This should probably have its own development thread now. A site map is at the link below....

 

Ikea proposal for Brooklyn site sees pushback from environmental groups (photos)

By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer

on August 19, 2015 at 3:52 PM, updated August 20, 2015 at 7:15 AM

 

BROOKLYN, Ohio – Northeast Ohio shoppers might be pleased at the prospect of an Ikea store opening in this suburb southwest of Cleveland.

 

But local organizations focused on the region's water quality aren't so happy that the Swedish furniture retailer has zeroed in on a site on Tiedeman Road.

 

In a letter dated Aug. 11, a committee that represents local governments, nonprofits, businesses and watershed groups asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reject Ikea's request to build a store that would erase 15.5 acres of wetlands.

 

MORE:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/08/ikea_proposal_in_brooklyn_sees.html#incart_river

Just have them put new wetlands where the super Kmart stood... Solved.

The Super K-Mart site is being looked at for a Menards.

Just have them put new wetlands where the super Kmart stood... Solved.

 

Or how about the City View Center in Garfield Heights? There, problem solved. Plenty of room there.

 

 

Just have them put new wetlands where the super Kmart stood... Solved.

 

Or how about the City View Center in Garfield Heights? There, problem solved. Plenty of room there.

 

Yes... Put it there! Things will just sliiiiide into place.

Just have them put new wetlands where the super Kmart stood... Solved.

 

Or how about the City View Center in Garfield Heights? There, problem solved. Plenty of room there.

 

Yes... Put it there! Things will just sliiiiide into place.

 

???

Just as an FYI.... Indianapolis will be getting an IKEA store:

 

http://www.wthr.com/story/30477305/ikea-to-announce-plans-for-fishers-store-on-tuesday

 

Or at least their plans are as far along as the ones for the Brooklyn site, although they did officially announce the store on Twitter.

An Indy store will mean IKEA will now be in 30 of the top 32 metros... With NEO (around 18th) and San Antonio.(around 27th) the only ones without.

IKEA has gone downhill considerably with all of this expansion.  They are constantly out of products, which isn't a good thing when most shoppers have a significant investment just to visit one of your stores. 

I no longer rely on them for what I once used as go-to items in my house or apartment renovations.  I just can't count on them having the item, or having sufficient quantities.

Finally, they have become more like Target in how quickly they rotate out styles. Things don't stay around for years at a time anymore. it's like nothing at IKEA is "Classic IKEA" anymore. 

What was the Army Corps decision on the Brooklyn site? And what was Ohio EPA's position, which was to be released after taht of the Army Corps?

IKEA has gone downhill considerably with all of this expansion.  They are constantly out of products, which isn't a good thing when most shoppers have a significant investment just to visit one of your stores. 

I no longer rely on them for what I once used as go-to items in my house or apartment renovations.  I just can't count on them having the item, or having sufficient quantities.

Finally, they have become more like Target in how quickly they rotate out styles. Things don't stay around for years at a time anymore. it's like nothing at IKEA is "Classic IKEA" anymore. 

 

I'm not a huge fan of Ikea or their products and once I moved out of my college house I donated all my Ikea furniture to my brother and have been replacing it over the last two years with quality furniture built to last since their products are generally incredibly cheap and not worth the cost savings.

 

That being said there are a handful of things they do decently well or offer at a price that is quite competitive. My condo has a 9' x 5' balcony that is quite comfortable with the exception of the floor being metal grate. Nothing like relaxing and being able to see 50' down to the ground and your neighbors' balconies below you.

 

Ikea offers an acacia wood decking that was perfect to cover it up so I went to the store at the beginning of summer. They had one package (covers 9 square feet) of the decking. Go online. Sold out with an estimated delivery date of 1.5 months. I asked if I could reserve some when the store got them in stock but they said they don't do that so I'd have to call everyday to check to see if they were delivered and then rush out to make sure I got them since their delivery size was basically only enough to cover my balcony. Why on earth a product like this wasn't stocked in time for summer baffles me. Yet they had four display areas with it on the ground that each took up roughly 100 square feet. Advertising a product you can't even get is pretty crappy.

