Council Approves Zoning For Tampa Ikea
By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 15, 2007

TAMPA - Furniture maker Ikea took another step Thursday toward building a massive store on Adamo Drive near North 22nd Street.

The Tampa City Council approved a zoning change to allow Ikea to build its 350,000-square-foot store at the former Tampa International Center, an industrial site at Adamo Drive and North 22nd Street.

Panattoni Development Co., the property's owner, still needs final approval from the council before demolition can start, but that is expected July 26. If all goes well, the company will demolish the 600,000-square-foot warehouse by December and start construction early next year.

The store would open in 2009. Two other Florida Ikea stores are under construction, in Sunrise and Orlando.

Not everyone backed the measure. Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena opposed the zoning change because she wants to see a more environmentally friendly plan with less asphalt and more landscaping.

She praised Ikea's environmental track record but said, 'I really believe you could do a better job.'

The plan calls for 1,700 parking spaces on 29 acres. Michael Maier, an Ikea representative, said the site would have less asphalt than it has now. Also, the company would plant 600 trees, as required by code, and install a reflective roof to lower the store's energy consumption.

David Mechanik, an attorney for Panattoni, said about one-quarter of the existing parking lot would be landscaped.

The measure passed 6-1.

In other action:

•Council members turned back a proposal to create a wireless Internet network in Tampa, opting instead for smaller 'hot spot' connection zones in downtown, Channelside and possibly the West Shore Boulevard business district.

James Buckner, the city's technology director, presented a study about how cities nationwide are setting up wireless connections.

A wireless network allows anyone with a wireless card on a computer to gain access to the Internet at any point within the coverage area. Buckner emphasized San Francisco as an example. It signed a deal this year with Earthlink to set up wireless Internet networks spanning the city.

Councilman John Dingfelder, who requested the study, told Buckner he was interested in a scaled-down version in certain city districts.

'If we're talking about getting new residents downtown and getting young people here. I think this is what we need,' Dingfelder said.

The council asked Buckner to return in 90 days with a report on confining the wireless area to those downtown districts and to contact the Tampa Downtown Partnership and other groups.

•The council approved a water department request to spend $780,000 to install a pipe connection to ensure South Tampa can receive fresh water if a problem occurs with its water supply.

The backup connection should have been installed years ago in case of drought or a water main break, said Brad Baird, director of the water department.

Reporter Lindsay Wilkes-Edrington contributed to this report. Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or at rshopes@tampatrib.com.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jun/15/me-council-approves-zoning-for-tampa-ikea/?news-metro

Nice, now I'm one step closer to watching the store go up over the next three years. I've been to the IKEA in Atlanta and that place is HUGE. I'm certainly looking forward to the new development. Hopefully by the time the store opens, the I-4/Selmon connector will already be under construction.

To me this is much more exciting than a Trump Building. I like it when a project creates jobs...

To me this is much more exciting than a Trump Building. I like it when a project creates jobs...

I agree. There will be a lot of jobs created by the IKEA store.

Sitting pretty

Its history in other cities indicates that if Ikea arrives, an area thrives.

By Rick Gershman

Published June 22, 2007

The change is still two years off, but if it happens, as expected, these two are going to make for strange neighbors. On the north side of Adamo Drive: Ybor City. The party district with the deep cultural heritage, built by Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants. Cigars and bars. Streetcars and sink-or-swim clubs. On the other side of Adamo, come summer 2009: Ikea. The popular Swedish furniture store best known for its modern, utilitarian design. The building, an enormous blue box with few windows. In a preliminary vote last week, the City Council approved a rezoning request that paves the way for Ikea to set up in the largely industrial area. A final vote is slated for June 28. In the meantime, we talked to business officials in numerous cities where Ikeas have sprung up in recent years. The word is that an Ikea will bring change to this area east of downtown.
It will bring jobs. It will bring customers.

It also will bring more businesses, everything from new retail to dining spots, and possibly even more residences.

The story is much the same, from Philadelphia to Tempe, Ariz., from Seattle to San Diego:

When Ikea arrives, the area thrives.

Spurring development

In Atlanta, a new Ikea delivered an enormous economic impact, officials said. And it also led the way to opening a 1.7-million-square-foot distribution center at the nearby Port of Savannah, which local officials point to as another coup for business and employment.

"Ikea's a great company, and it's certainly delivered economically, " said Jennifer Zeller of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

Renee Lopata, of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, saw similar advantages in her city.

"I know it sounds strange, but there really haven't been any negatives, only positives."

Dollar figures are hard to come by, but several chamber officials said Ikea's impact to their cities in tax dollars is considerable - thanks to the store itself, and the businesses it draws.

Tom Keating, president of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, welcomes the Swedes with open arms.

"I think everybody loves it, " Keating said. "Everyone feels it will bring people into Tampa from Sarasota to Crystal River."

In some cities, other home furnishing chains have opened near the local Ikeas.

That's what happened in Tempe, Lopata said: "It was kind of the last undeveloped area of Tempe. Now it's like a furniture mecca, with several other high-end midsize furniture stores."

In others, the store's impact has led a resurgence at nearby retail and dining options. That trend would be a positive for surrounding neighborhoods if it continues in Tampa.

Ikea would share the south side of Adamo, a.k.a. State Road 60, with Palmetto Beach. That community, long a sleepy working-class area with a waterfront stretch, soon will face new development in the form of condos and townhomes. Residents there believe Ikea will bring even more activity to their changing neighborhood.

"We think it's really going to open people up to Ybor - they'll come here, have lunch here, " Keating said.

"And home decorating has always been a focus for Ybor, with the art galleries. I definitely think it will give us more foot traffic as a base as a creative district."

The flip side

Still, something as huge and popular as an Ikea store is bound to create an issue or two. The Tampa branch would cover more than 350, 000 square feet on a 29-acre site.

When Ikea opened in Tempe in November 2004, traffic backed up so far on the nearest Interstate 10 off-ramp, police had to close it to spread the volume to other exits.

Similar traffic snarls have affected new Ikeas for several months after their openings. And if Tampa's Ikea prompts more businesses to open nearby, as is expected, that will just add to the volume.

Projections suggest the Ikea could approximately double the traffic coming off the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway during the afternoon peak traffic times.

The anticipated effect on Adamo Drive would be less severe, adding about 25 percent to the existing volume, according to estimates from city transportation officials.

Keating also shared a concern that was noted at a recent Tampa City Council meeting - Adamo Drive, eight lanes wide, is not easy to cross on foot. That could dampen Ikea's power to boost business in surrounding areas.

Without some pedestrian-friendly improvements, it's hard to imagine people splitting their day at Ikea with lunch in Ybor. Keating hopes a shuttle system would alleviate that problem.

And Ikea isn't completely without detractors.

A store being built in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn, N.Y., drew protests. Among the chief concerns: the city approved plans to let Ikea pave over a Civil War-era dock to build its parking lot.

At a recent Tampa City Council meeting, council member Linda Saul-Sena questioned how Ikea could call itself environmentally friendly while planning a massive, 1, 615-space parking lot.

"This is a sea of asphalt, " she said. "It's acres and acres and acres of heat-producing asphalt."

Though Saul-Sena acknowledged being a fan of the store, she was the only council member to vote against the company's rezoning request at the most recent council meeting last week, noting her concerns about the parking lot.

Still, Ikea spokesman Joseph Roth says the positives Ikea brings to communities outweigh its negatives.

"In some cities we (attract) other great retailers, bookstores, movie theaters, electronics stores. We get the entire gamut of things we sell, and the things we don't sell."

Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 226-3431.

[Last modified June 21, 2007, 07:38:10]

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/22/Citytimes/Sitting_pretty.shtml

^^^

I read that article just yesterday. In my opinion, it will be odd that IKEA will be in the same neck of the woods as the old industrial area. But give it time and the area will spring up with commercial and residential buildings. I understand that several old industrial lots are being gutted out and converted to lofts. Some of this work is already done.

I don't know what goes through Saul-Sena's mind these days. First she supports IKEA, then tries to vote it down. Then she proposes the Ashley Drive crap, which I still don't like cause the northbound lane is being taken away - will cause more congestion...

There is no denying IKEA would help the economy of Ybor.

I just hope the surface parking isn't right on Adamo and is behind the building. I would hope eventually Adamo could be a more pedestrian friendly corridor.

There is no denying IKEA would help the economy of Ybor.

I just hope the surface parking isn't right on Adamo and is behind the building. I would hope eventually Adamo could be a more pedestrian friendly corridor.

Agreed. I'm sure there will be vast improvements to Adamo, as well as 21st and 22nd Streets to make them more pedestrian friendly and allow traffic to flow better. Down the road though, traffic on the Crosstown could skyrocket, which may force FDOT to widen the 22nd St exit ramps. This is why I'm hoping that the I-4/Crosstown Connector will be under construction by the time IKEA opens. I don't even know how the tolls would be able to remain on the three ramps...unless the ramps themseleves were to be completely reconfigured. Otherwise there would be excessive backups.

I'm sure the THCEA already has ramp toll plaza reconstruction on their long-range project list...especially now that the plazas look like total crap.

Tampa Ikea Gets Final OK, Council Approves Rezoning

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 26, 2007

TAMPA -- Tampa City Council gave its final approval today for rezoning a site just south of Ybor City to allow construction of an IKEA store.

The 6-1 vote allows the Scandinavian furniture retailer to go forward with plans to open a 350,000-square-foot store in 2009 at Adamo Drive and North 22nd Street. Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena voted against the rezoning.

The project will include demolishing the former Tampa International Center.

"IKEA is thrilled and honored at the support voiced by the Tampa City Council in favor of our opening a store in the area two years from now," said Michael Maier, real estate manager for IKEA.

Construction of the IKEA store is expected to start next year.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/26/tampa-ikea-gets-final-ok-council-approves-rezoning/?news-breaking

Yay! IKEA is going to get built! I can't wait until it opens! Of course, I still don't know where Saul-Sena is at?

I'm interested to see how quickly more announcements come for spots near this site. IKEA is going to bring in a ton of people.

I'm interested to see how quickly more announcements come for spots near this site. IKEA is going to bring in a ton of people.


Yeah, just look at this cam in Atlanta -- a lot of development going on around the Ikea. Maybe this area of Ybor will look like this one day.

http://www.oxblue.com/example/cams/s1.html

I've been to the one in Atlanta. It's huge...

Yea, it would be nice - especially the odd arch looking thing - monuments are nice rather than the City of Tampa Terminal Disease Park and Recreation system (AIDS park, Cancer survivors park - where is the cariopulmiary disease recovery park?)

And you think our city council - which spent about an hour or more yesterday thinking about whether to vacate Waverly Court - a small sliver of a road (more like a driveway) with 5 driveways on it (the owners of at least two of which were opposed, mind you) because there is a little cutthrough traffic (I mean how much could there be?) and a couple of people complained - will allow this type of development over a large area?

All we need is H&M and Trader Joes and I will be set!!

^I love it when people think that the ready availability of brand name consumer products will complete their life. lol :)

What can I say, I love cheap clothes and good food.

Can't argue with that...lol

I'm ready to go shopping!!! Hopefully Crate and Barrel comes next!!!

Last I heard Crate & Barrel was still in negotiations with International Plaza. I have a lot of stuff from there, could have saved a bundle on shipping if they had been local.

^^
I've never heard of that store. What do they sell? Good luck to them commig to Tampa Bay.

Until I read these posts about Crate and Barrel, I had NO clue that Tampa Bay did not have Crate and Barrels (and I've been here, now, for 3 years). That goes to show you how much I shopped at them whenever I did live in a place that had them all over the place (boston).

I would compare Crate and Barrel to a Pier 1 Imports.

^^
Okay. I've got an idea now. Thanks.

I would compare Crate & Barrel to West Elm. They both have a lot of furniture, Pier 1 is all accessories and isn't all that similar. I have been to one of C&B's stores in NYC and it was really nice, would be something new for the area (it's hard to find stylish well made furniture in Tampa). Ikea will obviously help things in that department, but it's much lower end.

