MA: Hanover draws Target to new retail center

Passing motorists see only boulders and tree trunks. But the town of Hanover envisions a retail hub for the site on Washington Street (Route 53) between Mill and Pond streets, and already has secured a prominent national retailer.

Target Corp. has agreed to set up shop in a 137,000-square-foot building that will serve as the anchor for the Washington Street Shopping Center complex. According to Town Planner Andy Port, the town hopes to have the store opened by late summer or early fall 2009.

The new Target will be the largest single retail store in Hanover, according to Port. While the Hanover Mall is larger in overall size, it houses dozens of individual retailers.

Though Target will serve as the centerpiece for the site, which is in its early excavation and grading stages, plenty of other construction is already planned.

The former Decathlon Sports building, which more recently housed a furniture retailer, will not be demolished. Instead, the existing structure is to be expanded and incorporated into the new complex.

"The building will be expanded by construction by 10,000 square feet," said Port. "This will house two large retail units, and will be about 50,000 square feet total."

Another new retail building will be constructed, and at 17,000 square feet, will house five smaller retail units.

To make the center more than just a shopping destination, two restaurants, at 6,000 to 7,000 square feet each, are also planned for the site. Tenants for the smaller retail units and restaurants have yet to be confirmed.

The Washington Street Shopping Center project was bolstered by the continuing road-widening project along Route 53. "The road-widening has been in the works for a while, but Target probably wouldn't have found the site as beneficial without it" and would have had to pay to widen the road in order to prevent backups, Port said.

Due to the anticipated increase in traffic from the shopping center, Target will be required by both Massachusetts and town law to install a lighted intersection and turning lanes to facilitate entering and exiting the complex, similar to those just up the road at the Hanover Mall.

Source: Boston Globe