South Side developer eyeing purchase of shuttered 2 Target stores

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Word that retail could be returning to space once occupied by a Target store has some Chatham neighborhood residents like Timothy Dixon ready to shop again.

"It has been completely difficult without that Target. That Target was there for everybody and we really need that back," he said.

Months after the Cottage Grove location was left empty by the retailer's departure, South Side Developer DL3 Realty wants to buy the building and the other vacated Target property near 119th and I-57.

A spokesperson for Target would only confirm that both properties are for sale.

The announcement of the plan comes roughly a month after the developer's managing partner Leon Walker completed construction of a Jewel Osco grocery store in the city's Woodlawn neighborhood.

Three years ago, Walker built the Englewood Square Mall, where Whole Foods anchors a strip mall with other businesses.

Nedra Sims Fear, the executive director of the Greater Chatham Initiative, said the South Side community group is thrilled about the idea and hopes it will further their economic agenda of bringing unique retail like boutique shops and eateries to the neighborhood to draw millennials back to the area.

"We have a large number of takeout restaurants, but there's really no kind of casual dining, like Panera. That would be welcome to the community," she said.