urbanSTL

It is reasonable to assume that IKEA looked hard, is looking hard, or will look hard at NorthPark. It is there, lots of space, has freeway access and like Portland as well as Newark (to airports my business travels take me) is highly visible from both the freeway as well as the sky. Not too mention, IKEA is building for the region not a demographic area like you see with a Walmart/Target as noted in an earlier post.

That being said, The hands down winner in retail development/entertainment market is the Hwy40/I64 Corridor. From the ever improving City cental corridor/downtown, to Galleria/Big Box mecca of I64 inner suburbs to West County malls and the ever expanding Chesterfield retail empire/outlet malls. Not to mention the fact that outside of Express Scrips, almost all the major corporate/hospital expansions have relative easy access to Hwy40/I64 (Peabody, Wells Fargo/BJC Hospital/CORTEX/MoBaptist/Mercy Hospital/Scottrade/RGA/Monsanto chesterfield complex/Mastercard) or relatively short ride from I270 or I170 to Hwy40/I64 (Edward Jones/Dansforth Center/Boeing/WorldWideTechnology). Throw in Wash U/SLU and It is hard to believe that IKEA would ignore the reality of what has been happening on the Hwy40/I64 corridor.

Alex Ihnen wrote:^^^^ ? A Target at CORTEX or the block east would KILL.

I still think hands down that an urban Target store footprint with underground parking like you see with the Hampton Ave store at the old Federal Mogul is the best spot. I think you could also argue that a BPV residential tower taking up a corner incorporating a ground/second floor Target would not be a bad idea either.

I definitely believe another Target built in the city (with underground or above store parking) would kill any attempt in the near futer by McKee to get a Walmart Superstore with a sea of surface parking built at either the Bottlworks or West Downtown/22nd interchage. Any big box store on those northside sites would be a big dissappointed and underwhelming.

In other words, the more I look at the proposal of placing an IKEA at the Laclede site within CORTEX the more I'm convinced it is the best location for them in the region and by far the best big box store for CORTEX development, if there is going to be one, at the end of the day.

dredger wrote:

Alex Ihnen wrote:^^^^ ? A Target at CORTEX or the block east would KILL.

I definitely believe another Target built in the city (with underground or above store parking) would kill any attempt in the near futer by McKee to get a Walmart Superstore with a sea of surface parking built at either the Bottlworks or West Downtown/22nd interchage. Any big box store on those northside sites would be a big dissappointed and underwhelming.

Are there actually plans proposed for a Wal-Mart to be built at one of these locations? That would really, really, really, really, really piss me off.

^ Don't believe so. But it is not hard to imagine being that McKee as sole developer has two freeway ready to go sites and TIF in place. CORTEX big plus for retail on east end is the TIF in place with good access.

The point I'm trying to make is that Walmart, if they were to locate within the city, would most likely desire and therefore pick an ideal spot for their business model period. The business model is more times than not is a supercenter with a large amount of surface parking area located near a major freeway or intersection/arterial road/blvd. I believe at end of the day that they would desire to either building on Bottleworks site or part of a rebuild 22nd street interchange?

Which gets to what I think is better outcome for the city, Target who is willing to build within urban cores and on sites that will require a smaller footprints because they have incorporated an underground parking into their structure/stores.

onecity wrote:Target projects a more selective image, has a better soundtrack on its ads, has a better corporate culture, and thus it is better than Wal Mart. Also, Target isn't based in the middle of nowhere.

It's hard to say that one is better than the other as they each have different target markets. Obviously, Walmart is more economical.

Occam's razor. QED.

onecity wrote:Target projects a more selective image, has a better soundtrack on its ads, has a better corporate culture, and thus it is better than Wal Mart. Also, Target isn't based in the middle of nowhere.

Northwest Arkansas may seem like the "middle of nowhere", but it's one of the fastest-growing and most recession-proof areas of the country. And Walmart isn't the only reason.

