Target Applies for Building Permit, Begins Construction

The building permit application is in, and machinery is on the move at the site of a new, 135,000-square-foot Target store west of South Robert Trail in Inver Grove Heights.

And both of those are good signs as far as City Administrator Joe Lynch is concerned.

“We understand that they’re going to do winter construction, so in a matter of four weeks or so, we’ll see things starting to rise out of the ground,” Lynch said late last week.

Earlier this summer, the Inver Grove Heights City Council decided to go forward with a $1.25 million deal with IGH Investments, LLC., the developer behind the Argenta Hills project, which includes the Target store now under construction.

As part of the deal, the council chose to issue $1.25 million in forgivable loans to the developer, in exchange for promises that construction on the commercial portion of Argenta Hills, frozen after the recession hit in 2008, would resume.

Resume they have. Earlier this fall, the retailer submitted a building permit application to the city, which is currently being reviewed by city engineers to ensure its compliance with the city's building code, Lynch said. Those plans, Lynch added, should be approved later this week or early next week. Under the deal approved by the council, Target must be open by next December. But Lynch said the retailer plans to be in business by next October.

A Target Corp. spokesperson told the Pioneer Press in September that the Minneapolis-based retailer has plans to build a "Pfresh" format Target store in Inver Grove Heights. Pfresh stores include produce and meat but fewer grocery items than a SuperTarget, according to the article.

As for the residential portion of Argenta Hills? So far 12 out of the planned 55 homes have been constructed, with platting completed for 23 of the lots, Lynch said.

All that building has already started to attract some cursory commercial interest in some of the neighboring properties outside of Argenta Hills, according to the city administrator. In recent weeks, the city has fielded inquiries about utilities plans for the surrounding sites, Lynch said.

Once complete, the commercial portion of the Argenta Hills development will bring as much as $77,000 in annual tax revenue to the community, according to city officials. In addition to the Target store, 15,000 square feet of commercial development must be constructed in Argenta Hills by the end of 2012, under the agreement struck between the city and IGH Investments, LLC.