Alex Ihnen wrote:^coming. All 4 corners are going big and more on surrounding blocks. Now this may take 5 years before completed, but it's transformative.
all 4 corners? Is the city selling the firehouse?
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all 4 corners? Is the city selling the firehouse?
It seems like some IKEA stores are single story if they have the room (like Bolingbrook) while others are multi-level (like Schaumburg). Do you know which way Kansas City's store will be?Presbyterian wrote:The Kansas City store will be about 350,000 s.f. -- although some new stores are closer to 500,000 s.f. What I find funny is that the building marked as 500,000 s.f. of retail is even shaped sort of like a typical Ikea. Maybe they could have colored it blue and yellow instead of red?
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^ Don't know re: KC, but you're right. Cincinnati is all open surface parking. Boston is majority covered surface parking under the store's second level.
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At least build the IKEA up to Vandeventer and put parking between it and the Grain Silos. 
The Bolingbrook store itself is two-story (displays & cafe up; warehouse & checkout down / main level) -- or are you talking about the parking lot? That lot is vast.dweebe wrote:Presbyterian wrote:It seems like some IKEA stores are single story if they have the room (like Bolingbrook) while others are multi-level (like Schaumburg). Do you know which way Kansas City's store will be?
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The red building appears to have a footprint of about 150,000 s.f... 300 ft x 500 ft. That would suggest a two-level store.
Now that you say it you're right about Bolingbrook being two story. My bad.justme123 wrote:The Bolingbrook store itself is two-story (displays & cafe up; warehouse & checkout down / main level) -- or are you talking about the parking lot? That lot is vast.dweebe wrote:Presbyterian wrote:It seems like some IKEA stores are single story if they have the room (like Bolingbrook) while others are multi-level (like Schaumburg). Do you know which way Kansas City's store will be?
I just remember my last visit to the one in Carson California (outside LA) and want to say it was 4 levels. You took the escalator all the way to the top to enter and then had to wind your way down. Displays and 2-4 and warehouse, checkout and cafe on the ground level.
I have yet to see an IKEA that wasn't surrounded by acres of surface parking.
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I really like how many of the proposed buildings appear to be ringed with ground level retail space. Of course IKEA will be a big box, but all of the surrounding retail should help increase street level pedestrian activity in the area.Alex Ihnen wrote:![]()
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The new renderings say 80,000 s.F. I'm very disturbed by the thought that it might not be IKEA....
WAIT A MINUTE.....Im sorry WRONG RENDERINGS!!!! I just nearly gave myself a heart attack o.o
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This whole area is going to see massive change in the near future. Basically all four corners here - minus (for now) the firehouse and adjacent parcels.
Ikea in the Atlantic Station neighborhood of Atlanta (google maps). Has hundreds of apartments directly across the street, and thousands nearby. Truly a model development.dweebe wrote:I have yet to see an IKEA that wasn't surrounded by acres of surface parking.
I've walked from Atlantic Station to that IKEA and was not impressed with how it fit in with all that residential. I would say the Target up the street is much more fit to it's environment, not to mention how unique that particular store is.mill204 wrote:Ikea in the Atlantic Station neighborhood of Atlanta (google maps). Has hundreds of apartments directly across the street, and thousands nearby. Truly a model development.dweebe wrote:I have yet to see an IKEA that wasn't surrounded by acres of surface parking.
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I'm not sure I've ever seen an IKEA that truly fit in well with surrounding neighborhoods, not when they're big boxes surrounded by acres of asphalt even in the most urban locations.
Based on what I know about Atlantic Station in Atlanta (not much), I'd expect that an IKEA in Midtown would have a similar fit/feel as it does in Atlanta. It wouldn't necessarily relate well to its surroundings, but it'd still probably be an improvement over IKEAs located in distant suburbs of other cities.
I do hope, however, that other potential retailers (Target, various junior anchors, etc.) will fit in better than IKEA. I'm not super-impressed with the site plan for Midtown Station, but I'm going to reserve judgment until I see more specifics.
Based on what I know about Atlantic Station in Atlanta (not much), I'd expect that an IKEA in Midtown would have a similar fit/feel as it does in Atlanta. It wouldn't necessarily relate well to its surroundings, but it'd still probably be an improvement over IKEAs located in distant suburbs of other cities.
