SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Brookings wanted a Target and Target was looking at Brookings.
“They looked at us instead of us seeking them,” Paul Briseno, the city manager for Brookings, said in an interview with KELOLAND News.
The city announced that Target and Aldi would add locations in Brookings in the new Brookings Marketplace shopping center north of Sixth Street and just east of Interstate 29. Construction is expected to start next year with completing in 2026.
Briseno said the interest from Target and Aldi shows that the city’s economy is strong and that the community is attractive. And it was clear the community was interested in adding those two stores to the retail landscape.
Local economic development has conducted surveys on retail wants since the city bought the shopping center property in 2013.
“Target and Aldi have been at the top of the list for more than five years,” said deputy mayor Nick Wendell in a KELOLAND News interview.
Briseno and Wendell said the city took deliberate, considered steps to develop the property formerly owned by the South Dakota Department of Transportation. The acres needed to generate an economic benefit.
Sales tax revenue accounts for 45% of the city’s annual budget.
The new shopping center businesses should create direct sales tax revenue of about $1.1 million to $1.5 million year. The estimated 148 jobs that will be supported will create an estimated $15.7 million in city tax revenue, according to the news release.
Monday’s announcement comes about one year after the city bought 26.25 acres in November of 2013.
A 2023 plan called for Ryan Companies to buy 18.53 acres but after a would-be anchor changed its mind, voters approved a 10-acre purchase instead. By this June, the would be anchor was back and Ryan bought 8.53 acres, according to a Monday news release from the city.
Now, those 18.53 acres will include Target, Aldi and two other smaller retailers that are not named but expected to join the shopping center.
“We are not developing for the sake of development,” Briseno said of the city’s approach to the former DOT property.
The city already has a healthy retail landscape that includes national and regional stores as well as locally-owned stores, Wendell and Briseno said.
“We did engage our existing business community a lot,” Wendell said. “The backbone of our community is our locally owned storefronts.”
Adding two large national retailers is not taking a slice of the pie from local businesses but “adding more pie to the table,” Briseno said.
Wendell said the shopping center tenants will encourage more shopping in Brookings which is good for all locally-owned and other businesses. It will attract more shopper numbers but also increase the time spent shopping the city, he said. Also, local residents should also increase their shopping in town.
It will result in expanding the customer base farther west and east of Brookings, Briseno said. An expansion of a customer base north and south may be more challenging as Watertown and Sioux Falls also have Target and Aldi stores, he said.
“This can help ensure that our local retailers stay strong,” Briseno said.
The shopping center project also comes as the city has a new Downtown Brookings Master Plan.
“I think this is about being thoughtful. I think if you invest in one part of the community you need to invest in other things,” Wendell said. “We’ve tried to be thoughtful about investing across the landscape.”
The city’s investment in the shopping center project includes a tax increment finance (TIF) district that will provide $5.5 million in incremental funding for sewer, water and similar projects. Ryan will also receive a $2.2 million economic assistance grant, according to the news release.
The The Brookings Target store is expected to be 127,000 square feet. The release did not list the size of Aldi’s. The Aldi’s website said the average store size is 22,000 square feet.
Target’s website said about 30 of its stores are near college campuses but did not qualify the distance.
The population of Brookings is about 24,300 and it is the home of South Dakota State University with a full-time student enrollment of about 10,700. Brookings covers about 13 square miles, so Target would be near the SDSU campus.
A college campus helps make Brookings attractive to retailers but the addition of nationally-recognized retailers can also help SDSU, Wendell said.
Brand recognition is important to potential students and their parents, Wendell said. If they are familiar with the stores or the stores are part of their routine, it can be a draw, he said.
It can also help as being some of the features students look at after they graduate from SDSU. A vital retail landscape helps make a community attractive for students looking for jobs and places to live, Wendell said.
