IKEA's Charlotte Store

[dubone]

I sense that you are right, metro. Sadly, Crescent and Duke are very powerful in this city, and it is rather unlikely that the council will stand up to them. We can't even get Crescent to put retail in the ground level of South Boulevard and the rail line. I somewhat doubt we can get them to elevate their plans beyond the bare minimum of costs.

[DanRNC]

Though their home delivery is very pricey!

[Sabaidee]

I sense that you are right, metro. Sadly, Crescent and Duke are very powerful in this city, and it is rather unlikely that the council will stand up to them. We can't even get Crescent to put retail in the ground level of South Boulevard and the rail line. I somewhat doubt we can get them to elevate their plans beyond the bare minimum of costs.

[uptownliving]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned Mayor Pat McCory, he is an executive at Duke and Crescent is a subsidary of Duke. I wonder how he react or influence the zoning process.

[Sabaidee]

Unless the rezoning vote comes down to a tie, and the Mayor acts as a tiebreaker, then he will have no say in the zoning process. Just like every other citizen his input is welcome, but his vote doesn't count, unless its for a tiebreaker.

[krazeeboi]

Still, there store in Atlanta isn't really that urban. Sure, its part of Atlantic Station, but it's still a large free-standing box with tons of surface parking.

[JerseyBoy]

If I'm not mistaken, I think most of IKEA's parking in Atlanta isn't surface lots, but a parking garage. That's where I parked last time I was down there.

[Richhamleigh, DC]

Is there such a thing as an urban Ikea?

[Miesian Corners]

Even in Europe they have stores such as this one, though. There's a store on the side of the autobahn in Wiesbaden (suburban Frankfurt) that has a large surface lot and a parking garage. The store in Reykjavik is a stand alone with only surface parking.

I was in the ATL store last weekend for a dish of Swedish meatballs and a lingonberry soda. I didn't notice much of a surface lot at all. We drove straight into the garage and went up an escalator to the store.

There's quite a bit going on behind the scenes that deal with most of the concerns y'all have mentioned. From what I've been told, most of us will be pleased with the final results (especially on connectivity). Still, just as many have mentioned, keep the emails going to Mayor Pat. Public meetings could begin early as next month.

[voyager12]

One would think that IKEA would be receptive to building environmentally sensitive stores given their Scandinavian roots. The region is arguably the most progressively green friendly in the world. Of course that company heritage is coupled with Billionaire founder Ingvar Kamprad's legendary stinginess, the lore goes that he drives an ancient Volvo, lives in a tiny cabin in the woods and always travels economy class. I am sure his cost cutting ethic has a large imprint on the company today. I hope the UC area comes together during the approvals process and demands a quality store. The final product could serve as a benchmark in turning that sprawly mess around.

[rockhilljames]

Nope.

Don't expect more than a BIG box surrounded by parking and hotels, other big boxes, and strip malls rising up around it. I hate it, it's just the way this one's going to go.

[nowensone]

One would think that IKEA would be receptive to building environmentally sensitive stores given their Scandinavian roots. The region is arguably the most progressively green friendly in the world. Of course that company heritage is coupled with Billionaire founder Ingvar Kamprad's legendary stinginess, the lore goes that he drives an ancient Volvo, lives in a tiny cabin in the woods and always travels economy class. I am sure his cost cutting ethic has a large imprint on the company today. I hope the UC area comes together during the approvals process and demands a quality store. The final product could serve as a benchmark in turning that sprawly mess around.

[graydog]

Isn't their home delivery done through a private, independent shipper? It is ridiculously expensive-maybe even more than the actual items purchased.

[dubone]

The fact that this whole development, and the planned SuperWally is in a station area of the LRT line they want to build next, I actually believe that even Patty Mick will do his part to do make it more walkable. They will certainly want to use this area as the second slide in their powerpoint for pushing the NE extension of the Blue line, with the first slide being access to the University. I think FTA and others will not give them much credit if they use minimal standards for these sets of projects. However, if they try and fit in a number of reasonable requirements to boost the project's walkability, non-thoroughfare connectivity, and proper transit oriented site planning, I believe it will be a major boost for funding LRT.