 

They also once sent me the wrong bed frame and their records showed me buying a different frame than the receipt I printed. No idea how that happened but they refused to pick it up without charging me their obnoxious $90 delivery fee they attach to basically anything and everything. So I had to go through the process of finding a friend with a vehicle bigger than mine to bring it to the store. So the $90 I had spent to get the frame delivered (since it was out of stock originally) went down the toilet since they didn't view it as a mistake on their end despite me showing them my receipt that said otherwise.

 

I think Ikea is a great introduction into affordable modern furniture design which pleases me but their products and general lack of quality in build and customer service keeps me away from their stores. I have my handful of tiny items (decking, pots for plants, and a mirror) from there but that's about as extensive as I'm willing to invest my money into Ikea products.

I have had no problems with Ikea bathroom vanities (have one in each of my bathrooms) and kitchen cabinets, especially considering the fact that the kitchen cabinets were about 1/2 the cost of even an entry level Home Depot kitchen cabinet line. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, they redo their products so often that they don't make any part of the kitchen I installed just 2 1/2 years ago (granted their kitchens had been around for a couple decades by then).

If you build them yourselves their cabinets are a great deal. They're similar quality to premade cabinets from Home Depot or Lowes but like you mentioned around half as much. They're one of the things Ikea does the best.

Just as an FYI.... Indianapolis will be getting an IKEA store:

 

http://www.wthr.com/story/30477305/ikea-to-announce-plans-for-fishers-store-on-tuesday

 

Or at least their plans are as far along as the ones for the Brooklyn site, although they did officially announce the store on Twitter.

 

Uh, ok...

 

Nothing to do with Cleveland

Why did Ikea settle on Brooklyn as their choice location?

Why Brooklyn? Central location it appears though it would be crammed into the space  (a multi story location south of San Francisco airport comes to mind). I think they said they reviewed 32ish locations. CLE just doesn't have that vacant visible highway land in most desirable retail spots like in Columbus, Cincy, Indy... (except for #1 below)

 

I still hold out two wild card locations if Brooklyn doesn't work. SE corner of Harvard/271 (near an original IKEA area of interest 15 years ago) and the Rt 8/I80 interchange near Hudson where Bass Pro and Costco are locating.

Just as an FYI.... Indianapolis will be getting an IKEA store:

 

http://www.wthr.com/story/30477305/ikea-to-announce-plans-for-fishers-store-on-tuesday

 

Or at least their plans are as far along as the ones for the Brooklyn site, although they did officially announce the store on Twitter.

 

Uh, ok...

 

Nothing to do with Cleveland

 

I was thinking it might be a sign they will officially pull the trigger on the Cleveland store soon and start work.

Are all the IKEA stores a SUPERSTORE or is this one proposed to be bigger than others?

This Indy store will be on the smaller side of their new store square foot range - under 300K sqaure feet.  CLE proposed store mid 300K square feet.

 

Note: new St Louis store also just opened (mid 300K) and article says IKEA looked at 30+ locations over 10 yeara. Settled on surprising inner ring industrial site.

Any news/knowledge on what was the Army Corps decision on the Brooklyn site? And what was Ohio EPA's position, which was to be released after that of the Army Corps?

 

 

I don't get it. Is it supposed to be funny or just a comment on the quality of IKEA?  I don't think it achieves either.

 

I don't get it. Is it supposed to be funny or just a comment on the quality of IKEA?  I don't think it achieves either.

 

IKEA is always "assemble it yourself" when you buy items there...nothing to do with quality. 

 

I don't get it. Is it supposed to be funny or just a comment on the quality of IKEA?  I don't think it achieves either.

 

If the priest in the cartoon were to assemble the crucifix, he'd be nailing Jesus to the cross like the Romans, which is why he's unsure if he should have purchased from Ikea.

Meanwhile, any updates? I've been wanting to IKEA while I'm on vacation. It's that bad... When will we join the IKEA-laden cities?!

Interesting---can't find any info on the Army Corps or Ohio EPA on the IKEA issue--and its been a while---I thought the Army Corp had 90 days to respond and that was a long time ago. I'm also trying to follow this story.  KJP may be able to dig something up---he's really good at it!

 

I don't get it. Is it supposed to be funny or just a comment on the quality of IKEA?  I don't think it achieves either.

 

If the priest in the cartoon were to assemble the crucifix, he'd be nailing Jesus to the cross like the Romans, which is why he's unsure if he should have purchased from Ikea.

