(Updated) Well, it looks like the reports are true. The Burn has confirmed that plans are moving forward to turn a large portion of the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly into a new Ikea home furnishings store.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that we told readers about the possibility of an Ikea store coming to the area. The news was first reported by the team at the Washington Business Journal.
At the time, it was unclear exactly where the store might go or how big it might be.
Now, The Burn has seen documents that show Ikea is not going “near” the Dulles Expo Center – a large convention center in Chantilly. It will actually be the Expo Center.
The South Hall building at the Expo Center will be refurbished and turned into the new store.
The North Hall portion is not currently part of the project and there’s no word yet on whether that building will still operate as a smaller Expo Center, or become something else.
The square footage of the Ikea space will be 109,000 s.f. – making it a mid-sized store for the Swedish company.
While that square footage will be far smaller than the 325,000 s.f. Ikea store in Woodbridge, it is certainly much larger than the small “plan-and-order” Ikea stores that have been popping up. Those hover in the 5,000 s.f. range.
And for those of you wondering – yes, the plans include one of Ikea’s famous in-store restaurants.
The exact address of the future store is 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center Drive.
Work on the plans is just getting underway. Permits have to be obtained. Contractors have to be hired. Right now, the construction start date is still listed as TBD, or to be determined.
(Image at top: File photo)