Meatballs and Billy bookcases may soon be available at the heart of New York’s shopping mecca.
Ikea is opening an 80,000 square feet space with a retail store and planning studios at 570 Fifth Avenue, a few blocks from the Rockefeller Center and St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Ingka Investments, which owns the majority of Ikeas worldwide, did not release how much it paid for the space, which is due to finish construction in 2028.
Ingka has been buying up properties in city centers around the world, including London and Paris. It currently owns and operates 537 Ikea retail locations worldwide, including 373 traditional stores, 26 stores in city centers, and another 138 stores in other configurations across 31 countries, according to Shopping Center Business.
Peter van der Poel, the managing director at Ingka Investments, said that the “timing is just right” for the purchase at the Fifth Avenue location. He said that the company wanted to be a “part of the exciting urban revitalization happening post-pandemic” in New York City.
“This investment is perfectly in line with our long-term strategy to bring Ikea closer to our customers,” he said.
The company said on Monday that some of the tower’s retail space will include an “Ikea customer meeting point “- a broad term Ikea uses to describe its smaller shops and “planning studios.”
Ikea currently has two stores in the New York metropolitan area: one on Long Island in Hicksville, and another in Brooklyn.
Ingka isn’t the only company looking to snatch up property along Fifth Avenue. In January, Kering, the French parent company of Gucci, spent nearly $1bn to buy 115,000 sq ft at 715-717 Fifth Avenue.
In December, an entity tied to Prada spent approximately $410m to purchase 720 Fifth Avenue, and another $425m to buy the adjacent building at 724 Fifth Avenue, according to Bloomberg.