By John Kiesewetter
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FAIRFIELD TWP. - Target's ninth Greater Cincinnati store will be in the bull's-eye of the township's new economic center, just north of the Michael A. Fox Highway (Ohio 129) interchange at Ohio Bypass 4.

"This will be our cornerstone, kind of our downtown," Michael Rahall, township administrator, said about the $70-million retail, dining and movie theater complex.

Developer Premier Properties USA next week will announce the first round of tenants to open with Target in October on the 66 acres, at the southeast corner of Ohio Bypass 4 and Princeton Road.

"Once Target is signed, they bring some stores with them. But (the developer) isn't sure which stores will be coming with it," Rahall said.

The development, originally referred to as The Pavilion at Princeton Road, will be called Bridgewater Falls, said Mike Tavel, spokesman for the Indianapolis-based company.

Premier's newest retail developments near Indianapolis and Evansville, Ind., have included Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, T.J. Maxx, and Borders Books, according to the company Web site.

Bridgewater Falls draws its name from three-tier illuminated waterfalls in the retention ponds to be built along the Princeton Road entrance, said Steve Morgan, township trustee.

Target, the main anchor, will occupy 125,000 square feet, about one-fourth of the 550,000-square-foot retail space. Almost three dozen stores eventually could occupy the shopping center, Tavel said.

Along Princeton Road, Premier wants to lure "upscale restaurants with sit-down dining," Tavel said. Trustees have been told that no fast food businesses will be built on the site, Morgan said.

Plans call for a multi-screen movie theater in the second phase, to be completed in 2005, Tavel said.

Princeton Road will be widened to five or six lanes east of Ohio Bypass 4 to Jayfield Drive, as it was west of the bypass in recent years to accommodate traffic for the new Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

Three stoplights will be added on Princeton Road - at the Bridgewater Falls main entrance, opposite Lakewood Drive and at Morris Road, Rahall said.

Trustees also have requested that Hamilton add Bridgewater Falls to the Joint Economic Development District that includes the Wal-Mart and Home Depot properties. Hamilton city council has approved the deal, which allows the governments to split a 2 percent earnings tax on all workers there, Mike Samoviski, Hamilton city manger, said.

The township will use its 75 percent cut of the taxes to pay for "the necessary additional police and fire expenses related to the development," Rahall said.

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com