Target plans to develop old Fedco site

Elise Gee

HALECREST -- Even before Target Stores has filed a formal

application to open a location in the city, residents in the

Halecrest/Hall of Fame neighborhood want to know if the retailer will be

a good neighbor.

Target Stores is completing a purchase of all Fedco real estate assets

after the company went bankrupt earlier this summer and closed all of its

stores, including the one in Costa Mesa on Harbor Boulevard and Baker

Street. There are plans to turn six of the 10 former Fedco stores into

Targets, said Patty Morris, spokeswoman for the chain of discount

department stores.

Target is “very excited” about the Costa Mesa location, said Howard

Covert, project director for the Fedco/Target conversions.

Representatives for Target have presented preliminary designs for the

site to city officials and neighboring residents.

The plan is to build a Target Greatlands store and other supportive

retail on the 17-acre site, which is south of the San Diego Freeway,

Covert said. The size of the parcel allows for the larger Target store

and development of adjacent buildings that would house other retail,

Covert said.

“It’s a unique opportunity for reuse of that site,” he said.

Covert said Target plans to file an official application with the city

any day now. However, ownership of the Fedco assets has not been

completed and the company must wait for a final hearing in mid- to

late-October, Morris said.

Covert and other representatives have met with residents about the

project at their request, said Gilbert Collins, president of the

Halecrest/Hall of Fame Homeowners Assn.

He said there were noise and traffic problems associated with Fedco

when it was open. However, Collins said residents were encouraged by

Target’s proposal to raze the Fedco building and construct a new facility

that would have internal loading docks.

Al Morelli, a Costa Mesa resident who owns rental property near the

site, said he still had concerns and didn’t want Target’s gain to be his

loss.

“There have been issues between us and Fedco,” Morelli said. “At least

we came to a resolution. We have been doing that for the last 14 years. I

don’t want to start from ground zero.”