"The footprint was too large," Sean Fitzgerald, the mayor'sspokesperson, tells GlobeSt.com. "It had limited mixed-usedevelopment, but not enough." The Swedish furniture company's planincluded a 220,000-sf store and a small retail outlet or restauranton its 16 acres of land. Fitzgerald says that the mayor's office islooking for a footprint in the 150,000-sf range. "We'd still meetserious opposition from those opposed to big-box stores," headds.

Fitzgerald emphasizes that the Cecil Plan, which the mayorcommissioned to recommend how to develop Assembly Square, statesthat big-box stores can exist with mixed-use development but, "wecan't have that large a footprint with no mixed use. We made thatclear."

According to Marty Marston, public relations manager for theNorth American branch of Ikea, the company is in the process "ofresubmitting another proposal."