[image-1]The developers over at Ikea have officially done away with plans to build a store in Brooklyn, Ohio, after studying the possible site for more than a year.
The furniture store was considering building off I-480 near Tiedeman Road. Ikea signed a purchase agreement for the 16 acres of land owned by The Plain Dealer Publishing Co. in 2014. Facing environmental obstacles, Ikea allowed its study window for developing the land to end on February 15 of this year.
The company also considered using a portion of land owned by the city of Brooklyn, including approximately 15 acres of wetlands. The property is under guardianship of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Clean Water Act and required permission to study and use. A formal down vote from the feds was never received, but it appeared unlikely the request would be accepted.
Altogether, an Ikea store needs about 20 or 30 acres of land to develop on. This allows for enough store and parking space to suit their needs, approximately 250,000 to 400,000 square feet of space for furniture displays and Swedish meatball consumption.
Ikea says the company is still interested in building a store in Northeast Ohio, however it currently has no other sites on the table. A central Ohio store is scheduled to be completed in Columbus and is slated for a 2017 opening.
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2016.
Well, it was nice to think we were getting an IKEA up here for a little while. I agree though that there are better places to build one than right next to the PD. Hopefully they find a new site soon.
Brunswick. Oh wait, no, they built that horrendously bad and disastrously planned “Town Centre” on good land.
Been to both the Pissburgh and Cincy stores…the meatballs are great and so is the atmosphere but a lot of the furnishings are just, flimsy, schlocky crap… hell, some of the bedroom pieces–like dressers and nightstands– are practically made out of laminated cardboard! I was shocked to see how piss-poor some of it really was…it wouldn’t hold up in more than one move.
A lot of IKEA products are overpriced junk that even college kids in dorms would sneer at and snark at.
You’re better off going to a resale shop like Habitat’s ReStores…instead of shlepping down 71 or on the turnpike to W. PA. Seriously!
Chuckles the Clown
For certain demographics housewares shopping at IKEA is more of a rite of passage, and metaphysical experience, when outfitting a new dorm room-apartment-residence. I’ve always enjoyed the “road trip” vibe of this 2-3 hour Interstate trek, but getting the big stuff home safely across state lines is always a challenge.
Why the challenge? Is there the danger of getting busted at the border? When did it become illegal to transport expensive cardboard garbage from one state to another? Do they use hemp in their merchandise, or what? Inquiring minds wanna know!
Chuckles the Clown
Just in Way, Mentor location would be perfect, they just need that exell/ autoparts whse and the lot in front of it. Or the location of the old Mall in Euclid (Babitt road). Also would be closer to Erie Pa than Pittsburgh IKEA
They should definitely look into the location where the currant UHAUL is on Brookpark rd and houserman .i believe it is enough space as is the PD location .we need an IKEA in this area !!we definitely miss ours after moving from sunrise
Build it where the old rolling acres mall once stood. Plenty of highway access, and a short drive for people all around northeast Ohio.