Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

County's first Target, if approved, will create almost 400 jobs

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published February 12, 2007

LECANTO - A proposed Target store in central Citrus would create nearly 400 new jobs, according to an economic study the company released last week.

The store would also pour $26.6-million into the county's economy and provide as much as $10-million in labor and benefits, the study says.

Crosland Inc. plans to include a 132,000-square-foot Target to anchor a retail center at the southwest corner of County Roads 486 and 491.

But the deal wouldn't be final until early March, when Target Corp. officials are slated to visit the property, Citrus development services director Gary Maidhof said.

Meanwhile, county staffers and representatives of the developer have met several times to hammer out details of a possible agreement. County commissioners will have the final say.

They're waiting for one key thing, Maidhof said: a traffic study.

That could take as long as eight weeks, he said.

"We need to understand their traffic impacts to determine how much of an expansion must occur on nearby roads," Maidhof said.

While consultants complete the traffic study, Inverness lawyer Clark Stillwell, who is representing the developer, said he planned on writing the agreement.

"We'd like to start the public hearing process maybe as soon as May, maybe even April," Stillwell said.

But still it could be months or even years before Target comes to town.

"You would see the Target being built when the roadway improvement projects are done," he said.

County commissioners are slated to discuss one of those projects - the widening of CR 486 between the Black Diamond service road and Forest Ridge Boulevard - at their meeting Tuesday.

The discussion is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. at the Citrus County Courthouse, 110 N Apopka Ave., Inverness.

Stillwell said he sent copies of the economic study to county commissioners and leaders of the Economic Development Council.

Several county staffers received a copy of the study last week.

About 160 of the roughly 400 full-time jobs the store would generate are connected to constructing the Target. About 230 jobs would be connected to the store once it opened, according to the study.

Target operates about 1,500 stores and employs more than 338,000 people in 47 states.

Marketing materials describe the store as an "upscale discounter," known for selling stylish items in big-box stores.

The closest Target stores to Citrus County are at least 30 miles away in Ocala, Spring Hill and the Villages.

Stan Olsen's Gulf to Lake Associates Ltc. owns the 44 acres where Crosland wants to build.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at 860-7309 or cshoichet@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 11, 2007, 19:53:04]