hindesky 56596 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 By Olivia Pulsinelli – Assistant managing editor, Houston Business Journal 2 hours ago After Randalls announced the closure of its prominent Montrose storefront more than a year ago, a new tenant has been lined up. Minneapolis-based Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) confirmed to the Houston Chronicle that it leased approximately 63,000 square feet at 2075 Westheimer, the site of the former grocery store. More details, including the opening date, were not available. The Montrose Randalls, located in the Shepherd Square Shopping Center at the corner of Westheimer and Shepherd Drive, was one of three that the grocery store chain announced it would close in late 2018. Houston-based Wulfe & Co. built the Shepherd Square Shopping Center, one of its first inner-Loop projects, in 1989. Randalls signed a lease in the property, a 128,000-square-foot shopping center at 2075 Westheimer Road, and opened its fourth flagship store there. But the company's late founder, Ed Wulfe, told the Houston Business Journal in 2018 that the Randalls closure didn't come as a surprise. "They have been struggling as a supermarket for some time now and not producing sufficient sales," Wulfe said at the time. "This used to be one of their best stores in the city." Wulfe noted that the storefront would be a desirable piece of real estate for any number of uses — a liquor and wine store, a high-end furniture store, a fitness operation — and could be divided up to occupy several retailers. "You can’t find a 61,000-square-foot big box space that’s in the heart of the city," Wulfe said. In January, Randalls announced five other Houston-area closures, adding to the several closed in recent years. Some other former Randalls stores also have been given new life, including a Cypress store becoming a location of Star Furniture & Mattresses. 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasota 3460 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Deeply mixed feelings about this. Great location, but that means this site won't become anything better than a 2-story strip mall anytime soon. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dbigtex56 1442 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 28 minutes ago, Texasota said: Deeply mixed feelings about this. Great location, but that means this site won't become anything better than a 2-story strip mall anytime soon. My first reaction upon reading this was "Didn't they just build this place?" Then I read the article. Holy crap! 1989?! At any rate, to me a Target in the neighborhood is a good thing. There's been an unfilled market for b&m's since South Main Sears and the Radio Shack in Montrose closed. Stop laughing. I'm serious. 2 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
j_cuevas713 3675 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 This is awesome news! 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasota 3460 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 No I completely agree with all of that. This is just a *huge* lot - I would've like it better if this was integrated into the announcement of redeveloping it as much higher density mixed use development. Proposed compromise: it goes in here temporarily, but the redevelopment of the Tower shopping center at Montrose includes either a target or urban sized CityTarget. That one opens, this one closes, and then this site gets redeveloped with a new Target integrated. And a Muji. And a Flying Tiger. Done. Make that happen, development gods! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
urbanize713 1419 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Does this mean the Midtown mixed use one is not happening? or is this in anticipation of it coming along the lines of what @Texasota mentioned? Sites are separated by about 1.9 miles. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cspwal 4048 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 That is about 30 minutes of travel at rush hour, so one in midtown might still work, especially if this one is a full Target and the midtown one is a smaller city target Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Luminare 6196 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Tinkering in my mythical urban planning simulator courtesy of Google Maps. I would do something like this (remember this is like 5mins of initial site planning, so take it with a grain of salt). Orange are buildings. Purple is parking garage, which would be accessed by a new street that runs thru the middle into the garage with an 2nd exit on Harold St. Gray is the new street. Yellow would be the pedestrian realm. I would additionally cut out a little more space in the middle to create an actual "square" and just keep the name "Shepherd Square". Target would go on the lot at the corner of Westheimer and Shepherd with entrances from the both the street corner and the "square corner". More site planning would probably need to be done to help figure out how to get shipping in and out. I do have some ideas of how to make that work, but would need to put in more time and look at code requirements. There are a bunch of other little things like egress. Should there be skybridges if all parking is on one part of this block for both residents and customers, etc... 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
