Target sells Cypress Creek site back to its developer

Target sells Cypress Creek site back to its developer

BUYER: Cypress TP Holdings LLC,

SELLER: Target Corp.

PROPERTY: 2030 Grand Cypress Drive, Lutz

PRICE: $4.5 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $5.25 million, November 2007

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: National retailer Target Corp. has sold its 16-acre site in Cypress Creek Town Center back to developer The Richard E. Jacobs Group LLC for $4.5 million.

The purchase price equated to $278,534 per acre; $750,000 less than Target originally paid for the property in late 2007.

Located at the corner of Interstate 75 and State Road 56, Cypress Creek Town Center was originally touted as an open-air regional center anchored by Super Target and a Kohl's. The center was scheduled to open in 2011, but following a major permitting delay, the project is now being revised.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended its wetlands permit for the project in early 2008 after it was discovered that turbid water had been discharged into Cypress Creek and other nearby waterways. The investigation lasted more than a year and resulted in the permitting being reinstated as the discharge was attributed to human error and a phase of construction, but not the overall design of the project.

In a written statement discussing the buy back, Bill Fullington, marketing & communications spokesman for the Jacobs Group, wrote that Target's sale allows the developer the flexibility of leasing or selling the parcel to other prospective retailers.

“As we stated when the Army Corps of Engineers permit was reinstated, the combination of the lengthy delay in construction and the poor economy have necessitated adjustments to the original development plan,” Fullington wrote. “We are working diligently in revising it, but are not prepared to discuss such plans publicly until we can be certain that what we announce is indeed what will occur.”

Founded in 1955, The Richard E. Jacobs Group is an owner, developer and property manager of commercial real estate with various hotel, office and retail projects including the 1.8-million-square-foot Gulf Coast town Center in Lee County; the 1.4-million-square-foot Triangle Town Center in Raleigh, N.C. and the 630-acre corporate development Chagrin Highlands in Cleveland, Ohio.