By Mike Dries – Special to the Milwaukee Business Journal

U.S. retailers took a Covid-provoked beating in 2020. Store closings were reported on what seemed like a daily basis. Many retailers that did survive nonetheless struggled through a long stretch of declining sales and profits.

Still, “many retailers” in this context does not mean “all retailers.” Minneapolis-based Target Corp., for example, not only survived last year, but also thrived. Sales at the eighth-largest retailer in the U.S. grew more than $15 billion in 2020, which was greater than the company’s total sales growth over the prior 11 years.

In 2018, meanwhile, Cypress Equities, a Dallas-based real estate investment firm, had started marketing Glendale’s Bayshore shopping center. The firm’s first steps included surveying north shore communities to gather feedback on the types of shopping, dining and entertainment experiences they wanted Bayshore to include. Number one on the resulting list was a Target store. The Target store closest to Bayshore is in West Milwaukee, approximately 10 miles away.

Armed with the information that the Cypress Equities survey yielded, representatives from the firm and from Mid-America Real Estate – Wisconsin LLC promptly met with Target officials to share their vision for Bayshore and explain the sales opportunities that existed in Milwaukee’s north shore communities. Target agreed with their assessment.

So when Bayshore’s management announced in June 2020 that Target had agreed to lease a two-story, 130,000-square-foot former Boston Store at the shopping center, the figurative sound of champagne corks popping could be heard for miles around.

The Milwaukee office of Mid-America Real Estate represented both Bayshore and Target on the lease transaction. Mid-America focuses exclusively on the retail segment of the commercial real estate market. Terms of the lease agreement were not disclosed.

Target, most of whose stores occupy a single story, is one of the first retailers in the region to repurpose an existing two-story department store building. Bayshore’s management have said they expect Target to have a positive, long-lasting impact on the entire center, drawing foot traffic and sales from all over the metropolitan area. Target also is expected to attract new retailers, restaurants and entertainment options to Bayshore, which would further enhance its appeal.

PROJECT CREDITS

Target at Bayshore

Owner/developer: Cypress Equities

Real estate brokerage: Mid-America Real Estate-Wisconsin LLC

Completion: June 2020 (lease agreement)

Project cost: NA; Construction is underway on approximate 130,000-square-foot, two-story Target store