I'd be happy with a C&B, West Elm, or Design Within Reach. They all have very nice stuff.

I would compare Crate & Barrel to West Elm. They both have a lot of furniture, Pier 1 is all accessories and isn't all that similar. I have been to one of C&B's stores in NYC and it was really nice, would be something new for the area (it's hard to find stylish well made furniture in Tampa). Ikea will obviously help things in that department, but it's much lower end.

I'd be happy with a C&B, West Elm, or Design Within Reach. They all have very nice stuff.


I was trying to think of a store in Tampa Bay to compare it to, but you are right -- higher end than Pier 1 and more furniture.

Pottery Barn? Restoration Hardware? (To a lesser extent,) Robb & Stucky?

I always thought of C&B as one of those stores...

Yep, though C&B is a bit more modern/hip than Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. Robb & Stucky is a bit more stodgy and I haven't looked around much (it's quite expensive and the style only makes sense if you smoke with a cigarette holder).

It's hard to make a comparison to a store we have in the area because there isn't really one. I guess just look around the websites.

I would compare Crate and Barrel to a Pier 1 Imports.
Or in other words, the store is completely useless? :lol:

Or in other words, the store is completely useless? :lol:

Actually it is a great place to buy gifts for people like your mom, sister, girlfriend, etc. They have stuff chicks like and it is easy to get in and out of.

^I'm not dumb enough to try and shop for such mysterious and dangerous creatures... I just give them a card and some cash, or perhaps a gift certificate if I feel like forcing them to patronize one multinational corporation over another.

^I'm not dumb enough to try and shop for such mysterious and dangerous creatures... I just give them a card and some cash, or perhaps a gift certificate if I feel like forcing them to patronize one multinational corporation over another.

GEEZ tough crowd :lol: What I am saying is that if you need to be more "thoughtful" than some cash or some flowers, this place seems to have a bunch of stuff a lot of chicks dig and it is the least painless way to go from a male bachelors perspective. Products styled kind of like IKEA but a store the size of a mall store.

Heh, Crate & Barrel isn't completely useless (that's coming from someone who would have to be dragged into Pier 1 with one of those said mysterious and dangerous creatures).

I got my couch and a matching chair at C&B. It seemed a little risky buying a couch online, but I liked it more than I thought I would. Though without the help/nudging of a designer friend of mine I probably wouldn't have gotten anything so nice.

With all these new condos going up, stores like C&B and West Elm could be selling a lot of stuff. Not a lot of people will furnish their whole place online like I did. It takes faith and time.

Another similar store I like a lot is Chiasso, but I think they only have one physical store (Chicago). I have only ordered online, but the stuff is really cool.

(Ironically I despise shopping, but I know about these places from furnishing a place a year ago. I'd advise others to go the route I did and get a designer to help--I know what style I like, but not how to get there. Luckily online decor shopping seems to be made for us single straight dudes. I feel so out of place at stores like Pier 1 that I avoid them like SARS.)

Hey, the whole point of that was because I was just wondering what the heck this store was. I didn't expect this whole birage to follow. Sheesh!

Just got back from a weekend in Portland, OR and visited the brand spanking new IKEA store. This was built right by their airport, and seems to be the main anchor of a new shopping district / outside mall that's being developed around the IKEA.

The only other store that I saw also open at this time was Best Buy, but I'm sure you can fill in the usual suspects (Bed Bath Beyond, Petsmart, Chipotle, etc.).

Not saying the same thing will happen on Adamo, but I am very interested to see what type of development will be interested in that corridor, especially given its proximity to Ybor City, Channelside, and downtown. :)

By the way, they had a cadre of officers directing traffic, and the crowd was almost as overwhelming as the size of the store and its inventory.

The IKEA will definitely be a catalyst in the area for development in Adamo and Ybor itself. This corridor is so busy but until now it had not been tapped by retail. All I am hoping for is that it does not turn into a disgusting mess like Dale Mabry, Fowler, Hillsborough, etc ,etc.


Not saying the same thing will happen on Adamo, but I am very interested to see what type of development will be interested in that corridor, especially given its proximity to Ybor City, Channelside, and downtown. :)

Heh, Crate & Barrel isn't completely useless (that's coming from someone who would have to be dragged into Pier 1 with one of those said mysterious and dangerous creatures).

I got my couch and a matching chair at C&B. It seemed a little risky buying a couch online, but I liked it more than I thought I would. Though without the help/nudging of a designer friend of mine I probably wouldn't have gotten anything so nice.

With all these new condos going up, stores like C&B and West Elm could be selling a lot of stuff. Not a lot of people will furnish their whole place online like I did. It takes faith and time.

Another similar store I like a lot is Chiasso, but I think they only have one physical store (Chicago). I have only ordered online, but the stuff is really cool.

(Ironically I despise shopping, but I know about these places from furnishing a place a year ago. I'd advise others to go the route I did and get a designer to help--I know what style I like, but not how to get there. Luckily online decor shopping seems to be made for us single straight dudes. I feel so out of place at stores like Pier 1 that I avoid them like SARS.)

I checked into bringing a West Elm to the downtown vicinity. However, they are a privately owned company. No franchises available! :ohno: Hopefully, they do eventually come. Recently a store opened in Miami.

Actually in my opinion I think crate and barrel is a pretty cool store. I dont think its as nice as pottery barn but nice.

its in international...

Now that Tampa Bay has matured beyond the "we're not worthy" stage with many successful luxury chains, it's time to start lobbying landlords to sign more hot retailers.

We've got Forever XXI and other fast-fashion stores, but we're missing trendy stalwarts that brought the movement to the United States: the Swedish H&M, the Japanese Uniqlo and the Spanish Zara as they spread across the country. British Topshop is coming across the Atlantic for the first time. And how about American Apparel, the Los Angeles sportswear chain that claims to pay its factory workers a living wage?

With IKEA coming and International Plaza negotiating with Crate & Barrel, someone should go after the home-organization gurus at the Container Store and Sur La Table, a kitchen-tools rival to Williams- Sonoma.

Jimmy Choo's has a boutique in Orlando, but not here. Cartier is in Orlando and coming to Naples, but has no plans for Tampa.

Many shoppers yearn for Trader Joe's, but Florida is not on the quirky grocer's radar now that its no-frills sibling Aldi makes its Florida debut next year.

How about you? Did I miss a favorite?


http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/1299307231.html?dids=1299307231:1299307231&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+4%2C+2007&author=MARK+ALBRIGHT&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=1.D&desc=IN+OUR+SHOPPING+DREAMS

Maybe someone should remind these companies that the area has like 60k millionaires, and the number is expected to rise 50% in the next 5 years alone.

I think the whole problem with the image of Tampa is that our chambers and cities do nothing to control the PR coming out other than when we are on national news usually for something negative. When out of town I see ads for both Miami and Orlando in some form, I have seen both with ads for company relocation or tourism. I have yet to see any Tampa Bay ads except in Florida, so I think Tampa is still kind of looked at as the old Florida and a zillion older people... Target New England and Cook County, and also the southwest...that is all the new migration.

I think the whole problem with the image of Tampa is that our chambers and cities do nothing to control the PR coming out other than when we are on national news usually for something negative. When out of town I see ads for both Miami and Orlando in some form, I have seen both with ads for company relocation or tourism. I have yet to see any Tampa Bay ads except in Florida, so I think Tampa is still kind of looked at as the old Florida and a zillion older people... Target New England and Cook County, and also the southwest...that is all the new migration.

Agreed, I rarely see any ads for Tampa in FL and none outside FL. Tampa needs to get its act together on a PR campaign soon, especially with the 2009 Super Bowl looming.

With IKEA coming to Ybor/Channelside it is time to hook some big fishes out there. Any business should know they can piggyback off of the business this place will be bringing in...on a daily basis. Imagine if Ybor were to get the House of Blues...and Channelside......Planet Hollywood..and with all the lofts and new residence....between Central Park, Heights Project and the Tampa Park apartments....Channelside and Ybor, Davis/Harbor Island. It would be a great place to go....all the time. Like to see some serious ambition by PR folks for the DT area.....

Also I would like to see Tampa, St Pete, Clearwater start working together on drawing business/tourist/professionals to the area....It's a win..win..Win situation. I also think we need more major events like Gavaween and Gasparilla. I just feel like we could be doing so much more then we are currently

I didn't think Channelside could get any more cheesy, but a Planet Hollywood would do it. Christ. It would sadly fit right in with the rest of the tenants in the plaza.

lololol

^^
Planet Hollywood? I laugh at that! LOL!

^^
Planet Hollywood? I laugh at that! LOL!

Ok...I always liked it....what would you suggest then?

Anything without a disgusting fake corporate feel. Like what Channelside's mall is almost entirely made up of. I'll take the grit of indie places in Ybor, or Fly, or even SoHo any day over that commercial bullshit passed off as entertainment. I think it has potential (because of all the residential buildings), but right now the restaurants and "clubs" are a joke.

Sorry to hijack the thread with rants on Channelside, but yea.

Anything without a disgusting fake corporate feel. Like what Channelside's mall is almost entirely made up of. I'll take the grit of indie places in Ybor, or Fly, or even SoHo any day over that commercial bullshit passed off as entertainment. I think it has potential (because of all the residential buildings), but right now the restaurants and "clubs" are a joke.

Sorry to hijack the thread with rants on Channelside, but yea.

I agree, but remember this is for tourism.....the cruise line is getting bigger and bigger....it's will soon be the second biggest cruise port in Florida...so we need something the people want to see.....Big Big Big....So what do you suggest? We all agree Ybor should get the house of Blues....Which I think they will in the near future....with Ikea and others coming it would be a hit...period. So what can we put in to landmark Channelside....to draw in local residence as well as the tourist

I have a relationship with Vince Pardo in Ybor....and a few others with a little pull. If someone has a great idea.....I will suggest it. I am a pain in the ass....but I am good at planting idea seeds in someones head. I am going to work on the City of Tampa to have a huge Christmas Parade through Bayshore, Channelside and ending in Ybor. I live in Richmond for 8 month...last year...Air Force, retired now..Yea!!! They had a great parade and I think with all the northerns in the area...it would be cool for DT.

Ok...I always liked it....what would you suggest then?

Planet Hollywood aint that bad, though I have'nt been to one since 2000. I just don't think it would fit into Ybor. Channelside...maybe.

I agree, but remember this is for tourism.....the cruise line is getting bigger and bigger....it's will soon be the second biggest cruise port in Florida...so we need something the people want to see.....Big Big Big....So what do you suggest? We all agree Ybor should get the house of Blues....Which I think they will in the near future....with Ikea and others coming it would be a hit...period. So what can we put in to landmark Channelside....to draw in local residence as well as the tourist

That's true. But with the growth, comes larger ships. A lot of the super-cruiseliners CAN'T fit under the skyway. So unless these cruiselines continue to utilize the smaller fleets, the Port of Tampa may end up being a big bust years from now. But what do I know? I don't have a crystal ball...no one does. That's just something to consider though.

^that is already problem, which is why this port hasn't grown even more for cruises... the demand is there and this port can't meet it, which is why other ports in the region are growing even faster now.

^that is already problem, which is why this port hasn't grown even more for cruises... the demand is there and this port can't meet it, which is why other ports in the region are growing even faster now.

That's right Jase.

Demolition Clears Way For Ikea

http://media.tbo.com/photos/trib/2007/dec/121407ikea3.jpg
Jay Nolan/Tribune photo

By Keith Morelli of The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

Special Report: Tour Ikea Store In Orlando

TAMPA - Bill Goss chomped on his half smoked, half soaked stogie and watched as a herd of his mechanical prehistoric beasts grazed the urban landscape.

Translation: Heavy equipment finished the first week of tearing down the structure that will be replaced by a mammoth Ikea furniture store.

As the mist lifted early this morning, the yellow beasts gnawed at the roof and walls of what used to be the Tampa International Center on the southeast corner of Adamo Drive and 22nd Street, drawing groans from the rusting skeleton. Dust poofed into the air.

A 25-year employee of Kimmins, the contractor tearing down the building, Goss was proud of the work going on in front of him. He said his eight-member crew will have the whole warehouse shell pulled down and cleaned up by February.