 

Got it. Thanks. I kept thinking it was a comment on quality, but it was an "assemble it yourself" joke. It's funny how we (meaning me) can miss the obvious:)

It's sort of hard to believe that with all the wetlands we've already lost in Northeast Ohio, that they can't (or won't) find a non-wetland property to acquire for this project.

Just have them put new wetlands where the super Kmart stood... Solved.

 

Or how about the City View Center in Garfield Heights? There, problem solved. Plenty of room there.

 

Yes... Put it there! Things will just sliiiiide into place.

 

City View, no, but the land just across the freeway in Garfield Heights would seem to make sense. Not sure if there is enough land available there, but the location is great. There has been talk of an outlet mall going in there, but I'm not sure if that's ever going to become a reality. Here's how it is marketed (all of the things that would make this a great place for an outlet mall seems to apply to a potential IKEA):

 

http://www.craigrealtygroup.com/App_Assets/CMSDocs/LeasingBrochures/LeasingBrochure-cleveland.pdf

Just have them put new wetlands where the super Kmart stood... Solved.

 

Or how about the City View Center in Garfield Heights? There, problem solved. Plenty of room there.

 

Yes... Put it there! Things will just sliiiiide into place.

 

City View, no, but the land just across the freeway in Garfield Heights would seem to make sense. Not sure if there is enough land available there, but the location is great. There has been talk of an outlet mall going in there, but I'm not sure if that's ever going to become a reality. Here's how it is marketed (all of the things that would make this a great place for an outlet mall seems to apply to a potential IKEA):

 

http://www.craigrealtygroup.com/App_Assets/CMSDocs/LeasingBrochures/LeasingBrochure-cleveland.pdf

 

For the record I was totally joking about City View. Seagulls don't even want to go there.

For the record I was totally joking about City View. Seagulls don't even want to go there.

 

I get that, but this other location is not City View and was never a landfill. It is about a mile from the I-77/I-480 interchange and has great visibility.

For the record I was totally joking about City View. Seagulls don't even want to go there.

 

I get that, but this other location is not City View and was never a landfill. It is about a mile from the I-77/I-480 interchange and has great visibility.

 

True and it has much better access to the surrounding area than Cityview.  But I suspect the latter has tarnished the area's reputation.

For the record I was totally joking about City View. Seagulls don't even want to go there.

 

I get that, but this other location is not City View and was never a landfill. It is about a mile from the I-77/I-480 interchange and has great visibility.

 

Wait a second...is it downhill from the Cityview/landfill?

 

Lol, I'm reading a Pulitzer winning book about how my home town on the Jersey Shore was a secret toxic waste dump. Hello cancer cluster! 

Chromium in Jersey City?

Chromium in Jersey City?

 

Nah. It's "Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation"

 

http://www.amazon.com/Toms-River-Story-Science-Salvation/dp/055380653X

 

To keep this on topic, there are several "hills" in the vicinity of the IKEA site that are obviously man made. Red flag. Back in the day these areas just outside city limits were prime dumping grounds for God knows what. Unfortunately there was a real lack of knowledge and foresight; it just made sense at the time.

For the record I was totally joking about City View. Seagulls don't even want to go there.

 

I get that, but this other location is not City View and was never a landfill. It is about a mile from the I-77/I-480 interchange and has great visibility.

 

Wait a second...is it downhill from the Cityview/landfill?

 

No, uphill if anything and on the other side of 480.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/02/ikea_drops_plans_to_build_on_b.html#incart_m-rpt-1

 

Odd comment at the end.  C-bus isn't any closer to us than Pittsburgh or Detroit.

Ikea drops plans to build on Brooklyn site, southwest of Cleveland http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/02/ikea_drops_plans_to_build_on_b.html

Indy and Las Vegas are other recent new store announcements and 30 of the top 32 metros now have or will have IKEA stores.  I remember reading in Crains that they were looking at Cleveland at least as far back as 2001 (Chagrin Highlands). Don't understand how nothing can be found, regardless of specific property needs.

Sorry if that's been covered already but this seems like a perfect traffic driver to Pinecrest.  I wonder if room could be made there or somewhere else in the Chagrin Highlands?

