IKEA looks to be a go

[georgy.livejournal.com]

From the Somerville Journal:

At City Hall this morning there will be an announcement of an agreement reached at Assembly Square.
At this writing, Mayor Joe Curtatone, representatives from Mystic View Task Force, Federal Realty Investment Trust and IKEA are scheduled announce a settlement ¡§a shared vision,¡¨ the press release states, of ¡§transit-oriented, mixed use development.¡¨

Comment away.

--

As a sidenote, you can read the Somerville Journal blog at somervillemass2. It is vaguely reporting that "something else is coming today," so, yeah.

Comments

[ron_newman]

I went to the press conference. This was a huge deal, with everyone in attendance -- the Mayor, most or all of the Aldermen, all the state legislators, Congressman Capuano, Federal Realty, IKEA, the Mystic View Task Force. Everyone is now in broad agreement on the future of this site.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

This is me laughing my ass off at the MVTF and all of their stupidity. They could have had the first IKEA, which is probably the most environmentally and labor rights responsible of *any* "big box" chain store. I don't know why they thought the current vacant acreage lots were so much better than an IKEA.

[ron_newman]

What stupidity? There will now be an IKEA, and it will be much more environmentally sensitive than the one originally planned.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Stupidity is YEARS of feet-dragging ... YEARS. Stupidity is a bunch of elected officials arguing to hear hear themselves talk to the detriment of commercial tax revenue and jobs that could be improving the quality of life for residents.

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

They also convinced federal reality and Ikea to pay 15 million dollars to build a orange line stop there!

I like having all these groups fighting in my community. And if this make the process take longer, that is ok. Having the proper process is important too.

[ron_newman]

Sometimes it is better to wait a couple of years and get the best possible development, instead of settling for what is first offered. Time will tell, but I think Somerville will ultimately benefit from this agreement.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, while Ikea is environmentally responsible in their own actions, they also create such an insane amount of traffic snarls that I really feel bad for the people who live near the Stoughton one.

I think Somerville was brilliant in this case. It sounds like this development will be really thoughtful.

Holy crap I really hope Prop 1 passes--IKEA BRAND LINGONBERRY WINE!!!

[ron_newman]

They don't necessarily need Question 1 until there are more than three IKEAs in Massachusetts -- something I don't expect to see anytime soon.

(Does the Stoughton store sell wine?)

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

The one in Montreal serves wine, but I don't think it's actual Swedish wine.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Ikea wouldn't need Prop 1 for that, since they'll only have 3 stores in Mass, right?

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

holy crap it's called a joke

:P

[ron_newman]

I've never been in an Ikea store, so for all I know they do sell wine. They definitely contain restaurants.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I grant you it's an inside-joke for Ikea nerds, but only a little. I think my absurd excitement was a good indicator of

Granted, no one can take absurd-sounding comments and posts for granted on ze LJ

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

* indicator of satire/humor/whatevertherightwordisineedmorecoffee

[turil.livejournal.com]

Is it stupid to expect something really good and sustainable, rather than just accept whatever random stuff a corporation wants to do? It's not stupid in my book, and I'm really glad it all worked out for all the people involved. That's what good government should be about, meeting everyone's needs, not just those who have lots of money.

:P confused...

[ronhaha108.livejournal.com]

So, it looks like IKEA is a go? why does everything I read here and the Somerville Journal article sound like a no go... i'm confused...

Re: :P confused...

[ron_newman]

According to papers that I picked up at the press conference, IKEA plans to begin construction during the second or third quarter of 2008.

Re: :P confused...

[ronhaha108.livejournal.com]

confused no more, thx =)

Re: :P confused...

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

Break ground in 2008? As in the 2008 that's 2 years from now? Geez. This. Process. Is. So. Drawn. Out.

Re: :P confused...

[ron_newman]

They are swapping land with Federal Realty, which means that they have to design their building anew for a different site.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I'm so glad people stuck with it, and were patient and firm enough in demanding that Somerville get something top rate and sustainable for the community on a project this vast. So, thanks for the info. (I had to give up reading the Somerville Journal, when it was driving me crazy all the closed-minded and self-centered stuff I was constantly reading.)

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

The announcement is now on the Somerville Journal website.

http://www2.townonline.com/somerville/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=595674

[ron_newman]

And the "something else" turns out to be Alderman-at-Large Bill White changing his party registration from Republican to Democrat.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

So sad that even in Massachusetts there's no room for someone like Bill White in the Republican party. Makes me miss Bill Weld.

[foxalbers.livejournal.com]

I'd assume it has a heck of a lot more to do with the fact that there is absolutely no Republican Party to speak of in our chunk of the Commonwealth.

[ron_newman]

And hopefully will be even less as of November 7 at 8 pm.

[sarah-raz.livejournal.com]

w00t!

[foxalbers.livejournal.com]

From zero to negative four?

[ohohiloveyou.livejournal.com]

hooray! i love ikea!

Okay, so IKEA by end of 2009, but...

[twe.livejournal.com]

Is there any information on when we might expect the T stop to be functional? Or the bike paths? Because those sound good too.