The old Alexander's store at the intersection of Routes 4 and 17 closed a decade ago and was torn down in 1998. The store was perhaps best known for an oversized, 10,000-sf abstract mural that adorned an entire wall of the exterior. Vornado Realty Trust, which owns the site, has been courting a series of big box retailers to bring new life to the property.

That it has taken several years to get a project lined up is surprising to some, given this Bergen County's reputation as a retail destination. Indeed, the two million-sf Garden State Plaza is located close by, as is The Rouse Co.'s 750,000-sf Paramus Park Mall. Paramus also has a reputation for being one of the tightest retail markets in the region, with vacancies generally hovering in the low single digits at any given time.

In detailed plans unveiled late last week before the Paramus planning board, IKEA would occupy an entire 360,000-sf building. According to a spokesman for the company, which has its US home base in Plymouth Meeting, PA, the other 140,000 sf would be marketed for lease by what he terms "complementary retailers."

The project still has to clear a couple of zoning variances, although they're considered relatively minor. One involves a change pertaining to signage, according to the IKEA spokesman, and the other involves lot area. IKEA's development proposal doesn't involve any increase over the retail space that previously occupied the tract.

Local officials, meanwhile, are looking at the project to help recoup the major hit in ratables the community took a while back. That $30 million hit came when the NJ DOT claimed a sizable amount of land adjacent to the Route 4/17 interchange, using the land to reconfigure the problematical traffic circle into a four-way intersection.

There is one irony in Paramus' ongoing role as a retail mecca . The community is one of the few anywhere that still has blue laws in effect, effectively shutting down all of that retailing all day on Sundays.

For related news, click on: $50 Mil IKEA Tejon Terminal To Reach 1.7 Mil SF

Instant Insights /

IKEA Proposes 500,000-SF Retail Complex

Related Stories

Recommended For You