X.R. 1395 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 37 minutes ago, cspwal said: That is about 30 minutes of travel at rush hour, so one in midtown might still work, especially if this one is a full Target and the midtown one is a smaller city target Yeah, this, and there is plenty of room for another two targets in addition to this one, especially if they are the Urban variety. The one in lower heights is incredibly busy. My first thought about this one was "is there enough parking." This place is going to be hammmmmmmmered. And that lot is split between all those different businesses. Even when that Randalls was sucking wind, the parking lot was at least half full on friday-sunday. Make that a target? Jeffblummygod.gif 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cspwal 4048 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Maybe Target can move in to mixed use at Polk/Emancipation The site plan calls for parking, there's no grocery or big box within a mile, and it would be able to serve downtown & the east side of houston easily Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Triton 12192 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 1 hour ago, urbanize713 said: Does this mean the Midtown mixed use one is not happening? No, it indicates Target is actively trying to enter this more urban market. It bodes very well for a Midtown location now. 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
clutchcity94 513 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 51 minutes ago, Triton said: No, it indicates Target is actively trying to enter this more urban market. It bodes very well for a Midtown location now. Where is the Midtown Target going to be? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Triton 12192 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 13 minutes ago, clutchcity94 said: Where is the Midtown Target going to be? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iah77 346 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 5 hours ago, Texasota said: No I completely agree with all of that. This is just a *huge* lot - I would've like it better if this was integrated into the announcement of redeveloping it as much higher density mixed use development. Proposed compromise: it goes in here temporarily, but the redevelopment of the Tower shopping center at Montrose includes either a target or urban sized CityTarget. That one opens, this one closes, and then this site gets redeveloped with a new Target integrated. And a Muji. And a Flying Tiger. Done. Make that happen, development gods! I don't know if these two cross streets could even support many more large structures without some sort of major reconstruction or public transportation improvements... 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
swtsig 3004 Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 I'd support a redevelopment here if it meant street and infrastructure upgrades to westheimer and streets like mcduffie, harold, kipling, hazard, etc. It's incredible to think the city has allowed this area, now officially a very high rent, high profile, cultural and mini-economic engine, to deteriorate to the condition that it has. "Gross negligence" is a term I would consider applicable at this point. 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nate4l1f3 1259 Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 Workers tearing up the inside 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zaphod 567 Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 (edited) That's a big deal. What's Target's policy on having stores close together? I don't think the one on Sawyer would be under threat, but its only 2.5 miles away as the crow flies, similar to the ones at Uptown and by the Med Center. Do we know if this is going to be a conventional store or possibly an urban format(which are honestly like a fancier walgreens with some extra stuff than a real target) location such as the two in Austin? I would guess if anything that if this is a full sized store any Target in midtown would be a little one. Edited April 26, 2020 by zaphod Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasota 3460 Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 I don't really agree with that description of their urban formats - in reality they can vary pretty widely depending on how much square footage there is. I've seen some CityTargets in Philly that are *almost* as small as your description, but most I've been to are nearly full-size, but split across two floors and integrated into larger buildings and developments. Given the size of that Randall's, I would assume this will be a full-size target (albeit on the small side). 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zaphod 567 Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) Looking at the Target upcoming stores website, this store is going to be 63,000 sq. feet. That's about right for how big grocery stores tend to be. Looking through their other coming soons, I noticed a pattern: There are a lot of tiny stores, about 15,000 square feet, which are in the bottom of mixed use developments. That's the size of a walgreens. I wonder how these are going to fare. Walmart tried this approach and then closed all of those stores later. There are some small-medium stores around 25,000 feet to 40,000 square feet being planned in various cities. I can't visualize what these look like. The stores that are the size of this one(63k) don't seem to have renderings but ones that are a little larger are consistent with the "city target" design that generally do have actual hard goods. EDIT: They opened a 50,000 square foot store in phoenix, here is a news article with interior views. Looks fairly normal, just smaller. Not bad. They are only building a handful of "big" traditional suburban Targets planned right now, it looks like Raleigh and Wilmington mostly, which are 114k or so sq feet. This is probably about how big the Sawyer store is if I had to guess. Edited April 28, 2020 by zaphod 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasota 3460 Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) That's a good find - very helpful for Target to list square footage. For context, 25,000 sf is pretty standard for Trader Joe's. I've been in a CityTarget this size - basically the space for the registers gets cut way down, every department gets a pared down inventory, and the amount of inventory on hand goes down. Furniture, clothing, and most electronics pretty much go away. It's still a *lot* better than a Walgreens or CVS though. I've never been in a Target that's 15,000 sf. That's small enough that they would either need to seriously limit inventory for each department *or* have a narrow focus on one or two categories of goods. Edit: Went through them, and it seems like the vast majority are at least 20,000 sf. That said, there's a few that will actually be *less* than 15,000 sf. It will be interesting to see how they're planning to handle those... Edited April 28, 2020 by Texasota 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainJilliams 1189 Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Wow, this is awesome. I'm a little late to the party on this thread, but good to hear this space is getting filled! Definitely in a busy area of town. