THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504140462
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Discount chain Target Stores is leaning toward an Augusta County site for a $70 million distribution center that will fuel the company's expansion into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Target, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Dayton Hudson Corp., sent county officials a letter saying the Stuarts Draft property was its ``preferred site.'' The company had been eyeing two other pieces of land: one in Staunton and the other in Hagerstown, Md.
``We are leaning toward it,'' Target spokeswoman Carolyn Brookter said when asked about the Stuarts Draft site. ``But there won't be a final decision for several months.''
Dayton Hudson's board of directors is scheduled to vote on the project in June, Brookter said. County officials also must approve rezoning for the 110-acre property.
If approved, construction could begin as early as this summer. The developer would be Chesapeake-based Armada Hoffler, said Dale Cobb, the county's community development director.
``There are still a lot of hoops to go through,'' Cobb said. ``But just to go ahead and get a public commitment brings us one step closer.''
State economic development officials, who drew up an incentive package for Target, would not comment.
The distribution center is crucial for Augusta County, where the jobless rate jumped after a major employer shut down. Target's 1.4 million-square-foot distribution center could hire 300 or more initially and as many as 800 by the year 2000.
It's ``a lot of jobs and a lot of tax money,'' Cobb said.
Target needs a new distribution center to serve up to 130 new stores that will open in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast by the decade's end. In Hampton Roads, the company already has pinned down a site in Chesapeake's Greenbrier community and is considering several others. Target, which competes with Wal-Mart and other larger discounters, carries more upscale clothing and is heavy on cosmetics. ILLUSTRATION: STAFF Map
by CNB