IKEA Hires Deacon Corp as General Contractor for New Renton Store
IKEA announced today that they have finally hired contractors for constructing a new, updated store in Renton. The new Ikea store will be built to replace its current store as the Swedish retailer’s Seattle-area presence. The new IKEA store will be built in part of the current parking area, with the older store ultimately being demolished to allow for more parking. Until the new, updated store opens in Spring 2017, customers can continue to shop at the existing Renton store.
IKEA has chosen Deacon Corp. to serve as Construction Manager and General Contractor both for site work and store development. An industry leader throughout the Western U.S., Deacon specializes in construction of retail, multifamily housing, mixed-use buildings, hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities, as well as healthcare and office buildings. Other firms involved with this IKEA project include: Barghausen, civil engineer; TENW, traffic consultants; and Atlanta-based GreenbergFarrow as the project architect.
“IKEA is excited at the opportunity to relocate our established, successful presence at the same location as the existing one, and appreciate the city’s support,” said Lars Petersson, IKEA U.S. president. “Opening a new, updated Seattle-area store at the same location allows us to offer an enhanced IKEA shopping experience.”
The 398,000-square-foot current Seattle-area IKEA store is located on 29 acres in Renton, near State Highway 167, approximately 11 miles southeast of downtown Seattle. Built in 1979, the original, single-level structure previously had been utilized as a warehouse for aerospace electronics until IKEA converted it to be a retail store in October 1994. The proposed 406,000-square-foot new Renton store would consist of two levels, provide nearly 1,600 convenient parking spaces, offer a more current layout and reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide.
An updated Seattle-area IKEA store would feature the same 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a larger restaurant for serving Swedish specialties. Other family-friendly features include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the showroom, baby-care rooms, play areas throughout the store, and preferred parking. IKEA now also offers a product picking and delivery service, and an IKEA FAMILY loyalty program. In addition to the already 350 Renton coworkers as part of the global IKEA family, IKEA would generate even more annual sales and property tax revenue to the city and local schools.
Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. There are currently more than 360 IKEA stores in 47 countries, including 40 in the U.S. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. Find Ikea on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Pinterest.
