Councilmember Val Lerch led the Long Beach Economic Development Bureau and the City’s Redevelopment Agency today in a festive celebration of the demolition of a Home Base store that has been vacant for over 10 years. The Jordan High School marching band opened the celebration, which featured City officials and representatives from Target Corporation.
The demolition signals the groundbreaking of construction of a new 127,246-square-foot Target store at 6750 Cherry Ave., just north of the Artesia (91) Freeway.
“This is one giant leap forward for the businesses and residents of North Long Beach,” said Councilman Val Lerch, who represents the 9th Council District where the store will be located. “This Target store is the first major development of this size in our area in well over 30 years.”
The Economic Development Bureau and the Redevelopment Agency worked for over 21⁄2 years in negotiations with Target Corporation to bring the development to Long Beach. The Home Base site, which sat fallow for over 10 years, had become an eyesore in the community. The new Target store is anticipated to open in Fall 2008, and will have environmentally friendly ‘green’ features and a more customer-friendly layout.
“This is a great example of how the Economic Development Bureau is able to successfully leverage our resources and partnerships to bring new developments to our major corridors,” stated Robert Swayze, Economic Development Bureau Manager. “We worked diligently with our partners to bring Target to this site, and anticipate that this development will generate additional retail activity and interest in the area.”