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Soho’s about to get its very own dose of meatballs and Malm. Ikea has snapped up 529 Broadway—the six-story corner building at Spring Street currently decked out in Nike swooshes—for a cool $213 million, according to property records. The plan is to transform the first two floors into a 25,000-square-foot small-format store, the latest in the Swedish giant’s ongoing quest to finally plant roots in Manhattan.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Ikea has tried this dance before. A “Planning Studio” opened on Third Avenue in 2019 and fizzled after three years. A larger outpost in Rego Park, Queens, shut down in less than two. Red Hook’s waterfront megastore—clocking in at more than 336,000 square feet—still reigns as the only full-sized Ikea in the five boroughs. The Soho move represents a middle ground: more accessible than Brooklyn, but far smaller than the suburban airplane-hangar versions.
“This marks Ingka Investments’ fourth acquisition of prime commercial real estate to support Ikea’s growth in the world’s leading cities,” said Peter van der Poel, managing director of Ingka Investments, in a release. “This new location in New York City allows us to continue offering inspiring and accessible home furnishing solutions to everyone, regardless of their budget.”
Translation: You’ll be able to snag a Billy bookcase without braving the BQE.
Nike still occupies the entire building—58,000 square feet designed by BKSK Architects to echo the 19th-century hotel that once stood on the site—so the question is when the Swoosh will move out. When Nike first signed its lease nearly a decade ago, rent reportedly started at $257 per square foot, which means Ikea’s entry is no small shake-up in Soho’s already jam-packed retail scene.
The upper floors are slated to be converted into office space that Ingka will operate. It’s a tidy real estate play: Ikea gets its showroom on Broadway and Ingka adds Manhattan commercial property to its growing investment portfolio.
And this isn’t the only Manhattan experiment in the works. In July 2024, Ikea announced plans for a Fifth Avenue location inside Extell’s 570 Fifth tower, due to open in 2028. That one’s even bigger—80,000 square feet across two basement levels, with its own entrance on Fifth.
For now, though, the attention is on Soho. Whether this version finally sticks—or winds up another short-lived city flirtation—remains to be seen. But at least for downtown dwellers, the dream of walking home with flat-packed furniture may finally be within reach.