Marion County Approves Site Plan for a Second Ocala Target on SW 80th Avenue Near SR 200

Marion County has approved the site plan for a new Target store in southwest Marion County. The county's Development Review Committee voted 5-0 on Aug. 24, 2026, to approve the major site plan for a 128,660-square-foot Target on 17.634 acres at 9479 SW 80th Ave., near State Road 200, according to the committee's meeting minutes.

Target itself has not announced the store. Its list of new store openings, last updated Sept. 2, 2026, and its new-store hiring page did not mention Ocala when checked Oct. 11, 2026. No opening date has been announced. A county site-plan approval is a land-development step, not an announcement from the company.

What the county approved

The project is called "Target of Ocala" in the county's development review file (file 2026-24162, site plan No. 33553, parcel 35300-000-16). The plan was filed on Oct. 29, 2025. It went through five rounds of county review before staff signed off on Aug. 18, 2026, and it was placed on the committee's consent agenda as an item "staff has reviewed and recommends approval." County Engineer Steven Cohoon made the motion and Josh Kramer, sitting in for the utilities director, seconded it.

The plan set lists these details:

• Applicant and developer (per the plan's cover sheet): Cornerstone Ocala Properties, LLC of Satellite Beach. Landowner: OTOW Communities, LLC.


• Engineer: Roger W. Strcula, PE, of Upham, Inc. in Ormond Beach, the engineer of record, who is also named as the applicant contact in the county's review report.


• Building: one 128,660-square-foot Target store with a single entry, on a 17.634-acre parcel that is mostly undeveloped and partly wooded.


• Parking: 466 spaces, where county code requires 429.


• Zoning: B-4 Regional Business, with a future land use of "Circle Square Woods VDRI."


• Water and sewer: Bay Laurel Center Community Development District. Electric service is from SECO Energy and gas from TECO Peoples Gas.


• Traffic: the developer's traffic study estimates the store will generate a net 5,297 trips a day, with 455 in the evening peak hour.

How cars will get in

The plan says driveways will connect to SW 80th Avenue, SW 90th Street and SW 93rd Street, and that "there is no direct access to FDOT right-of-way." In other words, the store will not have its own driveway onto State Road 200; traffic from SR 200 would use the connecting roads.

The site plan shows the store set back from SW 80th Avenue, with the parking field in front of the building. A Walmart Neighborhood Market abuts the property to the south, according to the county's staff summary of the fence waiver. The plan shows Marion County Fire Station 21 next to the site on SW 90th Street and marks neighboring parcels as future multi-family residential. An existing stormwater pond on the property will be modified. The plan also notes gopher tortoise burrows on the property, which require a permit to relocate before land clearing.

Three waivers along the way

The developer asked for three exceptions to the county's land development code, and all were granted:

• A 6-foot opaque PVC fence instead of a masonry wall along about 1,000 feet of the boundary, matching the existing Walmart fence. The review committee voted on June 1 to deny it but recommend it to the County Commission, according to its June 1 minutes. Commissioners approved it 5-0 on June 16 (file 2026-23195).


• Permission to use soil borings that stopped short of 10 feet below the pond bottom where drillers hit limestone. The committee approved it 5-0 on June 1 (file 2026-23184).


• Permission to put the required buffer plantings inside the fence rather than on the public side. The committee approved it 5-0 on Aug. 3, according to its Aug. 3 minutes (file 2026-23900). The request noted the fence is about 280 feet from the nearest public right-of-way at its closest point.

Ocala's existing Target

Ocala has one Target today. Target's store locator lists the Ocala store at 2000 SW College Rd., Ocala, FL 34471, phone 352-629-1333, open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a Starbucks, a CVS pharmacy and Drive Up. The next-closest stores the locator lists are its Lady Lake store (716 N. U.S. Highway 441, The Villages) and its Wildwood store (5580 Seven Mile Dr.).

The site plan itself marks neighboring land for future multi-family housing, and southwest Marion County has a number of new-home communities under way. Other large retailers are also coming to the area: BJ's Wholesale Club says its club at 7030 SW 59th Ave. will open this fall. For what is open now, see our Ocala shopping guide.

Only In Ocala will update this story if Target announces the store or the county issues building permits.

Sources: Marion County Legistar files 2026-24162 (major site plan No. 33553 and attachment), 2026-23184, 2026-23195 and 2026-23900; Development Review Committee minutes for June 1, Aug. 3 and Aug. 24, 2026; Marion County Commission action of June 16, 2026; Target store locator and Ocala store page; Target corporate new-store openings fact sheet and new-store careers page. Checked Oct. 11, 2026.