Today, six big machines are busy on the site. Two front-end loaders pushed debris into piles where two backhoes snatched it and dropped it into huge bins. Two massive shears backhoelike equipment with humongous stone-crab-claw appendages lifted steel girders and snipped them in half so they could fit in the bins.

There's a science to it, Goss said, but he couldn't put a finger on it. Every building is different.

"You got to hit it a certain way to be safe about it," he said. "You got to have some experience, look at the way a building is put together."

Pulling it down the right way can mean creating less work, reducing the risk of injury and finishing on time.

All the work is for Ikea, which hopes to open a 350,000-square-foot store there in 2009. The Swedish home furnishing business opened two stores recently in Florida, one in Sunrise in South Florida and the other in Orlando.

All the preliminary paperwork is done, and construction is expected to begin in the summer.

Plans call for 1,700 parking spaces on the 29-acre lot. Ikea officials said the site will have less asphalt when the store opens than is there now, and plans also call for the planting of 600 trees around the building and a reflective roof to lower the business's energy consumption.

The building will be about half the size of the existing warehouse and include a retention pond between it and the residential area.

So far Ikea's Tampa plans have gone like clockwork. Zoning was approved and deconstruction began on schedule and should be done well before construction begins.

Ikea is a global company that served 458 million customers in 2006.

The Tampa store will feature 10,000 items, a 300-seat restaurant and 50 room settings so customers can visualize how their assemble-at-home furniture will look.

Creating a home for all that can't begin without a little destruction.

"This is an easy one," Goss said as steel and concrete hit the ground 100 yards away. "It's only one story."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/dec/14/demolition-clears-way-ikea/?news-metro

^^
YES! Another step closer to IKEA Tampa! :cheer:

Yeah!!! I was just wondering when this was going to happen! That's what I get for taking 19th instead of 22nd the other day.

^hehe.... Good to see progress. Still a damn shame about the thoroughly un-urban design though.

^^
True.

Update Ikea: tear down nearly complete, land deal yet to closeTampa Bay Business Journal

Demolition is mainly finished on the former Tampa International Center, the future site of IKEA Tampa.

Initial work began in early December. Clean-up of the site will occur throughout the winter for site preparation this spring and construction beginning in summer.

"We look forward to closing on the purchase of the land and beginning construction next year so we can open IKEA Tampa in summer 2009," said Michael Maier, IKEA real estate manager, in a release.

IKEA Tampa will be the third IKEA store in Florida, fifth in the Southeast and 37th in the United States.

The 353,000-square-foot IKEA Tampa will have 1,700 parking spaces and will be built on 29 acres bordered by 22nd Street, 26th Street, Adamo Drive and the Crosstown Expressway.

IKEA Tampa will reflect the original architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide, the company said. Nearly 400 people will be working at the store when it opens.

It will present 50 different room settings, three complete model home interiors, a supervised children's play area, and a 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes.

There currently are more than 270 IKEA stores in 36 countries, including 33 in the United States.

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2007/12/17/daily1.html?surround=lfn

I seriously wish they saved some land and built a parking deck on the roof and not using up 27 acres. But I still like this project

Yeah, I don't understand why they keep doing flat parking instead of parking decks... I know it comes down to money, but that is a really good property!

It doesn't help that the city makes mo effort whatsoever to encourage garages over surface lots via zoning rules and/or tax incentives. basically if a developer can get enough land together, they can build as big and as shitty a surface lot as desired. To hell with the people who have to live here and deal with the damn thing for the next 30 years or more.

You know what bothers me about this project... NO RENDERINGS!!! I know that they are going to the "typical" IKEA store, but how about some originality when doing a store in a historic district.

It doesn't help that the city makes mo effort whatsoever to encourage garages over surface lots via zoning rules and/or tax incentives. basically if a developer can get enough land together, they can build as big and as shitty a surface lot as desired. To hell with the people who have to live here and deal with the damn thing for the next 30 years or more.

I agree. I do however have a little faith that IKEA will be doing the right thing in the area. Time will answer all these questions. I hope I am right on this one :)

Yeah, I think it's a good thing ultimately... I would be kinda surprised to not see a garage built later and a chunk of that surface lot redeveloped with perhaps some other retail and/or a hotel... Or something like that.

They may just be waiting it out for the outparcels to be worth more. Ikea is all about costs and they know that game really well. And since there will be overall less paved area, I guess it's not all bad. I'm just glad there will be tons of people coming to the area.

You know what bothers me about this project... NO RENDERINGS!!! I know that they are going to the "typical" IKEA store, but how about some originality when doing a store in a historic district.
You don't really need a render. Just imagine any other IKEA store and just put a massive parking lot in front of it! :lol:

You don't really need a render. Just imagine any other IKEA store and just put a massive parking lot in front of it! :lol:

Yup pretty much. I saw a rendering somewhere, and it had no urban distinction.

The Ikea in Orlando was CRAZY BUSY and they had parking attendants directing traffic. This store is going to cause some crazy business in the area given what I noticed in the Orlando store. Going to make that area explode with retail

The Ikea in Orlando was CRAZY BUSY and they had parking attendants directing traffic. This store is going to cause some crazy business in the area given what I noticed in the Orlando store. Going to make that area explode with retail
I agree, I just hope that this doesn't give some Big Box Stores (WAL-Mart,Target,etc) the idea that they have the chance of building in Ybor. I would like to keep Ybor as residential and small shop as it can. Don't bring in something stupid that we all know will just cause problems for the vicinity.

^They're coming regardless... They will simply locate a few blocks down Adamo towards Brandon, or south on 22nd/19th a bit... I know for a fact that other major retailers beyond Wal-Mart and IKEA have had interest in recent years in that general corridor, and they're just the beginning.

^^
Agreed. Target and Wal-Mart will come eventually. I think that is inevitable.

The demolition of the existing Tampa International Center is going well.

^^
That's cool.

Thanks for the update Jason.

:ohno:
Just as I thought, Saul-Sena is trying to mess up the IKEA project.

City Leader Wants Ikea Assembled Differently

y ELLEN GEDALIUS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 15, 2008

TAMPA - City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena is threatening to "embarrass" Ikea if the furniture store doesn't come up with a better, more environmentally friendly design for its proposed Tampa location.

She said she is so frustrated she would make a video of the project and post it on YouTube. She made the threat in a Dec. 20 letter to the company's president. On Monday, she said she doesn't plan to back down.

"Please save yourself and the City of Tampa the shame of mediocrity and redesign your Tampa store to be sustainable," Saul-Sena wrote.

While Saul-Sena is pushing to make the company change its site plan, her opinion isn't shared by other city leaders. On Wednesday, a top city administrator sent Ikea a separate letter designed to reassure the company that the mayor and city administration support the project.

In June and again in July, the city council approved plans to rezone the property at Adamo Drive and North 22nd Street for the Ikea project. Both times, the council voted 6-1 to support the plan, with Saul-Sena opposing. At the public hearings, she criticized the project for not being environmentally friendly. Saul-Sena is a longtime advocate of green, sustainable design.

The store, known for its sleek furniture and inexpensive prices, is scheduled to open in summer 2009. It will be Florida's third Ikea, joining newly opened stores in Sunrise and Orlando.

The announcement in March that Ikea was planning a Tampa site came with much fanfare, and Mayor Pam Iorio talked glowingly about the project and its economic benefits at a news conference.

In July, however, Saul-Sena fired off her first letter to Ikea's president. She asked the company to reconsider its design.

The company responded with a three-page letter explaining Ikea's commitment to the environment. The site plan preserves 96 trees on the site. Construction of the building will include steel and concrete made from recycled material. The roof is designed to include solar panels.

Still unsatisfied, Saul-Sena followed up with her YouTube threat. She said the site plan is a "cookie-cutter template." The structure, she wrote, is a "big box."

"If you were Wal-Mart, which does not aspire beyond mediocrity, then I would not be expecting a decent design," she wrote. "But you have a painful disconnect between your stated mission and your built presence in Tampa."

In the city's response, Mark Huey, the city's economic development administrator, wrote Ikea's project has "strong and enthusiastic support" from the city, including from the mayor.

"The site plan is totally acceptable to the city and we have no expectation whatsoever that your company should make changes," Huey wrote.

Ikea has no plans to change its design, spokesman Joseph Roth said Monday.

"We are ... proud of our record of being environmentally responsible," Roth said. He ticked off features such as energy-efficient lighting and tree preservation.

He said the company hasn't received similar threats before.

Huey said he felt compelled to write his own letter to Ikea after hearing from company representatives.

"They were concerned about the letter and the sentiments expressed on the council letterhead," Huey said.

He didn't want the company to think the administration shared Saul-Sena's opinions.

Saul-Sena on Monday said she made it clear in her letter she wasn't writing on behalf of the council but was speaking for herself.

"I didn't say 'we,' I said 'I,'" Saul-Sena said.

She said she has purchased several things at Ikea, including dorm furniture for her daughter.

"I love what they do, but what they want to build in Tampa is not good, sustainable design," she said. "I know they can do better."

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jan/15/me-city-leader-wants-ikea-assembled-differently/?news-metro

And this is why I don't like Saul-Sena...

I think she needs to "shut up" and let IKEA be.
:rant:

Well, if it doesn't include a garage, it should.

I think it's a shame that everyone else in the city was so willing to roll over for IKEA, as if we need them, when they're the business who needs customers in new markets to thrive. From an urban planning perspective, I think the IKEA project is one of the more regrettable projects approved in Tampa in recent years. I was pretty surprised to see the city roll over for such a horrible site plan... I can guarantee you that if the city and county had presented a unified front, that IKEA would have made reasonable changes to the design...

But that didn't happen, the project is on the books, and it's time to move on to the next 'battle'. Mrs. Saul-Sena has got her timing off by about 9 months. She is simply too late.


[edited for clarity]

I support what she's saying. Tampa doesn't NEED Ikea to survive. We need the site to at least include a parking garage.

I can agree with presenting a unified front if the city leaders did not approve of the design. BUT how petty it is to put something like this on Youtube. Honestly, even if she does who will care? What does Mrs. Saul-Sena want? I have not heard. She wants "sustainable" but what does that mean to her?

Steve

That's pretty hilarious. This store will be like Ikea's other stores. Not an architectural masterpiece, but something that brings people in consistently.

Saul-Sena is a nut job. She should have spoken up months ago. Now the project is about to lay the cornerstone it's too late.

There is going to be a a whole bunch of crap coming up around the IKEA now. She should focus on that stuff. Some red neck looking store called Furniture Row wants to open in the area now. She needs to go after them. It looks like a typical suburban strip mall store but with a barnyad feel.

Fits so nicely in Ybor/Channelside...LOL.

^lol... That should be getting built up near Lutz/Odessa, or down in Riverview somewhere. Or if they want to be so busy they won't know what to do with themselves, build it in Pasco somewhere.

Bradenton already has the Red Barn Flea Market. It kind of marks the transition of rural/suburb and downtown in that area.

Any kind of place like that should stay out of Channelside/Downtown Tampa.

BTW: Seaport Channelside looks absolutely horrendous!

I can't believe they picked that project over the other proposals.

^lol... That should be getting built up near Lutz/Odessa, or down in Riverview somewhere. Or if they want to be so busy they won't know what to do with themselves, build it in Pasco somewhere.
Yes, because everyone in Pasco are rednecks! :rolleyes:

I didn't have much hate for the structure itself, I just didn't think the over use of land for the parking was needed. The could had added a parking garage on the side. But as Tampa610 has said, it's too late.

Get a grip dude. I didn't say that everyone in Pasco are 'rednecks'. I didn't even mention the word 'redneck', you did. It's a cultural reality that 'country' folks still live in Pasco in plentitude, and a 15-20 mile radius around central Pasco yields many, many more.

Having visited the Orlando IKEA this past weekend, I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the whole project. What a cluster f#%k over there, and then when you get inside you are herded like cattle through a maze. Dunno, I like some of their stuff despite not being the best made, but I think I will stick to their online catalog rather than fight the masses again.

