New agreement for former Target property to aid development

The development agreement for the former Target building was revised by the city, Tuesday. The revised development reduces parking requirement and could spur further development of the property.

NEW ULM – A revised development agreement was approved for the former Target building at 1914 S. Broadway.

The new agreement updated the development conditions for the property to better reflect the properties usage as well as allow future development.

In January 2023, the New Ulm Planning Commission approved a request for warehousing in the former Target building. The request came from Eric Bode on behalf of Dayton Hudson Corporation. The planning commission and later the city approved a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to allow the property to be used for warehousing, but placed conditions on the permit. These conditions have been met, but the current agreement is hindering potential future development.

Schnobrich said in order to accommodate more development, staff agreed to review and adjust the current development agreement, which was established in 1998 when Target first opened.

Schnobrich said one of the biggest adjustments was to parking. The 1998 agreement required 450 parking spaces, but this applied to the business as a department store. As a warehouse, the building requires significantly less parking. In New Ulm, the current parking regulation is to have one parking space per 1,000 square feet of warehouse. This would reduce the amount of required parking to 90 spaces. By reducing the number of parking spaces, the owners could further develop the property.

The other major revision to the development was an update to the bike/pedestrian path easement. In 1998, an easement was put in place for the path abutting the target property, but part of this path has since eroded into a nearby ravine. The path was relocated and realigned. The new path follows the curb line of the former Target parking lot to 18th S. Street. Schnobrich said there is a plan in place to further develop the pedestrian/bike path in 2025. For this reason, the easement area was updated.

The city council unanimously approved the revised development agreement for the property.