Target will fill a vacant former Kmart space at the Prospector's Plaza retail property in Placerville, with an opening set for summer 2020.

Target will fill an empty former Kmart space at a retail center in Placerville, and other property improvements are in the works.

Chris Shane, a managing partner with Gryphon Capital of Manhattan Beach, said the vacancy in Prospector’s Plaza lined up perfectly with a big-box store looking for a new location.

“I know the Placerville market pretty well, and that it’s difficult to develop in,” said Shane, whose firm is teaming with Rich Development, of Southern California, on the project. Because it’s hard to build in Placerville, he said, the center has a lack of potential competition after Target opens in summer 2020. “I think the future is really bright for the center.”

The new Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) store will fill 86,414 square feet vacated by Kmart earlier this year as part of Sears’ bankruptcy filing. At the same time, 243,000-square-foot Prospector’s Plaza will see a full renovation and improvement plan, including lighting, landscaping, paving and building façades, Shane said. He said he could not share the planned investment in the center’s renovation.

GC Placerville LLC, a joint venture of Gryphon Capital and Rich Development, bought Prospector’s Plaza last month. The purchase price for the 19.87-acre center at 2964 Missouri Flat Road was $24.13 million, according to records from real estate data service Reonomy.

A site plan on Rich Development’s website shows Ross Dress for Less, CVS Pharmacy and Save Mart as anchor tenants for the center, in addition to the planned Target. The plan shows eight vacant spaces, ranging from about 9,100 to 1,170 square feet.

“There are vacancy issues, but honestly, that’s a positive for us,” Shane said. “We think there’s pent-up demand in the market, and Target drives a tremendous amount of traffic.”

The future Target at Prospector’s Plaza will be the first one in Placerville, and the only one in El Dorado County outside of El Dorado Hills, 17 miles away. Target spokeswoman Liz Hancock said the planned Placerville location will be a small-format store. "Across the country, Target has prioritized opening small-format stores to serve guests in urban areas, dense suburban neighborhoods and near college campuses – places where a full-size Target typically wouldn’t fit," Hancock said in an email.

Brokers with CBRE Sacramento are handling leasing for the center.