^ Online is cool, but they have much less available. Not to mention crazy shipping prices.

^ Online is cool, but they have much less available. Not to mention crazy shipping prices.

I'm willing to pay more for the convienance of not being subjected to the masses. Laura and I seriously left there, wired. Though, I should preface that by the fact we had been up since 4am shooting the Disney Marathon, then stopped by the Lexus dealer to look at a car both of which I'm sure did not help the overall situation but in all reality the masses of deranged soccer moms and yuppie puppies was enough to make anyone think twice about setting foot in there for a long, long time.

I'm willing to pay more for the convienance of not being subjected to the masses. Laura and I seriously left there, wired. Though, I should preface that by the fact we had been up since 4am shooting the Disney Marathon, then stopped by the Lexus dealer to look at a car both of which I'm sure did not help the overall situation but in all reality the masses of deranged soccer moms and yuppie puppies was enough to make anyone think twice about setting foot in there for a long, long time.

Haha yea, it's definitely an all-day event. That store is new enough that it's still a novelty, but I don't think it's ever like ducking in a Target. Sure brings the people though.

I'm willing to pay more for the convienance of not being subjected to the masses. Laura and I seriously left there, wired. Though, I should preface that by the fact we had been up since 4am shooting the Disney Marathon, then stopped by the Lexus dealer to look at a car both of which I'm sure did not help the overall situation but in all reality the masses of deranged soccer moms and yuppie puppies was enough to make anyone think twice about setting foot in there for a long, long time.

I was there this weekend too. I was shocked to see how full it was. We left, went to eat, and came back an hour later and had the store to ourselves. Go later at night and its much better.

It is an IKEA - it will look like and IKEA and be like an IKEA. It is replacing a warehouse in a warehouse district. Get over it. Sure a garage would be nice, but for what - outparcel Applebee's? Maybe we should have a 2 acre retention pond facing Adamo.

I have lost most respect for Saul-Sena - if she is so committed to urban design, why does she try to submarine any urban project in favor of poor roads and "village" screw-ups?

^ Online is cool, but they have much less available. Not to mention crazy shipping prices.

Target is quite the opposite. More online and less at the stores.

If you've seen L.A it looks just like Tampa in the sense of all these parking lots. The only difference is they have usually Urban buildings in the same block.
I have no problem with the Ikea looking the way it is after going to L.A. It's probably more functional like that anyways.

^^
I see.

Letter to Ikea upsets council
The city signed off on the project, but City Council member Linda Saul-Sena had not.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published January 18, 2008

Breaking News Video

TAMPA - City Council member Joseph Caetano lashed out at colleague Linda Saul-Sena on Thursday for demanding that Ikea make its new building in Tampa more environmentally friendly.

He called a letter that Saul-Sena sent the furniture retailer embarrassing.

"This issue should have never come up," he said. "It was a 6-1 vote. It's a dead issue."

Saul-Sena cast the lone vote against the project in July when the City Council approved the company's plans for a store near Ybor City.

Last month, she sent a letter to Ikea president Pernille Lopez on City Council letterhead, criticizing the site plan as a "sea of asphalt."

"If you were Wal-Mart, which does not aspire beyond mediocrity, then I would not be expecting decent design," she wrote.

Saul-Sena said she planned to post videos of the site on YouTube to embarrass the company.

Tampa's economic development administrator followed up last week with a letter to Ikea assuring the company the city supports the project.

And at the end of a long meeting Thursday, Caetano made a motion to send a similar letter from the City Council. Council member Charlie Miranda seconded the motion, and chairwoman Gwen Miller voted in favor it.

Saul-Sena voted no, along with Council member John Dingfelder, who urged the board to drop the issue.

With two council members absent, the motion failed.

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

[Last modified January 18, 2008, 00:47:45]

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/18/Hillsborough/Letter_to_Ikea_upsets.shtml

Oh brother... nice to see we have a situation brewing where the city's redevelopment could soon become a gambit in the political games certain council members are playing.

^ This is Tampa, what did you expect?

I was kinda hoping for the Greco payola system. It's more efficient at getting things done. Were it not for term limits, we could have had our own Daley! (that's a joke)

The funny thing is, Saul-Sena's right when describing the design. Just WAY out of line. I mean c'mon, posting videos on youtube to emberass the company? Please. :weird:

Saul-Sena should be banned from Florida. Just like Rhonda Storms :bash:

Tampa official backs off Ikea fight

The City Council member says she lost her perspective.

Linda Saul-Sena cast the only vote against Ikea in July.

TAMPA - City Council member Linda Saul-Sena this week apologized to an Ikea furniture store executive for demanding that the company make its new store slated for Tampa more environmentally friendly.

"In my passion about environmental sustainability and urban design issues, I went too far and lost my perspective," Saul-Sena wrote to Ikea president Pernille Lopez. "I regret my strong language."

She alone voted against the project in July when the City Council approved Ikea's plans for a 350,000-square-foot store and 1,615-space parking lot near Ybor City.

Last month, she sent a letter to Lopez on City Council letterhead, criticizing the site plan as a "sea of asphalt."

"If you were Wal-Mart, which does not aspire beyond mediocrity, then I would not be expecting decent design," she wrote.

Saul-Sena said she planned to post videos of the site on YouTube to embarrass the company.

Tampa's economic development administrator followed up with a letter to Ikea assuring it that the city supports the project. Then at last week's City Council meeting, board member Joseph Caetano lashed out at Saul-Sena, saying she embarrassed the city.

"It was a 6-1 vote," he told her. "It's a dead issue."

In her apology, Saul-Sena wrote she still hopes Ikea "will build something in Tampa that is equal or better than what you are doing in Europe and other places," but she is thrilled the company chose to put a store in Tampa.

"Next time you are in Tampa, I hope that you will accept my invitation to let me show you around our beautiful city and treat you to a Cuban sandwich and a cup of cafe con leche," she wrote.

Saul-Sena declined to comment on the apology.

"The letter speaks for itself," she said.

She said she's a huge fan of the company's modern, Scandinavian-style furniture and home accessories.

The Tampa store is scheduled to open in 2009.

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/25/Hillsborough/Tampa_official_backs_.shtml

Such nonsense...

Now we'll see if Mrs Saul Sena is a real leader, and leads the pack on making substantive improvements to the sustainability of Tampa's built environment.

Goes to show how much of a moron Saul-Sena is.

Has anybody driven by the Ikea site lately? I've noticed they tore most of the old building down, but kept just the corner at 22nd and Adamo...and now they are putting up a wall to completely close it in... Is it perhaps going to serve as their construction office or something? Why would they do that?

^^
Maybe...they don't want to waste money on a trailer :lol:

lol... I was wondering that as well. I wonder if they are going to have it be the site of ALDI??

^^
Maybe...they don't want to waste money on a trailer :lol:

I'll say this - those guys are cost-cutting geniuses that make Wal-Mart envious. And I've never heard of IKEA labor scandals like forced unpaid overtime.

Love IKEA. Will love it even more when it's 15 minutes from my home.

Love IKEA. Will love it even more when it's 15 minutes from my home.

I like IKEA also. Some of the furniture in my dad's house is from IKEA.

Ikea buys land for store
Tampa Bay Business Journal

Swedish furniture retailer Ikea moved a step closer to building its Tampa store.

On Feb. 1, Ikea completed the $25.4 million purchase of 29 acres that will be home to its 353,000-square-foot Adamo Drive store, the company's third Florida location. Workers have been razing what was the Tampa International Center at the site.

Panattoni Investments LLC, a Sacramento, Calif., development company, sold the land to Ikea for more than twice the $11.2 million it paid for it in July 2005.

Ikea stores attract shoppers who tend to spend a day browsing through model rooms and discount-priced housewares, some of which start at 50 cents. The local store will include a children's play center, as well as 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish entrees and American cuisine. It's expected to open in the summer of 2009.

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/02/04/daily4.html?jst=b_ln_hl

^^
:banana:

Panattoni Investments LLC, a Sacramento, Calif., development company, sold the land to Ikea for more than twice the $11.2 million it paid for it in July 2005.

Nice pay day.

Well that explains why they hadn't completely torn down the entire building already.

Well that explains why they hadn't completely torn down the entire building already.

It does? Why? They are going to use it for something, otherwise I doubt they'd wall in one side.

^^i was wondering why it was taking so long to tear down the existing building. I guess if the entire site was not closed on/purchased until last Friday that would, perhaps, explain why they had taken their time knocking down the existing structure.

Ikea hires general contractor
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - 12:05 PM EDT
Tampa Bay Business Journal

Swedish furniture retailer Ikea hired general contractor Williams Co. to build its Tampa store, which is slated to open next summer.

Williams Co., which opened a Tampa office earlier this year, built Ikea's Orlando store last year. The general contractor also is building the SuperTarget at Cypress Creek Town Center.

Construction is expected to start in several months on the Adamo Drive Ikea store, which will employ 400 people when it opens.

Ikea paid $25.4 million on Feb. 1 for the 29 acres that will be home to its 353,000-square-foot store, the company's third Florida location.

Panattoni Investments LLC, a Sacramento, Calif., development company, sold the land to Ikea for more than twice the $11.2 million it paid for it in July 2005, but the price included clearing the site.

Other companies involved with the Tampa Ikea project are Lochrane Engineering of Orlando, Kimley-Horn and Associates of Tampa, architect GreenbergFarrow, Universal Sciences and the law firm of Foley & Lardner.

"With our land purchased, team selected and permits secured, we are on schedule to open Ikea Tampa in summer 2009," Michael Maier, Ikea's real estate manager, said in a statement.

Ikea attracts shoppers who tend to spend a day browsing through model rooms and discount-priced housewares. The local store will include a children's play center as well as 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish entrees and American cuisine.

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/03/31/daily18.html?surround=lfn

i'm super excited for IKEA. i'm starting college this year for interior design and this will be a great resource, inspiration, and even job opportuinity next year. i'm very happy tampa is getting one.

I can't wait until this opens. This will be a great plus to the city and residents.

:cheer:

Yeah, Ikea is AWESOME!! I love the one in Orlando, and the cafe is actually pretty great too.

Steve

I'm hoping the cafe at the Tampa location will overlook into Channelside and DT. I can vision it now......

Maybe, it depends on the layout of the store and the placement on the property. If it is like the Orlando store, and it faces Adamo then the cafe would overlook Adamo...not the best view, but the food will still rock!

Steve

My wife and I make a trip to the Atlantic Station Ikea (Atlanta) about once a month. Their cafe overlooks some apartments across the street. I think they are more concerned with getting people in and out of their parking deck and the loading dock than the view from the cafe.

Love the big milk chocolate bars though. We generally buy about 10 to last the month. Also, you will never, ever find a better collection of very cool, very cheap lighting. I swear we buy a new lamp everytime we go there. Its amazing, I got a small task lamp to use as a bedside table for my son's room for $3.99. Good design, amazing price.

Oh, those Poang chairs are really comfortable too.

Also, you will never, ever find a better collection of very cool, very cheap lighting. I swear we buy a new lamp everytime we go there. Its amazing, I got a small task lamp to use as a bedside table for my son's room for $3.99. Good design, amazing price.

Agreed. I have several family members who always buy something from IKEA whenever they go.

My wife and I make a trip to the Atlantic Station Ikea (Atlanta) about once a month. Their cafe overlooks some apartments across the street. I think they are more concerned with getting people in and out of their parking deck and the loading dock than the view from the cafe.

Love the big milk chocolate bars though. We generally buy about 10 to last the month. Also, you will never, ever find a better collection of very cool, very cheap lighting. I swear we buy a new lamp everytime we go there. Its amazing, I got a small task lamp to use as a bedside table for my son's room for $3.99. Good design, amazing price.

Oh, those Poang chairs are really comfortable too.


We make the trek to Orlando about once a month to eat in the cafe. It's a lot of fun and occupies us for several hours. We have the Poang chairs too. Very very nice for a good reading chair. I can't wait until the Tampa location opens.