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Highrise Tower 38712 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Interior demolition permit issued. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
danielsonr 389 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 5 hours ago, Highrise Tower said: Interior demolition permit issued. That’s weird. They’ve been doing interior demo for a month or two. Perhaps this is a different phase of demo? 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dbigtex56 1442 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 (edited) 9 minutes ago, danielsonr said: 6 hours ago, Highrise Tower said: That’s weird. They’ve been doing interior demo for a month or two. Perhaps this is a different phase of demo? (delete) Edited May 8, 2020 by dbigtex56 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Luminare 6196 Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 While I don't care for the fact that this format of shopping center will remain, as I think this is a prime site for a unique type of redevelopment, a target at this location I would definitely take. I've always liked target as a general department store. This part of town is starving for any kind of department store. The closet target is either in Sawyer Heights, south of TMC or near Uptown. Again the format sucks, but the business is very good for the neighborhood. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wilcal 2227 Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Late to this thread as well, but 63k sq ft is great! Anyone want to venture a guess when this will open? Surely by the Thanksgiving/holiday season push. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Geoff8201 241 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 (edited) Question/Theory: With this new location coming, what happens to the San Felipe/610 location? Does it remain to serve the Galleria area as is... or does it become so valuable with the multiple high rises on one side of it and River Oaks District to the South, that it gets snatched up for more future development? At the very least I could see the large surface lot trading up for a multistory parking garage. Look at it on the map, that parking lot is the same size as the Arabella and Sky House combined. Edited July 11, 2020 by Geoff8201 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
clutchcity94 513 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 55 minutes ago, Geoff8201 said: Question/Theory: With this new location coming, what happens to the San Felipe/610 location? Does it remain to serve the Galleria area as is... or does it become so valuable with the multiple high rises on one side of it and River Oaks District to the South, that it gets snatched up for more future development? At the very least I could see the large surface lot trading up for a multistory parking garage. Look at it on the map, that parking lot is the same size as the Arabella and Sky House combined. I was about to reply that I don’t think Target actually owns that lot, but when I looked up 4323 San Felipe on HCAD’s website....they do! The owner’s registered address is a PO Box in Minneapolis, where Target is headquartered, so I’m putting two and two together. 409,246 sq ft worth $36M! 2 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hindesky 56596 Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Houston19514 5335 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 3 hours ago, Geoff8201 said: Question/Theory: With this new location coming, what happens to the San Felipe/610 location? Does it remain to serve the Galleria area as is... or does it become so valuable with the multiple high rises on one side of it and River Oaks District to the South, that it gets snatched up for more future development? At the very least I could see the large surface lot trading up for a multistory parking garage. Look at it on the map, that parking lot is the same size as the Arabella and Sky House combined. I don't see it going away because of this new (smaller) store at Shepherd Square. I can imagine it might eventually be redeveloped in a more urban/mixed use format, but I wouldn't expect it real soon. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gene 3426 Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 (edited) Yeah there is NO way in living heck anyone is touching my Target!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 👹 (at least i don't want them to anyway haha!) Edited July 13, 2020 by gene 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zaphod 567 Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Looks like some progress has been made on the front of the building, and the sign on Westheimer now says "Target" (all images taken by me) sign: 7 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gene 3426 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 I bet almost everyone in this area is so excited about this! with signage up i imagine it will be open in September! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasota 3460 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Way more useful than a Randall's. Especially with the steady advancement of both HEB and Whole Foods further into town and the Trader Joes just down the street. