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Somerville Finally Gets Deal to Build 250,000-SF IKEA Store

SOMERVILLE, MA-The city finally reaches an agreement with IKEA, the Swedish home furnishing chain, to develop a mixed-use project including 225,000-sf of office, retail and restaurant space.

By Naomi Grossman | Updated on November 07, 2001

SOMERVILLE, MA-After months of wrangling, this city has finally reached an agreement to develop an IKEA home furnishing store in Assembly Square. As part of the agreement, the Swedish company will develop a mixed-use project on the site and will provide the city with a community benefits package.

According to Sean Fitzgerald, spokesperson for city Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay, the sticking point was the language of the agreement, specifically with regards to out clauses and commitments. “The mayor wanted to make sure that the final document had the requisite enforceability clause so that the city could be sure that IKEA would do what was pledged,” Fitzgerald tells GlobeSt.com. Fitzgerald acknowledges that for IKEA the concept of committing to a mixed-use proposal in a tightening economy is difficult but he says the mayor “wasn’t going to jeopardize the long term stability and sanctity of the agreement. They were trying to put language in there that says, if the economy is good we’ll do it. The city needed a reasonable assurance that what they agreed to build would be built.”

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