On September 14, Easley City Council took its last vote on the land under the proposed Target store near Highway 123 and Rock Springs Road. The city's application tracker shows both annexations and the rezoning approved 4–3 on second reading. As of early October, no store has been built and no general contractor is listed. The development filing the city logged on September 21 is still marked "Submitted."
City records from this summer show that the opening date now depends mostly on one stretch of pavement: a heavy-duty access road the developer has to build and the city has to accept before the store can receive a certificate of occupancy. The council debate centered on that road, and the remaining steps run through it.
What Was Approved, and Where
The Pickens County Courier first reported the plan in May. The site is behind QuikTrip and Rock Springs Baptist Church, near the US-123 and Rock Springs Road intersection, and covers more than 30 acres. The project's file address is 4847 Calhoun Memorial Highway. July council minutes describe a store of about 140,000 square feet, with Armada Development and Target as the project representatives. The applicant is RT Calhoun Memorial LLC, represented by Ross Cowan.
Three tracts are involved:
- 12.014 acres owned by Freeman Real Estate LLC, annexed into the city
- 3.813 acres owned by William David and Elaine M. Freeman, annexed into the city
- 17.05 acres owned by RT Calhoun Memorial LLC, rezoned from General Residential-2 to General Commercial
The second-reading ordinances make each annexation depend on the other and on the rezoning. Council could not approve one piece of the Target site without the others.
Before Target, the city's project list had a different plan for this part of Highway 123: a 108-unit townhome project called Rockville Townes. Its status now reads "Closed - See Target."
Why the Votes Were Close
The approval took months, and traffic was the reason the vote stayed close. On June 15, the Easley Planning Commission voted 3–1 to recommend denial of each Target-related request. City staff had recommended approval. A July summary of the commission's reasons listed traffic backing up onto US-123, emergency access, a single main entrance and exit, congestion around the existing QuikTrip, Aldi and Starbucks, delays at the rail crossing, and no immediate secondary access.
Here is how the request moved from that recommendation to final approval:
| Date (2026) | Body | Action |
|---|---|---|
| June 15 | Planning Commission | Recommended denial, 3–1 on each request |
| July 13 | City Council | First reading: annexations 4–3, rezoning 5–2, development agreement 4–3 |
| August 10 | City Council | Second reading not held, at Target's request |
| August 10 | City Council | Authorized eminent domain action over easement rights at the neighboring property, 5–2 |
| September 14 | City Council | Second reading: annexations and rezoning approved, 4–3 each |
On July 13, Mayor Lisa Talbert and Councilmembers Tom O'Shields, Donna Rainey and Bob Fedder voted for the annexations. Councilmembers Searcy, Chris Clark and Justin Alexander voted against. Clark voted for the rezoning, which made that vote 5–2. The tracker records the rezoning's final September vote as 4–3. The member-by-member final roll call was not in the records we reviewed.
Public comment followed the same lines. At the August 10 meeting, a resident said she was not opposed to Target as a store. She questioned the location, the congestion on Highway 123, the need for a traffic impact study, and whether taxpayers should contribute up to $2 million toward road work for a private development.
The Road the City Would Eventually Own
The city's answer to the access concerns is a new access road the developer builds and then hands to the city. A July report on the draft development agreement said the developer would construct the road and any required improvements. After construction, dedication and city acceptance, the city would pay up to $2 million or the road's actual cost toward acquiring it. That cap comes from the July draft. The final terms of the development agreement, Ordinance 2026-25, were not confirmed in the September records we reviewed.
The September 14 work session added detail, according to an AI-generated Citizen Portal summary of the meeting. Will Rogen of Cypress Engineering described the road as 3.5 inches of asphalt over 8 inches of aggregate base course, which is thicker than a typical parking lot, so it can carry commercial truck traffic. The plan includes a required 675-foot turn lane and coordination with SCDOT on corridor improvements. Construction would be phased so nearby businesses keep their access. City staff said the developer would offer the finished road to the city, the city would decide whether to accept it, and the developer would repair design or construction defects for two years.
The road also needs consent from the property next door. On August 10, after a closed session for legal advice on the Target development, council voted 5–2 to authorize legal action to take easement-consent rights by eminent domain, so an access road could be modified on the neighboring property. One dissenting councilmember noted that no land was being taken. That member objected to using the force of law to change easement consent rights against the owner's wishes, and to taking that step on the same night Target had asked to postpone second reading. The same work-session summary describes a proposed amendment that would shift condemnation costs to the developer. The records we reviewed do not show whether it was adopted, and we found no October follow-up on the easement action.
What Has to Happen Before Opening Day
With the zoning votes done, the open items are site-level permits:
- Site plan. A 36.5-acre preliminary plat request covering the three tax parcels was on the Planning Commission notice for September 21. No minutes or decision had been posted when we checked.
- Signage. A request to raise the maximum sign height from 15 feet to 40 feet at 4845 Calhoun Memorial Highway, and to exceed sign-area limits, went to the Board of Zoning Appeals and was tabled 3–0 on September 22.
- Building and contractor. The project sheet still lists the general contractor as "TBA."
- The road. The access road has to be operational and accepted by the city before a certificate of occupancy is granted.
At the September 14 work session, according to the same AI-generated summary, Rogen estimated about 18 months of construction, starting early next year, with the store open by summer or fall 2028. That is an engineer's estimate from a meeting summary. Neither Target nor the city has announced an opening date. The road requirement means that estimate depends on paving, SCDOT encroachment permits and the easement question, not only on building the store.
City officials also scheduled a public information session with Target and the development team at Larry Bagwell Gymnasium on August 11. The mayor reminded the public about it at the August 10 meeting. The best public record of how the plan changes from here is the city's Planning and Development application tracker. Its most recent spreadsheet is dated October 2.
Where the Nearest Targets Are Until Then
For at least the next couple of years, a Target run from Easley still means driving to another town. Target's store pages list these locations around the Upstate:
- Anderson: 3519 Clemson Blvd
- Greenville: 1112 Woodruff Rd
- Seneca: 1810 Sandifer Blvd
- Simpsonville: 694 Fairview Rd
- Greer: 6025 Wade Hampton Blvd, Taylors
A smaller change on Calhoun Memorial Highway is coming sooner. In July, FOX Carolina reported that 7 Brew was planned for the Town N' Country center with two drive-through lanes, and that it was expected to open later this year. The city's project sheet lists that coffee shop at 6101 Calhoun Memorial Highway as "In Progress," approved January 27.
Highway 123 projects like this one show up in plats, easements and sign permits long before anything is built, and buyers ask about them. If you own near the corridor and want to know how the Target plan could come up in conversations with buyers when you sell, Southern Real Estate and Development can go through the public record with you. Schedule a consultation, or start with an instant home valuation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
