An artist rendering of the "flexible-format" Target store set to open in the former 49,000-square-foot Best Buy space in Marin Gateway Shopping Center in Marin City in March 2017. (provided image, April 21, 2016)

An artist rendering of the “flexible-format” Target store set to open in the former 49,000-square-foot Best Buy space in Marin Gateway Shopping Center in Marin City in March 2017. (provided image, April 21, 2016)

Target has set its sights on the long-vacant former Best Buy store in southern Marin County for one of its smaller-sized stores, but it’s a deal that almost didn’t happen.

And because of that key lease, a center that has struggled for years with empty spaces may be heading toward teeming tenancies.

The Minneapolis-based retailer on April 21 said it plans to open a “flexible-format” store in Marin Gateway Shopping Center in March 2017. Located at 101 Donohue St. in Marin City, the 181,700-square-foot center has Highway 101 frontage at the northwest corner of the Sausalito–Marin City interchange.

The Target store is set to go into the 49,000-square-foot space Best Buy left in February 2014 after not renewing its lease.

It will be a “centerpiece” of the revitalization of the shopping center, according to Terrence Tallen, principal and owner of Gerrity Group LLC, which bought the property in 2011.

BY JEFF QUACKENBUSH, BUSINESS JOURNAL STAFF REPORTER | April 21, 2016, 12:57PM

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