GRAND ISLAND — Tearing down the former Dillard’s department store at the southwest corner of the Conestoga Mall is another phase in development of Conestoga Marketplace.
Tonja Brown is chairperson of Grow Grand Island, a Grand Island nonprofit whose mission is to “cultivate bold ideas that create quality of life and business opportunities in the region by planning, partnering, and doing,” according to the group’s website.
Tonja Brown, Courtesy
The anchor for Conestoga Marketplace will be a 150,000-square-foot Target store, Brown said. It will be located on the southern position of the site. The city of Grand Island is a primary partner with Conestoga Marketplace, she said. Woodsonia Real Estate of Omaha is developing the site.
According to Grow Grand Island’s website, “The remaining portion of the mall will be completely modernized with exterior facing storefronts, updated interior and exterior facades, new tenant signage, and a state-of-the-art entertainment offering, including a new cinema with in-theater dining, indoor/outdoor pickleball courts, and a first-call bar/restaurant facility.”
The website for Conestoga Marketplace is www.conestogamarketplace.com
According to the Conestoga Marketplace website, the estimated cost of the project is $250 million. The south 200,000 square feet of the current building will be demolished, and about 140,000 square feet at the north end of the building will remain.
Groundbreaking for Conestoga Marketplace, Courtesy
Brown said the hotel and apartment complex will be located at the north side of the site. The projected opening date for Target is in 2025, Brown said. According to the Conestoga Marketplace website, a five-story, 150 room IHG branded hotel will be located at the site, in addition to a 275-unit apartment complex.
“The project is on track. Nothing will be holding Target back when they’re ready,” Brown said. The new theater complex will be “very similar to what you would find in Lincoln or Omaha,” Brown said. “We’re going to have to watch the merchants unfold. That’s exciting.”
Brown works with an executive committee that has 19 members. Five of those people represent the city or county, she said. The group meets on the second Thursday of the month, and its next meeting is March 14. At the group’s next meeting, they will tour the Conestoga Marketplace site, Brown said.
The Conestoga Mall will remain open throughout the construction of Conestoga Marketplace, Brown said. For example, Best Buy remains open, and the store will eventually move to a new site at Conestoga Marketplace.
The former Dillard’s building being torn down, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
Brown has been chairperson of Grow Grand Island since 2016. Grow Grand Island’s roots started in 2014, when communities in Hall County participated in a vision plan called “Grander Vision.” During that same time frame, another comprehensive visioning process led by Market Street took place. It was endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Corp., and Grand Island Tourism, according to the Grow Grand Island website.
Grow Grand Island partners with the Chamber, Economic Development Corp., Grand Island Tourism, as well as the city, Brown said. Grow Grand Island receives an allocation from the city’s food and beverage tax fund.
“We also do public/private partnerships,” Brown said.
