Target replaces Harkins Theaters as anchor at Laveen retail project

Article originally posted on Phoenix Business Journal on September 17, 2026

A retail project in Laveen will get a different anchor tenant than originally planned.

Target is now on tap as an anchor at the next phase Laveen Park Place – a development underway off the Loop 202 Freeway and Baseline Road from Phoenix-based Kitchell Development.

Harkins Theaters was originally slated to anchor the complex under a development plan the city approved years back.

“Since the rezoning approval, market conditions have evolved and the previously contemplated movie theater with a second major tenant is no longer proposed,” according to a narrative document about the modification to existing zoning approvals.

Laveen Park Place has several other anchor tenants that are already open, such as Sprout’s Farmers Market, T.J. Maxx and Michaels.

The entire project site for the second phase where Target will be located is roughly 16 acres, and Target would take over the western half of the development with a new 140,395 square-foot store.

The eastern half is being set up for four separate retail pad sites ranging from 2,000 to 2,400 square feet each, along with an 8,500 square-foot multi-tenant building.

Laveen has experienced a surge of residential growth since the opening of the Loop 202 freeway there in 2020, connecting the area to the larger Phoenix metro. Accordingly, several new retail and mixed-use projects are currently underway.

Vestar is working on Laveen Towne Center, a mixed-use project on 90 acres along Dobbins Road that will bring 460,000 square feet of retail space and hundreds of multifamily units. It’s expected to open in the spring of 2027, according to the developer’s website.

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