Ikea clears all bureaucratic hurdles along path to Winnipeg store
Last Updated: Friday, May 29, 2009 | 11:45 AM CT
CBC News
Swedish furniture giant Ikea has passed all of the requirements to opening its first store in Manitoba. (CBC)Ikea has received the necessary site plan approval for its proposed Winnipeg store.
City council approved the project with a vote of 14-2 in late March but the final hurdle was a legal formality — the official reading of applicable bylaws. That was done Wednesday, said Kerri Molinaro, president of Ikea Canada.
The Swedish retailer's 350,000-square-foot store will be the anchor tenant in a massive big-box development at Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway. In all, the full development will turn about 80 hectares of industrial land into the largest development the city has seen in 25 years.
Molinaro expects construction of the Ikea store to take 18 months, with an anticipated opening between late 2011 and 2013. But before that even begins, the necessary infrastructure must be done on the roadways and land preparation.
The project developer, Winnipeg's Fairweather Properties, must first widen streets in the area and install new traffic lights.
It is expected to take about 12 years to complete the entire development. It will be done in stages, starting next year with the Ikea property and followed by more than one million square feet of commercial and residential development , including the possibility of a 100-room hotel, 500-unit condo building and 16-screen movie theatre.
