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PostMay 09, 2013#501

According to a property owner on Forest Park Parkway: IKEA is coming to St. Louis and will be in the City of St. Louis, but not at this site. The Forest Park Parkway land in question will be developed for another pending project (undisclosed).

Sorry the info is so fuzzy, but that's all I got.

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PostMay 09, 2013#502

stlgasm wrote:IKEA is coming to St. Louis and will be in the City of St. Louis
I really hope this is true, any thoughts on how close they are to an announcement?

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PostMay 09, 2013#503

I certainly hope The LaClede Group isn't planning to uproot from downtown to move to FPP/Cortex. I am hoping that a little energy node could form downtown.

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PostMay 09, 2013#504

stlgasm wrote:According to a property owner on Forest Park Parkway: IKEA is coming to St. Louis and will be in the City of St. Louis, but not at this site. The Forest Park Parkway land in question will be developed for another pending project (undisclosed).

Sorry the info is so fuzzy, but that's all I got.
C'mon McKee - this is your chance to be in everyone's good graces...

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PostMay 09, 2013#505

Whatever the case, I just hope an IKEA isn't plopped down or becomes nestled in some weird place in the city - just to get it in the city. I hope proper planning is thoroughly considered.

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PostMay 09, 2013#506

arch city wrote:Whatever the case, I just hope an IKEA isn't plopped down or becomes nestled in some weird place in the city - just to get it in the city. I hope proper planning is thoroughly considered.
I doubt IKEA would let that happen as they seem to think these things out. Then again I still contend that the Atlanta location is a bit strange (at least to me).

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PostMay 09, 2013#507

I received a tip from a made up email address the other day saying IKEA was ready to sign to go into NorthPark...let the rumor mill spin!

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PostMay 09, 2013#508

Alex Ihnen wrote:I received a tip from a made up email address the other day saying IKEA was ready to sign to go into NorthPark...let the rumor mill spin!
Lafayette Square East.

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PostMay 09, 2013#509

Alex Ihnen wrote:I received a tip from a made up email address the other day saying IKEA was ready to sign to go into NorthPark...let the rumor mill spin!
That could be a real possibility. I can see a big blue IKEA box on a hill overlooking I-70.

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PostMay 09, 2013#510

^I could see that too. With the exception of Express Scripts and a few other tenants, Northpark has been grossly underutilized. The fact that Northpark is right off I-70 is logical.

But where at Northpark? Would Express Scripts want their office building view at Northpark blocked by an IKEA? What about future expansions by Express Scripts? An expansion is likely to happen sooner or later.

Here is an aerial here and a street level view here.

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PostMay 09, 2013#511

arch city wrote:I certainly hope The LaClede Group isn't planning to uproot from downtown to move to FPP/Cortex. I am hoping that a little energy node could form downtown.
Have to agree, while Laclede would be staying in the city it would be a another blow to downtown, increase vacany thus lowering office rates, not to mention a mismatch for CORTEX. Retail and mixed use residential infill seems like a lot better way to encourage CORTEX growth in which employees have options for living close to work if desired without having to jump in a car. That is an advantage CORTEX/City can offer bio employers over the various suburban office parks like NorthPark for example. Maybe that employee gets an apartment and then later on looks for a house in FPSE, Dogtown or CWE, so on.

PostMay 10, 2013#512

stlgasm wrote:According to a property owner on Forest Park Parkway: IKEA is coming to St. Louis and will be in the City of St. Louis, but not at this site. The Forest Park Parkway land in question will be developed for another pending project (undisclosed).

Sorry the info is so fuzzy, but that's all I got.
Must be a little bit more to considering the comment from PD's article

http://www.stltoday.com/print/business- ... 939ea.html

The utility has all but eliminated one of its previously mentioned options: construction of a headquarters on company-owned property on Forest Park Avenue, in the CORTEX district.

“We still wish to locate our headquarters in the city of St. Louis,” said Laclede spokeswoman Jenny Gobble. “Having said that, at this time, our property at Sarah (Street) and Forest Park is a very unlikely option for our headquarters.”

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PostMay 10, 2013#513

dredger wrote:Must be a little bit more to considering the comment from PD's article

http://www.stltoday.com/print/business- ... 939ea.html

The utility has all but eliminated one of its previously mentioned options: construction of a headquarters on company-owned property on Forest Park Avenue, in the CORTEX district.

“We still wish to locate our headquarters in the city of St. Louis,” said Laclede spokeswoman Jenny Gobble. “Having said that, at this time, our property at Sarah (Street) and Forest Park is a very unlikely option for our headquarters because we are close to a closing on selling it to IKEA. Oh crap... Please don't print that! Redo! Redo!”
There, fixed that for you!

