Ikea Reaches Land Swap Accord

SOMERVILLE, MA-Home goods retailer Ikea has reached a conceptual land-swap agreement with the developer of a mixed-use project that would put the Swedish retailer's building closer to Interstate 92. The move opens up development along the Mystic River for condos, offices and apartments, a city official has confirmed.

The proposed swap calls for Ikea to exchange its 16 riverfront acres to Federal Realty Investment Trust for 11 acres behind a Home Depot store in Assembly Square. Tom Champion, with Mayor Joseph Curtatone's office, tells GlobeSt.com the proposed land-swap agreement was negotiated between Ikea and Federal Realty. The city did not take part in the negotiations, he says.

"We very much welcome the opportunity to pursue this transaction," Joseph Roth, with Ikea, tells GlobeSt.com. Roth says although the land-swap would mean Ikea will build on 11 acres rather than 15 acres, the size of the proposed store would be increased from 280,000 sf to 310,000 sf.

Plans released by the city show that Ikea would build a larger store with underground parking on the smaller parcel. Federal Realty plans to build 2,646 condos and apartments on the waterfront site, 1,300 more than originally planned, and would an additional 15,000 sf of office space, for a total of 1.3 million sf of office. The plan also calls for 300,000 sf of ground-level retail space, including a supermarket, along with a 200-room hotel.

Ikea has been battling with a neighborhood group, the Mystic View Task Force, for eight years over the construction of the big-box development. Residents want a denser, more transit-friendly development on the site, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. "This agreement represents a huge win for the city, and goes a long way toward fulfilling our long-term vision of a thriving, sustainable, pedestrian- and transit-friendly neighborhood on the Assembly Square site," Curtatone adds in a statement.