Obviously, at the end of the day, we'll still get a BIG box (these things are huge), but I really do believe they'll at least try to put the building and parking side by side in connection to the street like they requested of the Wilkinson Walmart. That way, it is not tucked into the back from the perspective of the main street, but it is otherwise the basic suburban model. I also believe they would and should take a cue from what they demanded of the Wilkinson Walmart in that the parking lot is subdivided with a grid network of streets. If you add those two elements to tree lined, wide sidewalks through-out, and good street connections in all directions, especially to the planned Rocky River LRT station, it will be a major positive. Also, the rest of the project, especially the residential part, should be pushed even more to adhere to as many TOD standards as possible.

Transit is the single best reason the leaders would look to elevate their attention to the design of this project. They can prove their commitment to transit by demanding this. By not demanding any improvements over what would go on Concord Mills Blvd, then it would be a tremendous missed opportunity. Now is the time to contact not only the Mayor and councilmembers, but also Tober, and the mayors of the other Mecklenburg towns. I believe the northern town mayors, who just voted to make the Northeast line the next to seek FTA funding, could be strong lobbyists to Charlotte leaders to make this transit friendly.

[AuLukey]

It seems that either the Observer or people in the northern UC area have been reading this thread. The latest article about IKEA in the O states neighbors' concerns about the incredible impact this development is going to have on traffic in the area due to the lack of the MCRd extension as well as the City Blvd extension in both directions. Hopefully somebody can get up enough support to encourage the city to hurry it along on these needs before the damage is done.

link

[monsoon]

It seems that either the Observer or people in the northern UC area have been reading this thread.

[DanRNC]

I heard that the original image posted on here is what the store will actually look like-IKEA said it was their way or nothing.

[monsoon]

I heard that the original image posted on here is what the store will actually look like-IKEA said it was their way or nothing.

[JerseyBoy]

I heard that the original image posted on here is what the store will actually look like-IKEA said it was their way or nothing.

[DanRNC]

Who did you hear this from?

[redhead]

I was in Stockholm Sweden last year and noticed that even though they are ahead of us in the public transportation game, they have the same problems with big-box developments on the edge of town.

[dubone]

They might be rigid on the store design, but I wonder why they'd be rigid on the orientation to the street. It seems the store would be MORE visible if they put it closer to the thoroughfare. The whole plan could remain the same, they'd simply rotate it clockwise 90 degrees.

[bork]

They might be rigid on the store design, but I wonder why they'd be rigid on the orientation to the street. It seems the store would be MORE visible if they put it closer to the thoroughfare. The whole plan could remain the same, they'd simply rotate it clockwise 90 degrees.

[dubone]

But why would it be objectionable? If people are driving here from 100 miles away, they certainly wouldn't mind parking on the 'side' rather than the 'front'. Yet, the city would be much better served by having the parking and building side by side, in order to allow the building to be walked to a little easier from the planned transit station. It is exactly what the city has demanded Walmart do on Wilkinson, on Independence (Amity Gardens), etc. The feds will be watching what the city does in this very development. They do count big boxes as transit supporting, as they are major employment locations, as well as destinations for transit travelers. But they are also pedestrian destinations for the denser residential development that is being pursued next to the planned light rail extension.

If they truly are refusing to play along, then maybe we should ask the governor and the FTA administrator to intervene with the president of their company! Seriously! We are trying to build a viable transit system. A small change in their store orientation could make a difference to that goal. I don't care one way or another about the architecture, as it seems like just a difference of aesthetic opinion. However, site orientation is quite a big deal.

[monsoon]

Indeed. One could argue that a Walmart Super Center is a destination too. That isn't an excuse for such bad design. Especially for a place that basically sells low end furniture.