Super Target

As many are aware, Tucson has adopted one of the most restrictive "big box" ordinances in the Country. Technically, it is called the "Large Retail Establishment" (LRE) ordinance and requires public notice, public hearings, and discretionary approval by the City Council for any retail store of 100,000 square feet or greater in size. It further stipulates even more restrictions on those retailers who combine grocery and retail components under the same roof.

The LRE mandates that no retail store be allowed to have more than 10% of its gross floor area devoted to grocery sales. For all intents and purposes, this restriction effectively prohibits any of the dominant big-box food/retail outlets such as Costco, Wal-Mart Supercenter, SuperTarget, and Sam's Club.

On this particular project, we worked with Target Stores, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minnesota on the razing and renovation of one of its existing, but dated, stores in Tucson. Projects International helped Target to strategize and ultimately gain approval of the first and only SuperTarget store in the Tucson market (full grocery and traditional retail) by successfully guiding it through the Large-Retail Establishment approval process, by working with the surround neighborhood associations, and facilitating on-going discussions with pertinent City Councilmember whose Ward contained the project site.

The project is now complete and open for business. No new grocery-retail big-box has since been approved in the City.