed if I still lived on Meadow Lane.

[Ursula Matterhorn]

ok for many of us Wal-Mart and Target are pretty much the same with the class and image factor being different//in fact in Minnesota Target often pays less and has worse benefits//also it was fined for locking up janitors like Wal-Mart and it sells sweatshop merchandise also// not to mention Freed is being foreclosed on by Bank of America which could explain a lot about the mall and empty hole// Paul are you out of your mind or just old? Anything isn't better than a hole covered up and Target is really Wal-Mart light!! Most of my kids winter gear was made in America, even had a flag on the label? Why do we love sweatshops and cheap clothes? Target should get out of costume and address the neighborhood issues if it wants to exploit the location!

[Kathy]

I am appalled at the ruin of the Hilldale Mall by Freed. This shopping mall was once the upscale mall where small local merchants had their businesses. We had quality merchandise as well as great customer service. This developer has driven out many of the older small merchants with exorbitant leases. Many storefronts in the Hilldale Mall are now vacant or soon to be. I used to shop primarily at Hilldale because the larger malls were nothing but large stores catering to teenagers. It was a pleasant and relaxing shopping experience. Not now. Parking ramps where you have to go out into the weather to get to the stores? I will now be traveling to Chicago to find quality as it is being driven out of Madison.