I do hope, however, that other potential retailers (Target, various junior anchors, etc.) will fit in better than IKEA. I'm not super-impressed with the site plan for Midtown Station, but I'm going to reserve judgment until I see more specifics.
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Pace spokesman in P-D article on Midtown Station:
... ... 
Heitz said he has heard the talk that IKEA is looking at the site along Forest Park Avenue west of Vandeventer. He noted that Pace represents IKEA in looking at potential store sites in the St. Louis area but declined to comment on any specific location."
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 009c7.html
... ... This is bound to be one of the most anticlimactic events in St. Louis history, whether IKEA opens a year from now or twenty years from now. Can any result possibly live up to the nearly TEN YEARS of artificial hype generated by this very topic? I think not.
Meanwhile, this thread still invokes:
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Meanwhile, this thread still invokes:
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^You could get dehydrated.
(Try some lingonberries. They're good for that.)
(Try some lingonberries. They're good for that.)
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Don't read the comments on the FOX 2 Facebook post...People are sooo uneducated..
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FWIW - those people are more likely to die driving to work than a city resident shopping at an urban IKEA.
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bprop, I understand where you are coming from. However, I think that you are looking at this wrong. This is not a HUGE story (IMO) because it is IKEA alone. This is a HUGE story because it could mean MAJOR retail in the CITY. Not just in the CITY, in MIDTOWN! That is HUGE! Anyone who lives in the City, can appreciate the fact that we do not have much retail. We have to go to the County for almost everything. With the exception of Hampton Village, not much retail of this nature exists. If IKEA were to come to the CITY, it would be the first time, in a long time, that a CITY retail area, will attract people from all over the region. While I was too young to know who was shopping with me at STL Centre and Union Station, I would assume they attracted people from all over, when they first opened. Whether people want to rip IKEA as cheap Swedish imports or not, the place if unique and not like any retail store I've ever been to. It is VERY affordable and stylish. I think it will be a HUGE hit in the region. Even the far burbites will flock to it.
The other HUGE story here (assuming IKEA comes to Midtown Station), is the connection that is being created, between Downtown and the CWE, via Midtown. This has been a long time in the making. If we can achieve this, it should spur other developments, such as residential, other retail and hopefully streetcars. I would also hope to see an eventual connection with the Loop Trolley. This could create a dense urban environment from the Arch, all of the way to Clayton and U-City. That will be one amazing CONNECTED urban environment.
Those are the real stories here, not (JUST) that IKEA could be coming.
I'm sure I am not saying anything new, but I wanted to put some emphasis on the fact that this is not just an IKEA thing for us City-folk. It is so much more than that!
The other HUGE story here (assuming IKEA comes to Midtown Station), is the connection that is being created, between Downtown and the CWE, via Midtown. This has been a long time in the making. If we can achieve this, it should spur other developments, such as residential, other retail and hopefully streetcars. I would also hope to see an eventual connection with the Loop Trolley. This could create a dense urban environment from the Arch, all of the way to Clayton and U-City. That will be one amazing CONNECTED urban environment.
Those are the real stories here, not (JUST) that IKEA could be coming.
I'm sure I am not saying anything new, but I wanted to put some emphasis on the fact that this is not just an IKEA thing for us City-folk. It is so much more than that!
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^ Take it a step further, other big retailers will want to be in the vicinity of the traffic created by Ikea. It also proves that the city is a place that you can locate and be successful. Other retailers should begin to take a second look.
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^ Yes. You can bet that Pace is showing potential tenants the traffic count, and then the IKEA traffic count.
I would say that when the IKEA came to Tampa in the Channel Side/Ybor area it did NOT bring forth an especially large growth of new businesses to the area
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A U.S. Ikea gets about 6,000 visitors on weekdays and perhaps double that on weekends. That's a couple million visitors / year... and $90 million in sales.
Fair point. My only counterpoints:hebeter wrote:I would say that when the IKEA came to Tampa in the Channel Side/Ybor area it did NOT bring forth an especially large growth of new businesses to the area
-that store is in a horrible location
-Ybor City has it's own issues
-the Tampa/St. Pete area doesn't strike me as an IKEA market and very different than St. Louis