Is there really an IKEA store in Assembly Row’s future? Only time will tell.

Somerville store plans still in the air

By Elizabeth Sheeran

If IKEA ever breaks ground on long-standing plans for a Somerville store, the college freshmen shopping for dorm room accessories at the grand opening will be kids who weren’t even born yet when the retail giant first came to town in the 1990s. And locals are starting to wonder if that “if” will ever become a “when.”

“It seems to be the number one question now as I walk around the neighborhood: ‘Is IKEA coming or not?,’” said Ward One Alderman William Roche at last Thursday’s meeting of the Board of Alderman, which voted to formally ask Mayor Joseph Curtatone for an updated status report on plans for a Somerville IKEA store.

After a decade full of speed bumps for IKEA in Somerville, the pieces finally fell into place in 2009, when IKEA completed a land swap with Assembly Row developer Federal Realty, moving IKEA away from the waterfront to its current site behind Home Depot, and clearing the way to revamp the entire area, complete with upgraded riverfront parkland and a new Orange Line T station. But by then, retailers were facing a worldwide recession.

When IKEA asked the city for a one-year extension of its Special Permits last summer, it made its case for hardship by citing “macroeconomic forces” and the need to get infrastructure in place. A July letter to the Mayor stated, “IKEA’s present intention continues to be to develop the land and construct an IKEA store, seek internal approvals therefore and to extend IKEA’s Special Permits for such purpose and not to land-bank the property.”

But a targeted store opening date came and went in 2011 with no new date announced. Now, with only three months left before the expiration of the existing Special Permits, IKEA has given no sign of moving forward, prompting many to wonder what’s going to happen to the roughly 10-acre property that IKEA is sitting on adjacent to the Assembly Row development.

“Quite frankly, personally, I really don’t care if they come or not, because there are such good things happening down there that if they don’t come, that land will be utilized to its fullest,” said Roche. “So if they don’t want to come, let them bow out and let’s move on. But I think one way or another we should have an answer about the future of IKEA down there.”

Alderman-At-Large William White expressed concern about the bonds the state issued to fund infrastructure at the site, with the assumption IKEA would be up and running and generating sales tax revenue. “It’s very important that we do get to the bottom of it because if IKEA isn’t coming then we’re going to have to have a revised plan sent to this board to then go to the state to get approval to govern how those bonds are issued.”

But if the Aldermen are looking for a “Yes” or “No” answer on IKEA’s plans for Somerville, the response from IKEA is a firm…“Maybe.”

“There still remains an interest in opening a second Boston area store,” said Joseph Roth of IKEA USA, referring to the retailer’s Stoughton store opened in 2005, “but we can’t commit to a timeframe.“

Roth said IKEA continues to evaluate the project, which involves decision-making at all levels of the company and is influenced by factors at the local, national and international level. He said the company had not reached any new decisions about its future in Somerville.

“There’s nothing new to report. The only thing that’s changed is that the expiration dates for our permits is getting closer,” said Roth. He added, “based on the permits expiring, we may need to make a decision.”

Mayor Joseph Curtatone this week said any speculation about what will happen to the IKEA site is premature as long as the company is still working through their internal decision process. “We’re not there yet. There’s been no announcement from IKEA,” said the Mayor. “Nothing’s changed. They are still going through their due diligence.”

But he also said the city was not going to let the land sit vacant forever, especially given the amount of public and private investment that has gone into unlocking the economic potential of the area along the Mystic.

“We have made it very clear to them that we are not going to allow that land to be left in abeyance in perpetuity,” said Curtatone. “We will be very aggressive in ensuring that development happens there in a manner that’s consistent with the city’s vision for the Assembly Square neighborhood.”

The Mayor said IKEA had been a “good and cooperative partner,” and that if they did eventually decide to withdraw from Somerville, he expects them to work with the city to determine an appropriate disposition for the land, although with Assembly Row moving full speed ahead, interested parties shouldn’t be hard to find.

“If IKEA comes, great. If they don’t come, great. We’re prepared to move forward either way,” he said.