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gene 3426 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Just thought about this: You know one thing though that will be a nightmare? The getting in and out of the Target lot as busy as they get and the traffic buildup at Westheimer and Shepherd! That is already horrible especially with people trying to take illegal turns at the light and those wanting to turn left into the exxon heading east bound... yikes! i wonder what can be done if anything to ever alleviate any of that mess 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cspwal 4048 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Roundabout that destroys the Exxon and the bank on the corner Wouldn't solve anything, but would be quite interesting 1 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mollusk 2511 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 2 hours ago, cspwal said: Roundabout that destroys the Exxon and the bank on the corner Wouldn't solve anything, but would be quite interesting Particularly considering that half the drivers around here have absolutely no clue about what to do on a roundabout, and the other half consider the idjits to be good targets to play chicken with. 1 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hindesky 56596 Posted August 30, 2020 Author Share Posted August 30, 2020 6 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zaphod 567 Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 (edited) It's very unusual to see a Target in a building that wasn't always a Target. The exterior doesn't really match their brand/look either, but then I hope long term the shopping center owners keep that brick and never try to cover over it. I've always liked the 1990s trend where shopping centers had that eclectic brick/masonry exterior. Nowadays new shopping centers all tend to be modern, gray boxes. Edited August 30, 2020 by zaphod Typing fail 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasota 3460 Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 I hope long term this shopping center gets replaced. Maybe it could even be done piecemeal, with the Target retained as 3 better blocks develop around it. Strip malls are a poor use of land, especially a piece of land as large and centrally located as this one. But in the short term, this Target is going to make an absolute killing. 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveB 7 Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 I was hoping for Sprouts but Target will be handy. Traffic will be.... interesting. But then I thought Trader Joes would be a mess and that ended up working ok. Turning into this center going South on Shepherd or West on Westheimer is a mess though. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gene 3426 Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 1 hour ago, SteveB said: I was hoping for Sprouts but Target will be handy. Traffic will be.... interesting. But then I thought Trader Joes would be a mess and that ended up working ok. Turning into this center going South on Shepherd or West on Westheimer is a mess though. Yep already mentioned this intersection and leading up to it being a disaster! so yeah...it's going to be interesting... having said that, it seems like this place is getting ready to open before too long. anyone hear rumors of an opening day yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasota 3460 Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 It's really not that bad as long as you approach it from the south or the west, which is easy enough to do if you know the various cross streets. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hindesky 56596 Posted September 12, 2020 Author Share Posted September 12, 2020 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mollusk 2511 Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 On 8/30/2020 at 6:49 PM, Texasota said: Strip malls are a poor use of land, especially a piece of land as large and centrally located as this one. Before this it was a Chevy dealership. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasota 3460 Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 definitely an upward trajectory, but still far from reaching its potential. Besides, the city has changed (and grown) a lot since it was a Chevy dealership. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nate4l1f3 1259 Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 14 hours ago, mollusk said: Before this it was a Chevy dealership. Wow. Ever knew that. Any pic? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Specwriter 481 Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 1 hour ago, nate4l1f3 said: Wow. Ever knew that. Any pic? I could not find a picture of the Jimmie Greene Chevrolet dealership at 2611 S. Shepherd but I vaguely remember it though. I don't remember the last iteration of the building being anything unique like Knapp Chevrolet at the intersection of Houston and Washington Avenue. I did remark in this forum (Old Car Dealerships) in January of 2010 that I was told the owner of the property got a princely sum when he sold it for development as a shopping center. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mollusk 2511 Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 I haven't found any pictures either. This could be explained by it being a totally undistinguished building that I came to know all too well by having to take my first new car - a real POS - in for warranty work quite frequently. Ahh, 1978 GM design, material, and build quality... haven't bought a GM product since. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gmac 449 Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 Not great quality at all, but this is from the January 28, 1955 Chronicle story about the opening of the dealership. 3 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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