IKEA scours areas around Nashville's interstates for site

• Highway visibility, access and a large tract are among IKEA's criteria in seeking locations.
• Completion is expected in the fall on the $64 million, 271,000-square-foot IKEA Memphis store.
• Analysts cite Opryland area, Wiliiamson County, Antioch, north of Nissan Stadium and airport area among possibilities.
• In Memphis IKEA was granted a $9.5 million break on city and Shelby County property taxes.

IKEA is scouring areas around Nashville interstates 40, 24 and 65 for a site to build a store, but its spokesman insists that the Swedish home furnishings retailer is yet to settle on a specific location.

“We continue to evaluate options in the Nashville area for a store,” spokesman Joseph Roth said. “The same criteria still exist — highway visibility, access and a big piece of land. That’s what we found in Memphis and that’s what we’re looking to find in Nashville and haven’t found anything yet.”

Roth was referring to IKEA expecting in the fall to complete building a $64 million, 271,000-square-foot store in Memphis that would be its first in Tennessee. His comments come as chatter has picked up in Nashville’s real estate circles that the retailer could be zeroing in on a location here.

IKEA’s evaluation of Nashville-area sites for a store dates back five years. Typically, the popular retailer seeks 25 to 35 acres for new locations that could range from 250,000 to 400,000 square feet.

Austin Benedict, a retail broker with real estate firm CBRE's Nashville office, considers the Opryland area ideal for an IKEA store given available land and complementary attractions, including the Opry Mills shopping mall and the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center hotel.

He also sees opportunities in Williamson County but cites high cost of land and potential zoning restrictions.

Benedict also said the Antioch area makes a lot of sense given its location between Davidson, Williamson and Rutherford counties with a lot of available land and potential incentives from the city. But there are also drawbacks.

“IKEA would be hesitant to do so because of the lack of existing retail in the immediate trade area and the market perception that Antioch is less than a top-tier area for new retail development,” he said.

Other real estate observers mentioned areas near and north of Nissan Stadium and in the Nashville airport area among ideal locations for IKEA.

In the stadium area, Chicago-based Monroe Investment Partners owns more than 60 acres in the Cowan Street industrial corridor near where a TopGolf sports entertainment complex is planned.

Ryman Hospitality Properties owns 114 acres adjacent to the Gaylord Opryland hotel, a portion of which the owner of the Grand Ole Opry and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.-based Dollywood once planned to develop into a water and snow park. Ryman's spokesman Brian Abrahamson said the company has no current plans for the property.

Local developer Bert Mathews said he hasn't had any inquiry from IKEA about his 180-acre Buchanan Point site near Nashville International Airport off Interstate 40.

Roth said it isn't uncommon for the retailer's search for an ideal location in a city to span as long as a decade as in the case of St. Louis.

"When looking for a piece of land that large, there's usually not many options to begin with," he said.

IKEA Memphis moved forward after the retailer was able to find what it considers the perfect site, Roth said about property southeast of Interstate 40 and Germantown Parkway.

Among incentives, the retailer was granted a $9.5 million break on city and Shelby County property taxes by the board of the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis & Shelby County.

"What drives a project is finding the perfect site," Roth said. "Everyone is excited about a possibility in Nashville, and the possibility doesn't exist yet. You’re still on our radar screen. We just can't find the site."

Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.