"It was important to us to not only have Target in our retail mix, but also for the architecture of the building to be visually distinct," Jacoby says. Target will join key anchors IKEA, which holds 336,000 sf, and Dillard's with its 225,000 sf. Regal Theatre, another large space user, will have 104,839 sf at the 138-acre redevelopment.

Target officials couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline to learn the estimated development cost of the store. However, area construction sources who have built comparable retail properties, tell GlobeSt.com the Target store will probably be erected at a hard cost of $200 per sf or a total $30 million. That estimated hard construction cost is about $100 per sf higher than most chain department stores pay in less visible locations, sources say.

Atlantic Station is comprised of three components—the retail and entertainment District, the Commons and the Village. The combined components will Give Atlantic Station a total six million sf of class A office space; 5,000 residential units for sale and rent; 1.5 million sf of retail and entertainment space, including restaurants and movie theaters; and 1,000 hotel rooms in at least three hotels, according to earlier projections by Jacoby's staff.

Atlantic Station, which formally opened Oct. 20, is considered by industry sources as the largest and one of the most successful mixed-use urban brownfield redevelopments in the US. The site formerly housed the 100-year-old Atlantic Steel Mill. Developer Jacoby has estimated that the aggregate buildout value of Atlantic Station in 10 years will be about $4 billion.