Swedish home goods giant IKEA is continuing its push into New York City’s urban core with plans for a new store in Soho. Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer globally, has acquired the property at 529 Broadway, a high-profile corner of Broadway and Spring Street, for what will become Manhattan’s second IKEA location, the other is set to open on Fifth Avenue in 2028.
The 53,000-square-foot building, now home to a Nike store, will be transformed into a mixed use property with retail and office space. IKEA will take up the first and second floors, about 25,000 square feet in total, while the upper four floors are slated for renovation into premium offices. The lower level will serve as back-of-house storage and operations.
“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 de Poel, managing director of Ingka Investments. “Through property ownership, we can secure IKEA presence at the most important retail hubs while keeping affordability at the core.”
The 529 Broadway building, originally developed by Aurora Capital Associates and recently renovated by BKSK, earned praise from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission for its contemporary take on Soho’s cast-iron heritage. With its terra-cotta facade and glass curtain wall, the structure attempts to bridge 19th-century architectural motifs with modern sustainability and openness.
The Soho opening reflects IKEA’s ongoing shift toward smaller, more flexible retail formats that bring the brand closer to dense city centers, as it’s done in London and Paris. The move follows the company’s $2.2 billion global investment in urban and omnichannel expansion. Unlike the sprawling 336,000-square-foot warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn or the 227,000-square-foot location in Hicksville, Long Island, the Soho store will operate more like a traditional storefront, meant to be tailored to the rhythms of Manhattan retail.
IKEA’s smaller-scale approach aims to meet urban customers where they already shop, on foot, by subway, or between errands, rather than a car trip trek to the outer borough. The company previously experimented with compact concepts in Manhattan, including the IKEA Planning Studio on Third Avenue (which closed in 2022) and a 7,400-square-foot store on east 57th Street in the 1990s.
“This new store in the heart of New York City is another step for IKEA to be closer to the many,” said Javier Quiñones, CEO and chief sustainability officer of IKEA U.S.
The acquisition also cements IKEA’s presence in one of New York’s most heavily trafficked retail districts, Soho draws more than 12 million annual visitors. Together, the two Manhattan outposts signal the company’s intention to blend Scandinavian minimalism with the realities of urban life. Less warehouse, more storefront.
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