My wife and I make a trip to the Atlantic Station Ikea (Atlanta) about once a month. Their cafe overlooks some apartments across the street. I think they are more concerned with getting people in and out of their parking deck and the loading dock than the view from the cafe.

Love the big milk chocolate bars though. We generally buy about 10 to last the month. Also, you will never, ever find a better collection of very cool, very cheap lighting. I swear we buy a new lamp everytime we go there. Its amazing, I got a small task lamp to use as a bedside table for my son's room for $3.99. Good design, amazing price.

Oh, those Poang chairs are really comfortable too.
You guys got a parking parage? Aren't we getting a shitload of parking lots?

And I agree, most likely the cafe will face Adamo. Nothing major, atleast we're getting an IKEA!!!!!!

You guys got a parking parage? Aren't we getting a shitload of parking lots?

IIRC it's underground. You can do that in Atlanta and it makes things a lot easier.

IIRC it's underground. You can do that in Atlanta and it makes things a lot easier.
Oh, okay. Now I have to figure what IIRC means. I'm probably close, Idiot In Retard Center?

It would still be nice if they added a parking garage.

Oh, okay. Now I have to figure what IIRC means. I'm probably close, Idiot In Retard Center?

It would still be nice if they added a parking garage.

IIRC is "If I remember correctly". It would be nice if Ikea did multiple level parking, but since Atlanta was its first, I don't see that happening. They aren't exactly big spenders.

Regarding the portion of the old Tampa International Center that other posters have observed was never torn down, you can see when driving past it that there are 2 exhaust pipes that extend from the building...so I'm thinking that it houses a (large) stand alone emergency generator that was already in place for the International Center.

Assuming that is the case, it makes sense that they'd keep it for the Ikea store to potentially use and not bulldoze it!

Ikea Says Tampa Store On Schedule For '09 Opening

http://media.tbo.com/photos/trib/2008/april/0402ike2.jpg
News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON
Works continues on the preperation to build a new Ikea store on Highway 60 in Tampa.
Related Links

Published: April 2, 2008

TAMPA - Furniture retailer Ikea said that it's on schedule for the 2009 opening of its Tampa store.

Ikea announced Tuesday it had hired Florida-based Williams Co. to build the store. That's the same company that built Orlando's Ikea store, which opened this past fall.

"With our land purchased, team selected and permits secured, we are on schedule to open Ikea Tampa in summer 2009," said Michael Maier, Ikea's real estate manager. "Construction crews essentially have completed demolition and already have begun clearing and grading the site. We look forward to breaking ground officially in several months."

Ikea's Tampa store will be built on 29 acres along Adamo Drive at 22nd Street and will display 50 room settings, three complete model home interiors, a supervised children's play area and a 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs served with lingonberries or salmon plates, as well as American dishes.

Ikea has more than 270 stores in 36 countries.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/02/ikea-says-tampa-store-schedule-09-opening/?news-money

The topo of Atlanta really helped. The site is pretty compact for an Ikea. I think it has a 3 story garage, the loading docks are out the front side. The store is adjacent to the Atlantic Station complex, which is pretty cool in itself. Its worth a quick google earth review. Also, Atlantic Station is kind of the template for large mixed use urban developments now. It get referenced everywhere.

The one thing about Ikea though is that their veneers are kind of thin and they aren't as well applied at say Crate and Barrel. We just bought the Loop desk from C&B and we love it. The veneer is very thick and very abuse proof (I have a 4 year old). The veneered stuff from Ikea hasn't stood up as well, but there is a considerable price difference.

Ikea construction start in Tampa now weeks away :banana:
Tampa Bay Business Journal

Ikea has set a date. It will officially break ground on its Tampa store June 4.

When the new store opens in the summer of 2009 on 29 acres along Adamo Drive at 22nd Street and the Crosstown Expressway, it will be the 37th Ikea store in the United States, the third in Florida and sixth in the Southeast, and will employ 400, a release said.

In addition to nearly 10,000 items, the future Ikea Tampa will feature three model home interiors, 50 room settings, a supervised children's play area, as well as a 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries or salmon plates, as well as American dishes.

Other family-friendly features will include a 'Children's Ikea' area in the showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store, the release said.

Ikea hired general contractor Williams Co. to build its Tampa store.

Williams Co., which opened a Tampa office earlier this year, built Ikea's Orlando store last year. The general contractor also is building the SuperTarget at Cypress Creek Town Center.

Ikea finalized its $25.4 million deal on Feb. 1 for the 29 acres that will be home to its 353,000-square-foot store, the company's third Florida location.

Panattoni Investments LLC, a Sacramento, Calif., development company, sold the land to Ikea for more than twice the $11.2 million it paid for it in July 2005, but the price included clearing the site.

Other companies involved with the Tampa Ikea project are Lochrane Engineering of Orlando, Kimley-Horn and Associates of Tampa, architect GreenbergFarrow, Universal Sciences and the law firm Foley & Lardner.

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/05/19/daily27.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Yippee!

Good deal. With Laura and I in the process of purchasing a new house right now, IKEA in Orlando is proving to be a huge help in terms of affordable decoration. We've been making monthly trips over for a few months now, meeting up with some friends from Orlando and enjoying the cheap but tasty food. Needless to say, we are very excited at having one much nearer to us.

We make the trip monthly trip too.

Awsome!! I will probably make a few trips there for when I get my own place.

You guys got a parking parage? Aren't we getting a shitload of parking lots?

And I agree, most likely the cafe will face Adamo. Nothing major, atleast we're getting an IKEA!!!!!!

If I recall correctly, IKEA of Atlanta is in the middle of a revitalized industrial neighborhood just north of Downtown. (near the junction of I-75 and 85) It's surrounded by Novare condo towers and townhouse developments. Building an underground parking garage probably just made sense economically. I used to stop at IKEA in Atlanta during my roadtrip between Tampa and Indiana several times a year (back during much cheaper gas prices), and it's amazing how much that neighborhood has developed - imagine Channelside x 10.

For the Tampa site, however, IKEA is getting the jump on development. It's got a nice location east of Channelside and south of Ybor, but that portion of Adamo hasn't really taken off yet. In 5 years I think it will be all construction sites (and perhaps IKEA will consolidate its lots to a garage and sell the extra land for a profit. I especially expect growth after the city builds the Crosstown-to-4 connector.

Better facing Adamo than the city dump, which is a mile and a half to the south...

The south Florida IKEA has a parking garage.

The south Florida IKEA has a parking garage.

I'm sure it's a function of real estate costs. A parking garage only makes sense if the land is expensive. That stretch of Adamo has been dead for years, so parking lots are probably more cost efficient than hiring a construction team for a garage.

^Parking garages also make sense if the 'leadership' of a city isn't too fucking spineless to get it built up front, instead of making taxpayers suffer with an eyesore for 20-30 years.

There should be no mystery why 'real' cities gets reasonably sensible development, and Tampa does not. Look around this website and see what other cities are doing to provide for their citizens both now and in the future. Tampa is a fucking joke.

In an ideal world, all big-box retail and strip malls would have parking garages rather than expansive parking lots but thats never going to be the case, at least not for the vast majority of projects. I don't think that Tampa is anything really out of the ordinary in that regard, their just seemingly willing to take what they can get when they can get it with the least resistance possible....just like most other cities who need tax revenue and jobs.

Imagine what Dale Mabry would look like if it were devoid of all the parking lots, and instead lined with developments featuring multilevel parking in the rear.

^Parking garages also make sense if the 'leadership' of a city isn't too fucking spineless to get it built up front, instead of making taxpayers suffer with an eyesore for 20-30 years.

There should be no mystery why 'real' cities gets reasonably sensible development, and Tampa does not. Look around this website and see what other cities are doing to provide for their citizens both now and in the future. Tampa is a fucking joke.

As a city lawyer, I can tell you that there's not much the City of Tampa could have done re: a parking garage at that site, even if they'd wanted to. If IKEA had required some sort of special variance to build their store there, the city could have conditioned their approval on a garage.

However, the law of land use keeps the city from making special rules aimed at specific businesses. Just like you can't make special regulations against "big-box retailers" (i.e. Walmart) that don't apply to other businesses in a given zone.

Besides which, if you required unnecessarily expensive development rules for that stretch of land, it would continue to lie undeveloped for another 20 years. This is Tampa, which grew up in the era of cheap cars and highways - not Boston. Developers are already incorporating garages with retail space of their own accord, where to do so makes sense - see the Target/Walter's Crossing development and the Publix going up in SoHo.

Stipulating that IKEA had to build a super-tight (and super expensive) design in the Adamo ghetto would have negated the purpose for building there in the first place - cheap land conveniently near yuppie housing developments. Destroying that option would make the store financially unfeasible, and we'd end up with nothing out there.

I get the hate on Tampa - I agree that the city doesn't act like the city governments of old urban centers, and that often the government act like buffoons. But we're not an old urban center, and we've got our own set of challenges. Even the best public servants probably could not get HART to operate well and still within the budget that the politics of the county demand. We're a big, spread-out, relatively poor city that requires low taxes for economic viability. That won't always be the case. But we've got a lot of empty, depressed land near the urban center and we have to do something to encourage development.

^Parking garages also make sense if the 'leadership' of a city isn't too ing spineless to get it built up front, instead of making taxpayers suffer with an eyesore for 20-30 years.

There should be no mystery why 'real' cities gets reasonably sensible development, and Tampa does not. Look around this website and see what other cities are doing to provide for their citizens both now and in the future. Tampa is a ing joke.

We need to thank Saul-Sena's senseless thinking...what a moron she is... :bash:

Oh...and the others too...

Miranda is the only one I still have some trust in...

I get the hate on Tampa - I agree that the city doesn't act like the city governments of old urban centers, and that often the government act like buffoons. But we're not an old urban center, and we've got our own set of challenges. Even the best public servants probably could not get HART to operate well and still within the budget that the politics of the county demand. We're a big, spread-out, relatively poor city that requires low taxes for economic viability. That won't always be the case. But we've got a lot of empty, depressed land near the urban center and we have to do something to encourage development.

Tampa govt policy in a nutshell - shoot for the lowest common denominator and thank you sir may I have another . . . .

As for IKEA's parking garage - no they are not going to build one . . . what the city needs is to get more dense development (which the city really does not encourage) to make even more dense development make sense.

Tampa govt policy in a nutshell - shoot for the lowest common denominator and thank you sir may I have another . . . .

As for IKEA's parking garage - no they are not going to build one . . . what the city needs is to get more dense development (which the city really does not encourage) to make even more dense development make sense.

But how do you propose they do so? There are very real limits to what the city can effectively do to "encourage" dense development. If you have a neighborhood with absolutely no demand lying fallow, why is a developer going to go to the extra expense of building up instead of out? If you make arbitrary demands on developers to dramatically increase the necessary construction costs on a given plot of land, they just won't build. Tampa's attractive to developers, but it's not THAT attractive.

Tampa is actually a fairly dense metro area (2700/sq mi in the City itself), believe it or not. And if you've been to SoHo, Hyde Park, and Kennedy near downtown, you know that developers are now starting to build more multi-storey structures and denser arrangements. But demanding dense construction in a no-man's land out by the dump makes no more sense than demanding a 15-story highrise in Plant City.

I can imagine a conversation between a "tough" City Council and a developer.

Council: "Yeah, so we see you've got a two story townhouse block planned. We're going to need you to go ahead and cut the size of the block in half and double the height. And while you're at it, we'd really like to see some green architecture. We're not sure what that means, but USA Today says that "green" is in.

Oh, and your parking lot? We can't have parking lots everywhere. Why don't you go ahead and build a 5-story parking structure - green, of course - to provide a denser property? Tampa deserves only the best!"

Developer: "Well, you see, your required changes will cost us $30 million instead of $10 million. We cannot possibly find renters who will pay $3000/month for a 1200 sq. ft. condo in West Tampa, which is the rate we would need to charge in order to make this project profitable. You know what? I think Brandon will play ball with us. So, uh, fuck you, we're leaving."

We're not in a place to make demands for artificially dense growth. Such growth, if it is to happen at all (and it has been happening), will occur organically, in accordance with the demand and supply for real estate.

