Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Federal Realty Investment Trust and IKEA have signed a purchase and sale agreement on 12 acres of land in Assembly Square, the developers announced.
Federal Realty Investment Trust, the developers of Assembly Row, have agreed to purchase the 12 acres of land in Assembly Square owned by IKEA, and they plan to build a supermarket there along with office and residential space, according to an announcement from Federal Realty Investment Trust. Although Assembly Row's developers and IKEA have signed an agreement, the deal will be not become final until after Federal Realty Investment Trust conducts due dilligence on the site and its development potential, a process that could take months, the announcement says. The sale price was not disclosed according to the announcement and the Boston Globe. The IKEA parcel will add land to Assembly Row's $1.5 billion development in Assembly Square, …
Thursday, December 6, 2012
"I expect an extension of the neighborhood" currently under construction in Assembly Square, the mayor said.
IKEA, which owns a large parcel of land in Assembly Square, will "make an announcement very soon about who they're selling to," Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said Wednesday night at a Ward 4 ResiStat meeting. IKEA first bought land in Assembly Square in the 1990s, and the Swedish company's plans for the location were a longstanding subject of speculation in Somerville until July, when the furniture giant announced it was not building in the city. Curtatone, speaking after the meeting, did not know when IKEA would make the announcement, but said it would be very soon, very likely before Christmas and possibly within days. In terms of who would be taking over the parcel and what would be built there, the mayor said, "I expect an …
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Ellin Reisner of the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership talked on WGBH radio about what IKEA's decision means for the city.
Callie Crossley, host of Boston Public Radio on WGBH, spoke to Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and neighborhood activist Ellin Reisner Monday about IKEA's decision not to build in Assembly Square. The two also spoke about the type of development they'd like to see built on the furniture company's 12 acres of land instead of an IKEA store. Curtatone said IKEA's decision to pull out of the neighborhood is an opportunity for the city to "create more jobs and more tax revenues than an IKEA would have ever brought in." "That site will sell and develop fast," he said. In fiscal year 2012, the city, for tax purposes, valued IKEA's land at $18,301,200, and the company paid $399,881 to the city in taxes. That was enough to put the company on the…
Monday, July 23, 2012
Some responses to our poll, "Are you sad IKEA is not coming to Somerville?"
Most people who responded to our poll about IKEA said they were sad the furniture wasn't coming to Somerville, but they were sad for multiple reasons. In the poll, 58 percent of people responded to the question "Are you sad IKEA is not coming to Somerville?" with "Yes. I was looking forward to shopping there, especially for the Swedish meatballs." Another 29 percent of respondents said, "No. I didn't think IKEA was right for Somerville anyway." That said, the issue didn't seem terribly important to people, considering the poll received just 17 votes as of early Sunday afternoon. Some people were disappointed IKEA wasn't coming, but not because they wanted to shop there. Matt C., for instance, commented, "The reasons why one would be …
Friday, July 20, 2012
If IKEA doesn't sell it's Assembly Square land to a developer, the city wants the ability to acquire the property, according to Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said "I fully expect" IKEA to sell its 12-acre parcel of land in Assembly Square to a new developer who will find a mixed-use, transportation-friendly use for the land. But if IKEA doesn't sell, the mayor wants the city of Somerville to have the power to take the parcel by eminent domain. Curtatone said the Somerville Redevelopment Authority will be asked to vote on July 26 on an amendment to the area's urban renewal plan that would classify IKEA's 12 acre plot as an "acquisition parcel." What that means, the mayor said, is that if, over time, there isn't sufficient movement toward developing the property, the city would have the power to take it by eminent domain. "We will not allow it to sit [undeveloped…
42.39285
-71.08148
Assembly Square Dr & Foley St, Somerville, MA
/articles/city-to-seek-eminent-domain-power-over-ikea-parcel-says-mayor
/locations/7469835
Some were devastated, others were glad. On Thursday, IKEA announced it wasn't planning to build a store in Somerville. What do you think?
