Retail: Target drops plans for store on Polk Street

Retail giant Target is scratching plans to expand in San Francisco with a store in the vacant Lombardi Sports building on Polk Street.

The chain, based in Minneapolis, had made an offer to lease the Russian Hill site for a Target Express, the smaller of its big- box centers, but city officials said this week that the retailer honored the neighborhood’s request to back off the plan.

Residents and merchants had worried that the store would generate too much traffic, hurt neighboring shops and ruin the look and feel of the Polk Street corridor, which is lined with small businesses.

“Polk Street has such an interesting, unique character. There was a desire to protect that uniqueness and character,” said San Francisco County Supervisor Julie Christensen. “I am grateful to Target for their understanding.”

The Chronicle reported last month that Target approached the property’s owner, Village Properties, which was planning to put 62 condominiums on the site, with an offer to pay as much as $ 1.5 million a year to rent the building.

The deal would have continued Target’s expansion in the city, following new stores at the Metreon downtown and the old Mervyn’s space at Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue. The company also recently opened a Target Express at 225 Bush St. in downtown San Francisco.

Target confirmed in an e- mail on Thursday that the Polk Street site wasn’t going to work out.

“In San Francisco, based on our ongoing research and feedback from city officials, we have decided not to pursue a site in Russian Hill at this time,” wrote spokeswoman Erika Winkels. “We will continue to work closely with city leaders to identify other locations within the city that will not only meet our needs, but those of our guests and the broader community.”

Plans to raze the current structure and build a six- story condominium building on the property remain on file with the city Planning Department. Village Properties bought the site at the corner of Polk and Jackson streets for $ 7.5 million last year from the Lombardi family, which has run sporting- good stores in the city since 1948.