But how do you propose they do so? There are very real limits to what the city can effectively do to "encourage" dense development. If you have a neighborhood with absolutely no demand lying fallow, why is a developer going to go to the extra expense of building up instead of out? If you make arbitrary demands on developers to dramatically increase the necessary construction costs on a given plot of land, they just won't build. Tampa's attractive to developers, but it's not THAT attractive.

Tampa is actually a fairly dense metro area (2700/sq mi in the City itself), believe it or not. And if you've been to SoHo, Hyde Park, and Kennedy near downtown, you know that developers are now starting to build more multi-storey structures and denser arrangements. But demanding dense construction in a no-man's land out by the dump makes no more sense than demanding a 15-story highrise in Plant City.

I can imagine a conversation between a "tough" City Council and a developer.

Council: "Yeah, so we see you've got a two story townhouse block planned. We're going to need you to go ahead and cut the size of the block in half and double the height. And while you're at it, we'd really like to see some green architecture. We're not sure what that means, but USA Today says that "green" is in.

Oh, and your parking lot? We can't have parking lots everywhere. Why don't you go ahead and build a 5-story parking structure - green, of course - to provide a denser property? Tampa deserves only the best!"

Developer: "Well, you see, your required changes will cost us $30 million instead of $10 million. We cannot possibly find renters who will pay $3000/month for a 1200 sq. ft. condo in West Tampa, which is the rate we would need to charge in order to make this project profitable. You know what? I think Brandon will play ball with us. So, uh, fuck you, we're leaving."

We're not in a place to make demands for artificially dense growth. Such growth, if it is to happen at all (and it has been happening), will occur organically, in accordance with the demand and supply for real estate.

a recipe for disaster huh?

Over time maybe the land will become valuable enough and they'll build a garage. We can only hope.

Tampa routinely chokes denser development in jsut those places. (and 2-3000/sq mi is not dense). Tampa has poor zoning, poor transit, poor parking laws/requirements and constantly caves on every useful issue to neighborhood associations. Moreover, Tampa has completely illogical approval processes that allow for horrible developments and bizarre things- such as having all the meters face the road and the doors face the side (what the hell is that) . . . There are places to develop Tampa and the city seems to go out of its way to kill it (and look at the foolishness they allowed on Howard (say at Swann) - drive throughs, big parking lots, no decent sidewalks - totally a nonwalking plan in the middle of what is supposed to be a walking environment. Keep doing that . . . 5 minute street parking . . . it goes on and on . . .

^^
Agreed. We've got a very dys-functional government when it comes to development. Just look at that ugly parking garage by CC4, and the WM Supercenter being proposed in South Tampa...

But demanding dense construction in a no-man's land out by the dump makes no more sense than demanding a 15-story highrise in Plant City.


That's an intellectually dishonest assertion, imo.

Where IKEA is going is NOT "in a no-man's land out by the dump" as you assert... It abuts Ybor City, which is one of the very, very few spaces in the entire region which is actually urban in its planning. It also abuts land that the city recently rezoned to CBD-2, or whatever the highest zoning density is that the city has on the books. It's EXACTLY the kind of site that the city should have been proactive with, instead of sitting around with their heads up their asses until hearing time came.

This was put to vote. The City Council had plenty of time to see what was coming. They could have have passed new rules in time for them to apply to this project. Instead, the council did NOTHING but admonish the one member among it who actually tried to do something about the blatant urban planning mistake being made.



btw... The reason why Plant City has evolved into a massive suburb of Tampa, instead of having its own identity, is because they haven't built anything downtown which would actually give the city a sense of place.

^^The IKEA site is a huge parcel in an industrial area that is bordered by a major expressway, a state highway and a major arterial that provides direct access to a major port. Bottom line is that if the City were to force IKEA to build a garage, they would have packed their bags and gone elsewhere. This project will just provide too much of an economic benefit to the region and the city recognized that. I'm just curious as to how it is perceived that the City should be more "proactive" with this particular parcel. By holding out for a developer that will build some mega intensive mixed use project? It will never happen in that location.

This was put to vote. The City Council had plenty of time to see what was coming. They could have have passed new rules in time for them to apply to this project. Instead, the council did NOTHING but admonish the one member among it who actually tried to do something about the blatant urban planning mistake being made.

I agree. The city had plenty time to intervene when it was necessary, but did not. What outraged me the most was Saul-Sena's last minute b.s. What a freaking moron she is...I can't say it enough. These council members need to start thinking with their brains, not their mouths. That is one of the main reasons that I have lost almost all faith with this city council. It seems like every time they try to do something, they screw up in every way possible. :bash:

97Roll... They didn't need to hold out for a crazed developer willing to sink his profits into a design that the market can't support.

All they needed to do was hold this developer accountable to build an appropriate development, on an appropriate site plan, in a neighborhood urbanizing rapidly in the next several years. The IKEA plan has no context whatsoever to the neighborhood now, and will be even more out of place in 10-20 years. Instead, the city council failed to lead, so we got exactly the same cheaply conceived plan that would have been built in Brandon or New Tampa, or any place else where a developer's bottom line is politically accepted to be a higher priority than the human beings who will actually be living in the community.

I agree it would have been nice for the new IKEA to embrace urban design, but what keeps it from evolving over time? If they have so much land (i.e. parking lot), what would keep them from later developing it as outparcels and then building a parking garage?

It's been a long time since I looked at the site plan, but with a bit of creative planning, I don't see why the site couldn't evolve with the neighborhood.

^ That's what I'm hoping will happen. Hopefully in a few years they'll build a garage and build up the rest of the lot, but I wouldn't count on it. As full as IKEA typically is, can you imagine the problems building a garage would create?

Bottom line, Ybor City should be one of the most dense communities in the bay area, and city leaders should work to make it that way. It is surrounded by freeways, it is adjacent to the CBD, it has rail running through it, and it is a short drive to Orlando.

Hopefully the Ikea development will encourage higher density in Ybor. I am confident it will. However, it should conform to its urban setting and include a parking structure, not an expansive lot.

Bottom line, too bad IKEA does not employ its interior space saving designs into its exterior structures... I don't see that changing any time soon in many markets.

Bottom Line: the IKEA property could develop and add a garage in the future, but who can say. If the demand is there, then IKEA will most likely develop and sell the land for a good profit. But it sure would be nice to have a garage some day.

Bottom Line: If Tampa city members had demanded a garage now or other changes it is HIGHLY unlikely that IKEA would be building there, they would have just built it in south Pasco or Brandon, kind of like the one in Orlando. Perhaps that would have been a good thing, perhaps it would not. Having the IKEA in what will be a dense area and very close to our CBD and Channelside will be a boom for anyone looking to move into those areas, I know I would like it if I were moving there.

Steve

Bottom line, too bad IKEA does not employ its interior space saving designs into its exterior structures... I don't see that changing any time soon in many markets.

Agreed, but if the city wanted to play hard ball I don't believe IKEA would be here. What's better, an industrial waste land or an iconic store that will bring people from all over? I think bringing many thousand people a week into the Ybor/Channelside area is a good thing, garage or no.

The city can demand all it wants, but until the market demands it the developers won't follow through.

While the site development itself is not dense, it will encourage more dense development in the surrounding area. Win for the city!

Bottom Line: the IKEA property could develop and add a garage in the future, but who can say. If the demand is there, then IKEA will most likely develop and sell the land for a good profit. But it sure would be nice to have a garage some day.

Kind of like the Kash n Karry and Post Apartments on Swann which destroyed any chance of connecting Hyde Park to Howard in a walkable environment. . .

Kind of like the Kash n Karry and Post Apartments on Swann which destroyed any chance of connecting Hyde Park to Howard in a walkable environment. . .

I think the Crosstown does a lot better job at it than Sweetbay.

Kind of like the Kash n Karry and Post Apartments on Swann which destroyed any chance of connecting Hyde Park to Howard in a walkable environment. . .

Adamo has a lot more to improve before IKEA destroys the walk ability of that area of town. If anything IKEA will at least make a part of the area desirable to walk about (even if it is only the parking lot...). But a very busy road plagued by semi trucks, terrible sidewalks (where they exist), industrial buildings, warehouses, and the cross town do more to destroy the walk ability of Adamo than IKEA ever will.

Again, a parking garage would be great, and it might be in the cards in the future, but IMO it is better to have a retailer like this near the core rather than in the burbs where it would encourage more sprawl.

Steve

I agree with you Tampasteve. No one would even consider walking in that area now. Once Ikea is built, then maybe will be more apt to walk in that area. I think in the future they may decide to build a garage and the Ikea will probably spur more retail development in that area since Ikea is destination in and of itself, and it would be a good idea to provide other retail in that area since people will head to that area anyways. We can always make future development more pedestrian friendly and dense but I am just glad to have the IKEA near downtown now rather than risk scaring them away from developing that piece of property by forcing them to build a garage.

The myopia voiced here is really surprising...

This is the EXACT same mentality that ensures that a few hundred square miles of the natural landscape is paved over every decade in the region.

Make no mistake, anyone 'just happy that IKEA is here' is quite literally exchanging some of our collective quality of life, in exchange for a few more dollars added to IKEA's bottom line. The cause that you are championing is IKEA's, not your own.

Again, IKEA didn't have to sacrifice their ability to generate a profit on the site by building an urban paradise. They simply needed to do more than the absolute bare minimum, which is what we're getting.


We can do far better as a community, but not unless people actually stand up for themselves for a change, and demand something better.

While the site development itself is not dense, it will encourage more dense development in the surrounding area. Win for the city!

You would think, but I have a feeling greedy developers will come up with the "yeah but IKEA got to do it" stance.

^That's exactly what will happen... Developers are just like all other corporations. The race is to the bottom, not the top.

Businesses will only give their customers the absolute bare minimum required to keep your business. So, if you're willing to put up with shopping in the typical big box store surrounded by a sea of surface parking, sweltering heat and cars whizzing every which way, then that is precisely what they will give you, and nothing more.

Approving a development is like any other business transaction. And just like any business deal, taxpayers can't get the deal that is best for them if their representatives at the negotiations (also known as the approval process) don't even bother asking for it.

I see...

In other words. they care more about the profits and appeasing the govt, than appeasing the general public...go figure...

Adamo has a lot more to improve before IKEA destroys the walk ability of that area of town. If anything IKEA will at least make a part of the area desirable to walk about (even if it is only the parking lot...). But a very busy road plagued by semi trucks, terrible sidewalks (where they exist), industrial buildings, warehouses, and the cross town do more to destroy the walk ability of Adamo than IKEA ever will.

I agree. I am not contesting the IKEA issue, I am contesting your premise about the city generally. When Kash n Karry went in, old hyde park village was already on the books and the are was laready moving to a more urban layout (save the idiotic blockbuster they allowed at Swan and Howard - another fine decision) My point is the city does not have vision or plan ahead. Because they were in such a hurry to get a grocery store, they didn't push for something intelligent. Now years on, it is a huge gaping hole - it has not been fixed and I doubt it will be. The argument that "just wait, when the market develops it will get fixed" is simply not true and that is a very good example.

^That really goes for much of the state and defintley the whole metro. I'd really like to see a comprehensive devlopment plan for the metro come out about the same time as the transportation plan from the TBARTA is supposed to come out Jan. 1, 2009. Especially since development and transportation compliment each other.

I see...

In other words. they care more about the profits and appeasing the govt, than appeasing the general public...go figure...

The govt represents the taxpayers in these proceedings, the same as a lawyer represents a client during legal proceedings. The only thing IKEA did for the government/taxpayers was the bare minimum, per our own laws. They didn't do anything more, because we didn't even ask them to do more, let alone legally require them to do more.

And IKEA could care less about the general public. All they care about is their customers (I hope people realize that the public and their customer base are vastly different groups of people)... And frankly it's not their job to care, or to voluntarily give up what wasn't even asked for... That's why 'we the people' have a government to represent our interests in such dealings. The problem is that the people paid to represent the taxpayers at these proceedings aren't doing their job.

