Here’s what readers want to open in downtown Fresno. Will the top choices ever come?

Fresnans have some pretty clear ideas about what they’d like to see downtown.

We asked readers recently to vote in a poll on what businesses they want to see open in downtown Fresno. Now we’re sharing what readers said — along with a dose of reality.

First, some methodology: Readers nominated what businesses they wanted to see come downtown first. We took the top responses and turned them into a poll where readers could click on their top choice.

The winner was clear: a Target store.

It got almost half the votes.

The No. 2 vote getter was high-rise apartments (we have a few of these in the form of lofts in the 16-story Pacific Southwest Building, but clearly Fresno wants more).

That was followed by a movie theater, a full-service grocery store, Trader Joe’s, IKEA and a bookstore. Everything else got less than 1% of the vote. (Sorry, Dog House Grill. You’ve got some vocal fans out there, but you didn’t make the Top 5).

As for Target, many downtown residents and visitors alike would love to have a full-sized Target downtown.

But also mentioned in the nominations were Target’s smaller stores, like CityTarget, a medium-sized store designed for dense, urban markets, often with multiple floors and parking garages.

Will Target come to downtown Fresno?

Would any versions of these Target stores ever come to downtown Fresno?

No one can predict the future.

But here’s a reality check from one of Fresno’s longtime retail brokers who handles large national businesses, Steve Rontell of Colliers International.

“Very, very slim to no chance” of Target opening downtown, he said.

Target typically doesn’t go into downtowns unless it’s a major city with a large downtown and no Target for miles. (Think downtown Los Angeles, Times Square in New York, etc.)

“With Fresno, it’s honestly too easy to get on a freeway … and get to a Target,” he said, noting that the Target at Shields Avenue and First Street is just a few minutes away.

Some of this applies to other big retailers too.

An often-heard sentiment is: “They should put a Target/IKEA/Trader Joe’s downtown.”

But the only one who decides if a retailer opens anywhere is the retailer itself. Sure, cities and municipalities can offer tax breaks or other incentives to lure a company in.

Plus, retailers have very specific requirements for populations within a certain radius and incomes when opening a new store, said Fresno retail broker Mark Saito of Mark Saito Co.

“It costs so much money to put these stores in they can’t afford to pick a bad location,” he said.