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PostMay 10, 2013#514

I heard from a source connected to the Board of Aldermen that the Forest Park and Vandeventer site is being looked at strongly by a big box-type retailer (such as Best Buy, according to the source), but definitely not Ikea.

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PostMay 10, 2013#515

As much as I'd love an Ikea there, I'd spend more time at a Target.

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PostMay 10, 2013#516

roger wyoming II wrote:
dredger wrote:Must be a little bit more to considering the comment from PD's article

http://www.stltoday.com/print/business- ... 939ea.html

The utility has all but eliminated one of its previously mentioned options: construction of a headquarters on company-owned property on Forest Park Avenue, in the CORTEX district.

“We still wish to locate our headquarters in the city of St. Louis,” said Laclede spokeswoman Jenny Gobble. “Having said that, at this time, our property at Sarah (Street) and Forest Park is a very unlikely option for our headquarters because we are close to a closing on selling it to IKEA. Oh crap... Please don't print that! Redo! Redo!
There, fixed that for you!

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PostMay 10, 2013#517

Best Buy would not go alone there nor do I believe they're going here period as the company is going through a lot of issues right now and not doing new stores). In the case I'm wrong, they would be a Jr Anchor tenant next to an anchor tenant such as IKEA, Target, Walmart, etc.

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PostMay 11, 2013#518

I don't think the source necessarily meant Best Buy itself, he just used it as an example of the type of big box retailer that was looking at the site.

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PostMay 14, 2013#519

Alex Ihnen wrote:I received a tip from a made up email address the other day saying IKEA was ready to sign to go into NorthPark...let the rumor mill spin!
Wait, NorthPark isn't even in St. Louis -- it's east of the airport. Do you mean McKee's other "North" property, NorthSide? The former isn't awful as it's near the intersection of 70 & 170 but there seem to be much better spots. I suppose the latter could work if it were near the interstate / new bridge.

I hear that Ikea is still being worked although I didn't inquire into the target location.

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PostMay 14, 2013#520

innov8ion wrote:Wait, NorthPark isn't even in St. Louis -- it's east of the airport. Do you mean McKee's other "North" property, NorthSide? The former isn't awful as it's near the intersection of 70 & 170 but there seem to be much better spots. I suppose the latter could work if it were near the interstate / new bridge.

I hear that Ikea is still being worked although I didn't inquire into the target location.
It's ok. The email address with this information was breakingIKEAnews@northparkstl.com :roll: :lol:

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PostMay 14, 2013#521

well, it would be closer to Boeing, gently ease in the out-of-towners.

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PostMay 16, 2013#522

Putting IKEA in North Park will be like St. Louis Mills Part 2. Failure.
Putting a Target or Walmart in the cortex area will be St. Louis Marketplace Part 2. Failure.

IKEA should go in the Cortex area. close to young people and students from downtown to Clayton. Highway visibility with higher disposable incomes than those who travel from Downtown up 70 or even 170 for that matter. People who live in the central corridor don't often leave the central corridor.

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PostMay 16, 2013#523

jcity wrote:Putting IKEA in North Park will be like St. Louis Mills Part 2. Failure.
IKEA's don't usually fail. IKEA scouts for the perfect location forever and when a location is finally selected the store will be at that location until the rapture.

If they select Northpark, it will be a success because it will become a draw not just for St. Louisans, but it will draw people within a 150-mile radius or greater of St. Louis.

With that said, I'm rooting for a location in St. Louis City.

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PostMay 16, 2013#524

Good points, Arch City. Like you, I'm rooting for a city location (retail coup/tax revenue), especially the previously rumored, mouth-watering location near Cortex/SLU.

A side positive to Northpark is IKEA will clearly visible to airline passengers (like Portland) and would make an impression on travelers who are changing flights or may not get near the city if they're doing business in Chesterfield, Clayton.

Likewise, with a city location, I want visible, up against the guardrails of 70 or 64 for the same reason.

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PostMay 16, 2013#525

arch city wrote:
jcity wrote:Putting IKEA in North Park will be like St. Louis Mills Part 2. Failure.
IKEA's don't usually fail. IKEA scouts for the perfect location forever and when a location is finally selected the store will be at that location until the rapture.

If they select Northpark, it will be a success because it will become a draw not just for St. Louisans, but it will draw people within a 150-mile radius or greater of St. Louis.
I'm guessing they'd want to be somewhere off of 64 or 44, nearish to the middle of the 270/55 radius that encompasses the St. Louis County / City core. The Hadley Township and Cortex sites fit well in this model but who knows what their criteria really is.

I guess it just depends what they consider their target geographic market for St. Louis to be. Anyone have some thoughts?

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