I was in Miami this past weekend and I was really impressed with the way things have built up there. There are a ton of buildings under construction in the core. It felt like a real city...coming back to Tampa made me feel like I was in the middle of nowhere.

The govt represents the taxpayers in these proceedings, the same as a lawyer represents a client during legal proceedings. The only thing IKEA did for the government/taxpayers was the bare minimum, per our own laws. They didn't do anything more, because we didn't even ask them to do more, let alone legally require them to do more.

And IKEA could care less about the general public. All they care about is their customers (I hope people realize that the public and their customer base are vastly different groups of people)... And frankly it's not their job to care, or to voluntarily give up what wasn't even asked for... That's why 'we the people' have a government to represent our interests in such dealings. The problem is that the people paid to represent the taxpayers at these proceedings aren't doing their job.

I'll agree with you that the city gov should at least try to tighten up the code to call for more efficient parking design when practicable...

The issue is this, though: In the world of land use codes, you can build something which is zoned for in a given area, and comply with the codes in place, in which case government 'approval' is really no more than a rubber stamp. The city can't just pick and choose between lawful uses of land, the rule of law being what it is. It also has to be careful to construct the code in such a way that it doesn't unreasonably choke businesses - sure, you want a 500,000 sq ft. retail complex to have multi-tier parking... but at the same time, if your code requires a parking garage for every retail complex, there would be a lot of developers that could not make such an arrangement profitable.

I don't know what that area is zoned. I think it is zoned for general industrial use, which means that just about any use other than the storage of hazardous materials or particular "nuisance" uses does not need a variance.

Where the city does get some discretion is in variances - i.e., the developer wants to use the land for something it is not typically zoned for. In that case, the developer has to go in for a hearing, and the city can make certain demands in order to persuade it to grant the variance.

I don't think IKEA required a variance. If so, they're legal entitled to build anything that meets the standard building code. And we can tighten up the building code (and perhaps we should), but we should be careful not to make building in Tampa so onerous that no one will bother.

Law's tricky, even for governments with the best of intentions.

I was in Miami this past weekend and I was really impressed with the way things have built up there. There are a ton of buildings under construction in the core. It felt like a real city...coming back to Tampa made me feel like I was in the middle of nowhere.

Hard to imagine that Tampa was once the largest city in the state. Miami's in the big leagues - everywhere I went in Europe, when people heard I was from Florida, they instantly assumed I was from Miami. When I said I was from Tampa, many had never even heard of it.

We're slowly emerging on the radar screen. Tampa's on the verge of going big time. But we've got a long way to go yet before we are a city of Miami's size and importance.

And actually, I for one am OK with that. This is my hometown, and I like that parts of it still feel like they did back in the 80s when I was growing up. I'm happy that the city is economically diverse and vibrant, but I know it's only a matter of time before people start moving en masse into the City proper (with gas prices already 4 times what they were 5 years ago), and my old neighborhood of Golf View becomes overrun by McMansions and townhouse/condos. It's already starting to happen.

In 10 years I'd go so far as to say the city will be unrecognizably bigger.

^ I hope you are right. I want the city to grow. High gas prices may actually force people to move closer to the core.

^gas prices are already affecting residential real estate buying trends.

In 10 years I'd go so far as to say the city will be unrecognizably bigger.

I hate to break it to you, but these development cycles usually last about 10 years. I suspect Tampa will look very much the same as they do now, once projects under construction are completed. By the time the market recovers, demand becomes great enough to make any more major projects feasible, they are planned, approved and financed, ten years will almost certainly have passed. We may see some smaller infill projects and that's a good thing, but I don't believe they'll make the place unrecognizable. That said, there are some pretty major public and private projects under way (roads, housing projects, etc.), and that'll carry the area for quite awhile.

Nah, there's some stuff getting built regardless. The money is there, from overseas if need be. The only way it makes a 'big' change to the face of Tampa in a mere 10 years though, is if by some crazy stroke of magic, voters approve mass transit and it gets built and starts running within 5 years. Between inevitable development and the catalyst of transit, Tampa could indeed look and feel significantly different in just 10 years.

Of course, I put the odds of that actually happening around 5%. ;)

Nah, you've got idealists like me hopping between planning and policy school with aspirations for big league law that plan on coming back for the assist. Ten years is distant enough - give me some time to work my magic, lol.

everywhere I went in Europe, when people heard I was from Florida, they instantly assumed I was from Miami. When I said I was from Tampa, many had never even heard of it.

So I guess they aren't particluarly well educated in Europe, either. That's like assuming everyone from the Netherlands is from Amsterdam (actually worse)

And Tampa looks different today than ten years ago. THere was no channelside 10 years ago. THe lightning were just starting to play (if they did yet) downtown ten years ago. (of course the street car) . . . lots of other things. I hope there is rail, but things will change anyway

Agreed Smiley. Here's just a partial list of what did not exist in Tampa in 1997:

- Channelside Plaza (shops, restaurants, theatres)
- International Plaza mall
- DT residential towers: One Bayshore, Skypoint and Element
- TECO Streetcar system
- DT hotels: Mariott Waterside and Embassy Suites
- Centro Ybor
- Channelside residential: The Place, Grand Central, Seaport, Ventana, the Slade, Victory Lofts, the Meridian, 212 Lofts, 1000 Channelside, Towers of C'side, et. al.
- Corporate Centers I, II, III and soon to come IV
- Renaissance Hotel at International
- Ybor Hotels: Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Don Vincente de Ybor
- Ft Brooke / Otanchobee Park
- Cruise Terminal 3
- Harbour Island residential: Grandview, Parkside, Post Harbour Place II and III, The Plaza

I know there's a lot I'm leaving out, but having these all put into a list helps remind us how much has changed in the past ten years.

^^
I remember when the aquarium and the smaller seaport were basically the only things in Channelside. Everything else was either grassland or warehouses.

Umm, can we not hijack the thread with needless hairsplitting over whether or not Tampa will be 'unrecognizable' in 10 years, and whether or not it is from years ago?


The topic is the IKEA project.

I drove by the site earlier today and it looks like they have gotten started on the ground work.

:banana:

Well today is June 4th, supposidly official groundbreaking day. :yes:

They already started. :)

The Trib has a great photo of the cleared site. Helps put it in perspective a bit.

http://snap2.tbo.com/images/photos/100038/2008/04/02/gallery/1911564.jpg

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jun/04/ikea-holds-groundbreaking-ceremony-tampa-site/

TAMPA The long-awaited opening of the IKEA store moved forward today with a groundbreaking in which city officials and IKEA executives glad-handed and back-slapped one another, all the while marveling at what a wonderful fit Tampa is for the Swedish furniture store.
The ceremony, attended by some Tampa City Council members and Mayor Pam Iorio, took place on a leveled 29-acre dirt plateau at the southeast corner of Adamo Drive and 22nd Street. The shoveling came after a few remarks in an air-conditioned tent.
"We are thrilled to be breaking ground in Tampa," said IKEA spokesman Joseph Roth. "It's about time we made it to Tampa Bay." There was applause.
He said the store will employ 400 workers drawn from the community. Applause again.
"This is a great day," said City Councilman Thomas Scott, in whose district the store is being built. "This is a great time for the city of Tampa."
Iorio gushed over the prospect of having Tampa join the 34 other cities in the nation with IKEA stores.
"They found out what we already knew, that Tampa is a great place," she said. "They are bullish on Tampa, and we all are bullish on Tampa."
She said the customers drawn to the store will boost the economy of nearby Ybor City's shops, clubs and eateries.
"At the end of the day, not everyone will want Swedish meatballs," she joked. Ybor City restaurants will realize a boost in business because of the IKEA store.
The store will be open by summer 2009. The demolition of the warehouse on the property and all the site preparation work has been on schedule, company officials said.
The Tampa store will feature 10,000 items, a 300-seat restaurant and 50 room settings so customers can visualize the assemble-at-home furniture.
The plans call for a 353,000-square-foot store to house inventory. The Swedish home furnishing business has two stores in Florida, one in Sunrise in South Florida and the other in Orlando. The company said it sold home décor to 458 million people in 2006.
The Tampa plans call for 1,700 parking spaces. Ikea officials said 600 trees will be planted around the building, which will have a reflective roof to lower energy consumption.
The store's arrival in Tampa hasn't been without controversy.
In January, Tampa City Council member Linda Saul-Sena wrote a strongly worded letter to the company, seeking changes in the store's design. She had opposed the project, saying it is not environmentally friendly.
She later issued a written apology but was not at the groundbreaking today.
Iorio said she is looking forward to the grand opening.
"I will wear yellow and blue," she said, referring to the IKEA and Swedish flag colors, "and I'll eat your meatballs and enjoy every bite."

My wife and I spent last Friday morning at the Ikea here in Atlanta, we walked out spending $65. This included; one 48-84" curtain rod, four curtain panels (two black, two w/ abstract design), one new throw pillow, one new throw pillow cover, one set of wood screws (for curtain rod install) and one set of brackets for the rod. Not bad. Lunch was $9 for the both of us.

Ikea is without a doubt the best place to go for reasonably priced, well designed (not necessarily the highest quality), home accessories. I wouldn't buy a sofa there, but I could go bankrupt in the lighting department. Cool stuff to come.

As an aside, if you could get an H&M then you would be on to something. They had a grand opening Friday and you wouldn't believe the crowd. 1000+ for cheap t-shirts.

I took a trip to the Orlando Ikea again Saturday.
It was packed, and I can't wait to save on gas visiting the Tampa store.

Laura and I took my parents there as part of father's day. Decently crowded, but good times. Having been probably once a month now for the past 6 months I have to say I've grown a little disenchanted with it, though quality issues aside everything we have gotten there has been a great deal.

Generally we have found that you don't want to buy any veneered furniture pieces that might sustain a lot of high intensity use from Ikea. If its an accent piece that isn't touched much its great. Its weird because their melamine holds up really well. We have two end tables ($12 each) simple bent chrome base and a white melamine top and they have been great. We used to have an Ivar cabinet system and it was great too, but we have seen in other people's houses lots of other TV stands and bookcases from Ikea that look like crap. Its kind of obvious when you pick things up what is going to hold up and what isn't. Just look at the thickness of the veneer or quality of the fabric for upholstered items. I always thought the Tullsta chairs were nice looking, but when Borders on DM and Cypress opened, they had them for seating. It only took about two months for them to look like crap and to have all the cushioning squeezed out of them. But then those Poang chairs seem to work forever. They do sell these nice dimmer extension cords though. They are great and saves having to put in an actual dimmer switch.

Tampa Ikea Construction Moving 'Without A Glitch'

By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 25, 2008


TAMPA - The towering prefabricated concrete walls are rising on the southeast corner of Adamo Drive and 22nd Street, and that can only mean one thing: The long-awaited Ikea furniture store that is somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon, is getting closer to opening its doors.

The iconic store, which will offer inexpensive, assemble-yourself furniture, is set to open next summer.

The 353,000-square-foot building 1,700 parking spaces and 600 newly planted trees is on 29 acres just east of downtown. The international corporation said the store will provide jobs for more than 400 workers.

It is the third Ikea store to open in Florida. The other two are in Orlando and Sunrise. It is the sixth in the Southeast and 37th in the United States. The company said it sold home decor to 458 million people in 2006.

Steadily, the site is taking shape after ground was broken this summer amid a fanfare that included many elected city officials gushing over the business inside an air-conditioned tent.

The site was home to a dilapidated warehouse and an eyesore that city officials were glad to see come tumbling down. The Ikea project has drawn the support of just about everyone in Tampa city government.

John Barrios, manager of the city's construction services division, said work on the site so far has gone off without a glitch. The only problem has been the recent weather.

"I'm sure the weather is wreaking havoc on them," Barrios said this morning. "Hopefully, it will dry out, and they can get their work done."

The city routinely inspects the construction project. "According to our records, it looks like they're progressing pretty normal," Barrios said. "There is a lot of stuff happening out there right now."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

The building is mostly up now. All 4 sides have walls at least.

Awsome!! Can't wait til opening, gotta save some money as they usually have discounts at opening.