It didn't come as a shock, but it came as a disappointment to some. On Thursday, IKEA officially announced it was pulling the plug on plans to build a store in Somerville. On Twitter, @msmarfinkle wrote, "I'm slightly devastated." And @midlakewinter said, "But, but … lingonberries?!" Others took the news a different way. Another Twitter user, @randomhookup, wrote, "Didn't really want them anyway," and @wheres_laura commented, "I'll continue my tradition of never shopping there." So, where do you stand? Are you sad IKEA isn't coming to Somerville? Were you hoping to spend your weekends assembling entire bedroom sets with a small allen wrench? Or are you glad the giant box store isn't coming to Somerville? Vote in our poll, and feel free to …
Thursday, July 19, 2012
The Swedish furniture giant has pulled plans for its store in Assembly Square.
IKEA has officially decided not to build a store in Somerville's Assembly Square. In a letter addressed to Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, the furniture giant informed the city Thursday that it would not proceed with plans for a Somerville location. (You can read the letter to the right.) "We have made the very difficult decision not to pursue the construction of a Somerville store," the letter reads. Plans for the Somerville store started about 15 years ago, but Thursday's news did not come as a surprise. The Swedish company had previously stated its store in Stoughton took a lot of pressure off needing to build one in Somerville. In the letter to Curtatone, Doug Greenholz, U.S. real estate manager with IKEA, wrote, "Based on the …
Friday, May 4, 2012
An IKEA spokesperson said the Stoughton store "removed the urgency that may have existed in the mid 2000s" to open in Somerville, according to a Boston Business Journal Report on CBS Boston.
Perhaps the writing's been on the wall for a while when it comes to the long-awaited Somerville IKEA, but according to a report from CBS Boston and the Boston Business Journal, "The odds don't look good for a Somerville store." Read and watch the report here. The TV affiliate and newspaper note that IKEA still hasn't made a decision about whether or not to open in Somerville, but that lack of a decision may indicate the project is dead. It points out that IKEA opened just one store in the United States last year, and it opened none in 2010. IKEA, the Swedish flat-pack furniture giant, has been eyeing Somerville as a possible site for a store since the mid 1990s, and it owns land in Assembly Square, but over the years a land-swap deal with …
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said if IKEA decides not to build in Assembly Square, it won't be difficult to find another way to develop its parcel. "We will dictate what will happen there," he said.
IKEA, the Swedish furniture company, is still going through an internal process of deciding whether or not to build a store in Somerville's Assembly Square, according to Joseph Curtatone, mayor of Somerville. Speaking on The Mayor's Report—guest-hosted by the editor of Somerville Patch—Curtatone said, "IKEA North America representatives would like to get going right now, but this will be a decision that comes right out of Sweden." "We want them here. If they come, that would be great. If they don't, well, we'll move forward," the mayor said. IKEA has been eyeing Assembly Square for over a decade. It first bought land in Assembly Square in the late 1990s, but a lawsuit with the Mystic View Task Force, a land-swap deal with Federal Realty …
42.39285
-71.08148
Foley St & Assembly Square Dr, Somerville, MA
/articles/city-still-waiting-on-ikea-to-make-decision-says-mayor
/locations/6670817
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The proposed store is waiting for final approval from corporate headquarters to move forward.
IKEA still hasn't made up its mind about building a store in Somerville's Assembly Square, and there's no indication about when the global furniture chain will make that decision, according to an IKEA official. Doug Greenholz, vice president of real estate for IKEA's U.S. operations, told Somerville Patch this week during a brief phone conversation that "we don't have any timing yet." IKEA, a Swedish furniture company known for its assemble-it-at-home modern designs, has been interested in building a store in Assembly Square since the late 1990s, when it bought land in the area, but it has not yet committed. Greenholz was in Somerville in July to secure a one-year extension on planning board permits that would allow the company to move …
42.39285
-71.08148
Foley St & Assembly Square Dr, Somerville, MA
/articles/ikea-still-undecided-about-somerville-store
/locations/6124322
steve andrews
2:15 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
allright - market basket then.. more ›