 

However with that said I'm not upset if this thing does not get built at this point.  We missed the opportunity for an Ikea in Cleveland to be a regional draw anyway.  Isn't the model for their ginormous stores the ability for them to draw from several hundreds of miles away anyway?  We'll now be ringed by 3 stores each less than 200 miles away.  I think it would be damaging to our region's retail comeback story if an IKEA were built and it then be deemed unsuccessful because it can only draw from Cleveland/Akron metro.  At this point I'm more interested in attracting stores that aren't in Pittsburgh, Columbus or Detroit that can attract their shopping dollars here.

Sorry if that's been covered already but this seems like a perfect traffic driver to Pinecrest.  I wonder if room could be made there or somewhere else in the Chagrin Highlands?

 

However with that said I'm not upset if this thing does not get built at this point.  We missed the opportunity for an Ikea in Cleveland to be a regional draw anyway.  Isn't the model for their ginormous stores the ability for them to draw from several hundreds of miles away anyway?  We'll now be ringed by 3 stores each less than 200 miles away.  I think it would be damaging to our region's retail comeback story if an IKEA were built and it then be deemed unsuccessful because it can only draw from Cleveland/Akron metro.  At this point I'm more interested in attracting stores that aren't in Pittsburgh, Columbus or Detroit that can attract their shopping dollars here.

 

If I was Arhaus I would be all over this gap.  They could put an outlet and/or showroom in their existing Walton Hills plant right by the casino, adjacent to their new plant in Boston Heights, or hell...both.

It's a pity this is getting pushed back to the point it may never happen, as we will soon have 3 Ikeas within 2-3 hours drive.

 

I agree with the above posters that we should have something more unique to the region. Personally, I'd love a BO Concept downtown, or even at Croker, Eton etc.

Sorry if that's been covered already but this seems like a perfect traffic driver to Pinecrest.  I wonder if room could be made there or somewhere else in the Chagrin Highlands?

 

However with that said I'm not upset if this thing does not get built at this point.  We missed the opportunity for an Ikea in Cleveland to be a regional draw anyway.  Isn't the model for their ginormous stores the ability for them to draw from several hundreds of miles away anyway?  We'll now be ringed by 3 stores each less than 200 miles away.  I think it would be damaging to our region's retail comeback story if an IKEA were built and it then be deemed unsuccessful because it can only draw from Cleveland/Akron metro.  At this point I'm more interested in attracting stores that aren't in Pittsburgh, Columbus or Detroit that can attract their shopping dollars here.

 

Well Pinecrest land can't handle an IKEA BUT the land immediately South across Harvard, which Jacobs just announced for 2 restaurants, a Drury Inn, and office building, is PRIME space for IKEA - and with an already improved off ramp. However, local restrictions on big box stores likely in play at CHighlands (thanks Mayor Marcia Fudge) to keep it out.

 

Minimum IKEA requirements something like 2MM population within 60 miles and 30+ highway viaibke acres. CLE/NEO has 4MM within an hour of any centrally located IKEA. Columbus and Indy will have 2MM within same drive. I am not worried about IKEA prospects. 25%+ of PIT IKEA sales have been rumored to be from NEO.

 

Also: related to the above - Arhaus is planning a 20K Sq ft Pinecrest store/showplace I hear and the land by their new HQ, which will have Costco/Bass Pro, could and should be a potential IKEA location to check out... as it is central enough to NEO cities and Rt 8/271/80 access adjacent/nearby.

 

IKEA site requirements per their Joe Roth contained here:

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542362

 

(CLE far surpasses many cities already with stores on these)

 

Why do you folks think IKEA won't build in the Cleveland area? Does anyone have a real idea?

Interesting....

 

.@clevelanddotcom @IKEAUSA use vacant American Greetings property...why destroy Big Creek #wetlands? So many existing large sites available

Existing AG building spot a half mile off/not visible from highway = breaks several IKEA site rules...

Tear down the First Energy Lakeshore plant and build the IKEA there.

Tear down the First Energy Lakeshore plant and build the IKEA there.

 

There is no way in Hades that a foreign based retailer is going to build on a site with that sort of potential CERCLA issues.

Except where's the justification for site clean up without a potential user?

Except where's the justification for site clean up without a potential user?

 

Exactly.  Hence the vicious circle that is CERCLA.