ROGERS PARK — The highly anticipated Target store near Loyola University’s campus in Rogers Park is set for a grand opening on April 7, according to Target officials.
The store — located at the intersection of Sheridan Road and Devon Avenue — will provide 70 jobs, with the majority of those jobs going to Rogers Park and Edgewater residents. All 70 positions have been filled after a job fair in January, according to representatives from Target.
The location is smaller than your typical Target, but will provide a wide variety of items for customers including beauty products, apparel and food and beverage options, Target spokesperson Jacqueline DeBuse said.
In the past five years, Target has focused on opening smaller stores in urban areas, especially near college campuses, she said.
“These smaller formats let us open in places we wouldn’t be able to open a full size store,” she said. “It’s about serving new guests and making things easier for our existing guests who already love Target.”
Ald. Joe Moore (49th) said he’s pleased with the progress and excited to see the location open in April.
The Target is part of “The Concord at Sheridan” development. It includes residential space that will provide 111 units of housing, with 65 of those units set aside for the Chicago Housing Authority.
“I’m thrilled that [the Target] is about to open and pretty soon we’ll have affordable housing, retail amenities and jobs,” he said. “It’s a hat trick.”
Moore, who lost his re-election bid on Tuesday to Maria Hadden, said the developer is looking at a late summer date for residents to start moving in. Construction of the residential units above the ground-level Target will continue after the store opens.
“The structure itself is now complete,” he said. “The shell is finished, now it’s mostly just interior work.”
There was some controversy surrounding the development, primarily from seniors at the adjacent Caroline Hedger apartments. The seniors had a community center torn down as part of the development.
But Moore said a new community room has been built at the developer’s expense. He also pointed to an internal survey his team conducted through a private polling firm. Moore said that 69 percent of respondents favored the development.
Alderman-elect Hadden initially fought against the development.
“I’m happy that the new community room was built and finalized, but we need to do things a little differently,” she said.
Hadden said some of the seniors she spoke with felt blindsided by the development after having recently gone through two years of construction. She said one of her biggest concerns is that the affordable housing agreement only last 20 years.
“I wish it were all public or affordable housing,” she said.