OREANDA-NEWS. IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced that contractors are hired for its future Las Vegas store. Pending remaining approvals, this progress allows the project to continue on track for site work to commence this month, a groundbreaking during Spring 2015 and a store opening in Summer 2016, increasing the Swedish retailer’s presence in the Southwestern United States. Until the store opens in Summer 2016, customers can shop at the closest IKEA stores: Covina, CA; Tempe, AZ, or Draper, UT; or online at IKEA-USA.com.

IKEA has chosen R&O Construction to serve as construction manager for the site work and store development. Having a strong western presence and a regional office based in Las Vegas, R&O is a full-service construction management, design/build and general contracting firm with a strong record constructing sustainable buildings. Other Las Vegas firms involved with this project are: real estate brokerage CBRE, site selection support; Kimley-Horn & Associates, civil engineer and traffic consultant; Terracon, testing and inspection services; and Fennemore Craig as well as Childs Watson & Gallagher for local land use counsel. Atlanta-based GreenbergFarrow is the project architect.

“We are glad plans continue to be on track to open our IKEA Las Vegas store,” said Rob Olson, IKEA U.S. CFO. “This store will provide a more convenient IKEA shopping experience for current and potential customers throughout Clark County and Southern Nevada, strengthening the IKEA presence in the Southwestern U.S.”

IKEA Las Vegas will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 450-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the Showroom, baby care rooms, play areas throughout the store, and preferred parking. In addition to the more than 500 jobs that are expected to be created during the construction phase, approximately 300 coworkers will join the IKEA family when the new store opens. IKEA Las Vegas also will provide significant annual sales and property tax revenue for local governments and schools.

Located in the Spring Valley area of Clark County, approximately 13 miles southwest of downtown Las Vegas, the 351,000-square-foot future IKEA store and nearly 1,300 parking spaces will be built on 26 acres along the northern side of Interstate-215 at Durango Drive, near Sunset Road. Store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. IKEA also will evaluate potential on-site power generation to complement its current U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90% of its U.S. locations.