IKEA Sets Summer 2014 Opening Date for Miami-Dade Store

March 1, 2013

With a building permit pending for its future Miami-Dade store in Sweetwater, IKEA has already hired Balfour Beatty Construction to oversee the 417,000 square-foot project. With groundbreaking set for some time within the next couple of months, the Swedish retailer plans to open the store in summer 2014.

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

With a building permit pending for its future Miami-Dade location in Sweetwater, IKEA has already hired Balfour Beatty Construction to oversee the 417,000-square-foot project. With groundbreaking set for some time within the next couple of months, the Swedish retailer plans to open the store in summer 2014.

This will be the second IKEA store for the South Florida area, the other—IKEA Sunrise—being located in Broward County.

“We are excited that plans are on track to open IKEA Miami in Summer 2014 as our second South Florida store,” said Mike Ward, IKEA’s U.S. president. “This store will provide a more conveniently located IKEA shopping experience for current and potential Miami-Dade customers and will help strengthen the IKEA presence in Florida established by stores already in Sunrise, Orlando and Tampa.”

The 417,000-square-foot store will rise on a 14.6-acre site in the city of Sweetwater and will be adjacent to the Dolphin Mall set west of Miami International Airport. Store plans reflect the unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. The company will also evaluate solar generation potential for this store to complement the presence of renewable energy generation at nearly 90 percent of its current U.S. locations.

In addition to over 500 jobs that are to be created during the construction phase, approximately 350 workers will join the IKEA family once the new store opens. IKEA Miami would also generate significant annual sales and property tax revenue for local governments and schools.

IKEA—the world’s leading home furnishings retailer—has chosen Balfour Beatty Construction, one of the nation’s largest construction management firms, to handle the project, while also tapping Kimley-Horn and Associates for civil engineering, ATC Associates for geotechnical services, The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm for Brownfield expertise, and Procacci Development Corporation for selling the land. Atlanta-based GreenbergFarrow will serve as architect for the project.