Back to IKEA- Now that we know that Macy's is leaving the former Famous-Barr flagship downtown, I'd like permission to punch the next person that suggests that IKEA should locate there on Facebook, STLtoday.com, or anywhere else. I know there are a lot of people that place IKEA on a pedestal, but the only IKEA locations I know of that are in anything resembling an urban environment are in Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Most are in big boxes surrounded by asphalt that are bigger than Walmart but smaller than an old General Motors factory, and they look about as attractive as both of those places. Even if St. Louis eventually gets its IKEA, and even if it winds up in the city, it's never going to be in the center of downtown.

^^The Brooklyn IKEA is in an industrial wasteland, is surrounded by parking, and is definitely in the standard big box format. No subway goes close to it, a single bus line goes by it, and they subsidize a water-taxi to and from Wall Street.

It's definitely not urban by New York or St. Louis standards.

and the IKEA in Pittsburgh is small compared to other IKEA's and other than being close to a highway it is located in an average suburban setting

Alex Ihnen wrote:^ Punch away!

Haha! Obviously I'm not serious, but I can't believe the number of people that have this idealized vision of what IKEA is like.

Take Chicago, for example, which is an urban utopia in the eyes of many St. Louisans even if it has as many additional problems as it does additional advantages over St. Louis. Their IKEA is nowhere near Michigan Avenue or even State Street- it's in freaking Bolingbrook! For locals unfamiliar with Chicagoland, that's about as far removed from the lakefront as Barnhart or St. Peters are from the Gateway Arch. The Target on Hampton Avenue is urban by comparison, and even it has acres of parking in front to go along with the vast parking garage underneath.

And speaking of Target, I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that I can find the same quality of build-your-own furniture there as I can at IKEA. Look, I admire Scandinavian design as much as anyone else. Clean lines are important to me, too. But it's not like you're buying a Volvo, which you could buy for about $40k new and drive for 500k miles over 20 years- you're getting build-your-own furniture that's engineered to a price point. I know, it's a real shock. And don't get me wrong, I like their stuff, but I can also live without it.

I actually knew that the Brooklyn and Philadelphia stores weren't urban in design, I just wanted to point out that they are the only IKEA stores of which I am aware that are actually close to an urban center. Most are 20-30 miles away from downtown areas as I pointed out earlier. IKEA is much more apt to locate in an area like Maryland Heights or Hazelwood, or perhaps Collinsville in the Metro East. That way they are somewhat central to suburban dwellers in distant suburbs yet not too far or inconvenient from urban areas in the Central Corridor. That said, I still trust Alex's previous article on the topic, and I would not be at all shocked if IKEA located in or around Midtown. After all, a location near Highway 40 is still quite convenient to all of the outlying places I mentioned before. I would just never expect them to take on the former Famous-Barr flagship- it wasn't like they looked at the old Strawbridge's or Wanamaker's (still a Macy's, for now at least) when they located south and east of the city center in Philadelphia.

Presbyterian wrote:Tweet from SPACEarchitects @SPACEarchitects:

Saying it out loud. IKEA is moving in at Vandeventer and Forest Park Parkway. Confirmed.

Tweet from Richard Callow @publiceyestl:

Adding the word "confirmed" to a tweet doesn't actually confirm it.

^No, this tweet:

Tim Logan ‏@tlwriter 20m

Confirmed. RT @publiceyestl Adding the word "confirmed" to a tweet doesn't actually confirm it.

...is just Tim Logan being cheeky about what publiceye tweeted. He's not confirming what SPACE tweeted. That said, Alex Ihnen already confirmed that IKEA was looking into FP/Vandeventer site. Maybe SPACE heard that talks have progressed?

roger wyoming II wrote:Seems like it is confirmed... Tim Logan seconds.

If you're referring to Tim Logan's "Confirmed." tweet, he later clarified he was "confirming" Richard Callow's tweet, not the news.

The latest:

Tim Logan ‏@tlwriter 14s

We connected with IKEA, who decidedly did not confirm a new store at Vandeventer & Forest Park. Still "evaluating opportunities," as ever.

My guess is that SPACE's sources are saying that talks have progressed from "maybe" to "likely".