"That will be tied up in lawsuits for a long time," Natasha Perez, a spokesperson for Gravistar, tells GlobeSt.com. Gravistar and Taurus New England Investments are trying to get the Home Depot built in the Assembly Square Mall site.

Bill Shelton, president of the Mystic View Task Force, confirms for GlobeSt.com that his 200-member locally based group has filed an intent to appeal the approval of the plan. But he says that his organization is currently involved in negotiations with IKEA, the Swedish-based furniture chain, and he insists that if the company were willing to make a number of changes, the group would back off.

IKEA's plan, as approved by the city, is for a two-phase project with the initial development involving a 277,000-sf store that includes more than 10,000-sf of office space and an interior restaurant that will also be exceed 10,000 sf. The company is considering developing a 109,000-sf office building, which would include 85,000-sf of office space and another 24,000 sf of restaurant and retail space. The project depends upon the company's ability to find a developer and tenants for the space. The second phase will be a mixed-use development of retail, office and restaurant space totaling 138,000 sf. The project also features 1,500 parking spaces with 300 of those above ground.

Shelton says that the changes his group is looking for include eliminating service parking, doubling the square footage of the office building, pulling the store further back from the river and building an access road between the store and the river. Shelton declined to give exact figures on the requested changes but he notes that in the group's last meeting with IKEA "we left feeling very positive." An IKEA spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the company believes that its vision for its parcel in Assembly Square is not that different than Mystic View's and that the two will be able to come to an agreement.

"We are very interested in working with IKEA to create a development that is best for both the company and the people of Somerville," says Shelton. "We believe that's possible."

Instant Insights /

Group to Appeal Approval of 528,000-SF IKEA Plan

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