I went to the Orlando IKEA about a month ago. It's awesome.

I was able to get a couple small things for my bathroom, and my dad got a new light fixture for the kitchen.

Yep, IKEA is a fun experience even for just looking around. Laura and I are definitely looking forward for trading in our monthly excursion to the Orlando IKEA for the Tampa one. Now, if I could just get around to putting together that glass display case I got there last time....

^^
Good luck. At least they provide good instruction manuals and assistance if needed. IKEA knew from the begining that some Americans are'nt too fond of assembling furniture themselves, so that is why IKEA goes that extra step...or two here.

btw, for those who are curious.... The method of construction being used on IKEA is what I design for a living... (I help engineer concrete buildings erected via the 'tilt wall' process)...

I'm presently working on the design for a Target being built on the outskirts of New Orleans, and recently completed the design for a new college being built in Miami. (Nova Southeastern University... It's one of those ripoff corporate for-profit schools)

What is the tilt wall process?

(Nova Southeastern University... It's one of those ripoff corporate for-profit schools)
It may be for profit, but it is far and away better than the other schools similar to it (IE, "Everest" and the like). They really do have one of the better dentistry schools in the country.

Steve

What is the tilt wall process?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt_up

It may be for profit, but it is far and away better than the other schools similar to it (IE, "Everest" and the like). They really do have one of the better dentistry schools in the country.

Steve

If you saw what I just finished designing for that school, most people would be shocked. I don't know much about what their campus looks like now, but it's going to look like a college when this expansion is done, that's for sure.

this thread is for Ikea,right jasonhouse?

Hey all! Sorry I have not been on here in a long while. I have been busy with life and lots of changes have happened. I am hoping that the IKEA in Tampa is like the IKEA in Stoughton (BOSTON). The place is amazingly large and interesting. Any current pix?

Yes!!!
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb313/JosefBrisko37/DSC04170.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb313/JosefBrisko37/DSC04171.jpg

^Can't see the photos, just red x.

Hey all! Sorry I have not been on here in a long while. I have been busy with life and lots of changes have happened. I am hoping that the IKEA in Tampa is like the IKEA in Stoughton (BOSTON). The place is amazingly large and interesting. Any current pix?

Odds are it will look a lot like the one in Orlando, which looks like the one in Boston (from the small pics I can find online). I know I am excited!!!!


FloridaFuture ^Can't see the photos, just red x.

I can see them.....thanks for the updated pics!

Steve

I see the photos now, thanks for the update. :)

The quotes in industry magazines, blogs, and even press releases sent to news services claimed that the Tampa Bay area and Southwest Florida in general had more customers shopping at remote IKEA locations and through their online and magazine outlets than any other metro in Florida. Even though we are the third store to open, they consider this store to be their flagship Florida store and the largest of them all..it is 50,000(+) sq/ft larger than any other Florida store open or planned for the company. The Sunrise(South Florida) location is 293,000 sq/ft and the Millenia(South Orlando/Tourist shopping mecca area) location is at 308,000 sq/ft. The Tampa location in Ybor City is at 353,000+ sq/ft of showroom space...this location is called by the company as their flagship Florida store, it is similar to the new design/size plans as their other flagship stores that are replacing older locations around the US minus some parking garages/ground retail in some urban areas(similar to the plans of the new US flagship store being rebuilt in Philadelphia or of the many state "flagship" stores around the US also being rebuilt in older established markets). This will make the Ybor store the largest in Florida, and the (maybe tied with Atlanta at 3)4th largest store in the United States for the foreseeable future and whats planned through 2011.

Great to know, thanks! Wow, this is going to be a big one then; the one in Orlando is already massive!

Steve

Wow! As said the one in Orlando is already huge, the fact that the Tampa store will be another 50k+sqft more in showroom space is impressive.

^^Better selection too!! ;)

The quotes in industry magazines, blogs, and even press releases sent to news services claimed that the Tampa Bay area and Southwest Florida in general had more customers shopping at remote IKEA locations and through their online and magazine outlets than any other metro in Florida. Even though we are the third store to open, they consider this store to be their flagship Florida store and the largest of them all..it is 50,000(+) sq/ft larger than any other Florida store open or planned for the company. The Sunrise(South Florida) location is 293,000 sq/ft and the Millenia(South Orlando/Tourist shopping mecca area) location is at 308,000 sq/ft. The Tampa location in Ybor City is at 353,000+ sq/ft of showroom space...this location is called by the company as their flagship Florida store, it is similar to the new design/size plans as their other flagship stores that are replacing older locations around the US minus some parking garages/ground retail in some urban areas(similar to the plans of the new US flagship store being rebuilt in Philadelphia or of the many state "flagship" stores around the US also being rebuilt in older established markets). This will make the Ybor store the largest in Florida, and the (maybe tied with Atlanta at 3)4th largest store in the United States for the foreseeable future and whats planned through 2011.
Hence part of my considerable anger in the past when this project was approved as the junky suburbanized version we're getting here. IKEA has other site plans off-the-shelf that would have fit the brick loft and warehouse neighborhood WAY better.

Why didn't the city even look into it? I knew better, and I'm just some yutz online. They're the frickin people elected and paid to do these things!

^Well, I guess to be fair, Saul-Sena eventually figured it out. Just way to late and handled it in a shitty manner. :crazy: :lol:

The only difference in the Ikea here in Atlanta is the 2 story garage, otherwise, its a BIG blue box with yellow Ikea logo on three sides. The only reason they did that here was topo, they could make the most of a very tight site. Its not a company that spends a ton afterall, its basically Walmart with a better ecological stance and much better design. They were in the position to say take it or leave it afterall. They have a certain brand identity and weren't going to "brick it up" for the neighborhood, either in Tampa or anywhere. They maybe using more glass now, but they ain't rustic/earthy/med./cape cod or any other style that isn't an iconic blue box.

You have to remember they bought that property at the top of the market and they probably didn't want to plow more money into a garage if they didn't have to.

Hence part of my considerable anger in the past when this project was approved as the junky suburbanized version we're getting here. IKEA has other site plans off-the-shelf that would have fit the brick loft and warehouse neighborhood WAY better.

Why didn't the city even look into it? I knew better, and I'm just some yutz online. They're the frickin people elected and paid to do these things!
Well in most cities Ikea is in there is nothing special done to it, what makes Tampa so special?

Well in most cities Ikea is in there is nothing special done to it, what makes Tampa so special?

Because our name means lightning and if you **** with us, we'll strike you down!

LOL!

Because our name means lightning and if you **** with us, we'll strike you down!

:lol::lol:

:rofl:

The bottom line being, when a retailer like IKEA comes knocking on your city's door, its best to roll out the welcome mat and invite them to stay a while. I'm sure the governing bodies looked at it like this, if we try and make them conform to what we want they will just pack up and move to Pasco, Pinellas, etc... Plenty of other Bay Area communities would be ready and waiting with tax abatements and incentives to coerce IKEA to their doorstep. All in all, I'm not going to fault Tampa on this one, they got the deal done and IKEA will have an overall terrific effect on the area in terms of utilization and exposure. People from up and down the gulf coast will be traveling to Ybor/Channelside to go shopping and will in-turn spend some of their dollars at the other venues in the area...maybe even validating some of the empty retail space in the Channelside condo developments.

Well in most cities Ikea is in there is nothing special done to it, what makes Tampa so special?
That we were the only ones with the courage and intelligence to ask?


...or maybe not... :ohno:

Tampa is getting one to.

http://www.globest.com/news/1236_1236/tampa/173485-1.html

Lots of Yellow and Blue, gotta love it.

Any updates on the construction. The building itself has gotta be about finished on the outside.

Also, I am looking forward to January, when the hourly associate positions are slated to open. I plan to apply there because I think it will be a totally different experience for me. Plus I'm growing irritated at Burlington Coat Factory.

The building looks pretty good. Parts of the outside are painted but they haven't put the windows in yet or anything. They've also done some work on the parking lot too.

^^
Cool.

The site is a wasteland... The only saving grace is that it's kinda wedged up against the ghastly Selmon Xpwy...

Hopefully something will be developed out along SR60 and 22nd Street... Kinda like the IKEA at Millenia in Orlando...The IKEA is tucked in behind other outparcels.

^^
I'm sure other development will come. When? Don't know.

Also, I'm sure the THCEA will have to make improvements to the 22nd St exit at some point down the road. And the open road tolling transition beginning in 2010 will help tremendously with traffic flow from the two ramps that currently have toll booths.

EDIT

IKEA store brings jobs, new shopping experience
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

TAMPA (Bay News 9) -- The trendy IKEA furniture store from Sweden is opening a brand new store in the Ybor City area of Tampa, which will bring a new shopping experience and jobs to the Bay area.

IKEA representative Joseph Roth took Bay News 9 and others on a tour of the facility, which will include a furniture showroom and warehouse, along with two restaurants and a childcare facility.

The store itself will be 353,000 square feet with the total property covering 29 acres.

He says for shoppers it will be more than just an errand to run in a rush.

"It's more like a day out for the whole family," Roth said. "From the restaurants to the supervised children's play area and all the inspiration, the average visit in the U.S. is two to three hours."

The store will feature more than 10,000 products for the home. It will also include more than 1,700 parking spaces for shoppers.

And the project has been a real job generator. Not only did it create 500 construction jobs for the store to be built, the store will eventually hire more than 400 employees. And every employee will receive full benefits as long as they work 20 or more hours a week.

Tampa's economic development department says aside from occasional traffic issues, it's hard to find any negative impact on the community.

Mayor Pam Iorio says the project couldn't come at a better time for the city.

"We may be in a recession, but this is a good sign for Tampa that we still have a major international company that is willing to invest in our area," Iorio said.

The company says it will begin accepting job applications in January.

The Tampa IKEA store will be the 37th store to open in the U.S. and the third to open in Florida. The company says the Tampa facility will be considerably larger than the stores in Orlando and Sunrise.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2008/12/10/413142.html?title=IKEA+store+brings+jobs,+new+shopping+experience

Man too bad the store is so far, I'd want to work there.

Ikea Tampa to open its doors on May 6
Thursday, March 5, 2009, 11:26am EST
Tampa Bay Business Journal

Ikea will open its Tampa location on May 6. It will be the company’s third in Florida, following stores in Orlando and Sunrise.

The 353,000-square-foot Tampa store is located on 29 acres along Adamo Drive at 22nd Street and the Crosstown Expressway.

The home furnishings store began recruiting staff in January after naming Monica Varela as manager in December. It will employ about 400 people. Its construction created about 500 jobs, a release said.

The store will feature 10,000 exclusively designed items, 49 room settings and three model home interiors. It will also include a 350-seat restaurant.

Ikea first announced plans to build a store in Tampa in March 2007. The company operates 290 stores worldwide, including 36 in the United States.

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2009/03/02/daily49.html?surround=lfn

^^
Yippee!

Any pics?

It is a large, blue, rectangular box with yellow Ikea letters.

It is a large, blue, rectangular box with yellow Ikea letters.
Any sarcasm:nuts:?

No recent pics that I have.

In addition it CBR3's comment, I think they have a large parking lot with a few planters. So, Lots of blue, a little yellow, and very little green. Seen one you've seen them all, except for Atlanta, which has a garage mainly because its an infill project.

Great - can't wait to visit in 2010. . .

Gonna wait for the crowds to thin out?

In addition it CBR3's comment, I think they have a large parking lot with a few planters. So, Lots of blue, a little yellow, and very little green. Seen one you've seen them all, except for Atlanta, which has a garage mainly because its an infill project.

There is one in Paramus NJ that has a garage too. Just outside NYC

There is one in Paramus NJ that has a garage too. Just outside NYC
I've seen two so far in NJ, the Paramus one and there is a new one in Elizabeth NJ...

Getting close to the opening now, as ugly as the building and site is its going to be great for the economy in that area of town. Hopefully, it will handle the traffic better than the area around the Millennia Mall.

Tampa and handling traffic well? I think not!

Saturday 3/7


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3581/3342327247_891a7afe27_b.jpg


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