By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

Back in 1999, when IKEA bought prime riverfront property near the largely derelict Assembly Square Mall, Somerville was struggling to find the best way to unlock our city’s stalled economic potential.  We knew that the 45-acre Assembly Square sites would be one of the keys to our economic future, but we weren’t sure exactly how to make it work.

IKEA saw Assembly Square as the logical location for a flagship store in a highly desirable market.  Many Somerville residents saw IKEA as a welcome neighbor: it was a store that offered products that were popular with city dwellers and its presence would provide desperately-needed commercial property tax revenues to a community that was trying to build its business base after years of decline in large-scale business activity.  An IKEA store also offered the promise of a jump-start for the redevelopment of the entire Assembly Square area as a regional retail center.

But from the moment it bought land in Somerville, IKEA was caught up in a long, complex, sometimes heated debate over the best possible use for this unique riverfront district.  For many city residents, including the members of a community advocacy group called the Mystic View Task Force, Assembly Square wasn’t a good location for any big box stores, no matter how popular.  In their view, the highest and best use of Assembly Square would be the creation of a sustainable, transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood.  This smart-growth vision was possible because the MBTA’s Orange Line already ran right through Assembly Square: all that was needed was a new stop along an existing line.

For IKEA, the problem was that the site they had purchased would cut off the heart of the development area from the best location for a new T station – and the IKEA site also occupied a big chunk of what could be a beautiful riverfront park that would add tremendous appeal to a new Assembly Square neighborhood.

IKEA wasn’t opposed to becoming part of this alternative vision, but the company knew that anything it built would be – unavoidably – a big box store.  Those who embraced the transit-oriented, mixed-use vision of Assembly Square thought that an IKEA store would be incompatible, and also maintained that the existing mall should be torn down as well.

When I campaigned for Mayor in 2003, I promised that I would “get Assembly Square moving again.”  I realized that, as in so much of life, all sides were going to have to compromise on their expectations to get most of what they wanted – and I had already become a believer in the desirability of the mixed-use, smart-growth model.

The way forward turned out to be the recruitment of an experienced and pragmatic smart-growth developer – Federal Realty Investment Trust – that could use the renovation and rehabilitation of existing mall as a revenue-producing launch-pad for an adjacent (and much larger) smart-growth development. This solution was not universally popular, and the Mystic View Task Force argued it gave away too much of the site for more traditional retail concepts, but – in the end – it was an approach that cleared the way for the creation of a new Assembly Square plan.

There were other crucial elements in getting to “yes” on Assembly Square. Former Conservation Law Foundation President Doug Foy negotiated an historic agreement between Federal Realty and the Mystic View Task Force; Federal and IKEA offered contributions to the cost of building the Assembly Square Orange Line station  (for which Congressman Capuano had already secured $25 million in federal transit funds)  – and, when the recession hit and the economy slowed, the Obama and Patrick Administration teamed with the City to provide $130 million in public infrastructure financing to lock in a $1.5 billion private investment.

But one of the most important factors in making Assembly Square possible was IKEA’s willingness to enter into a land swap agreement that moved IKEA’s footprint to a site behind the current Home Depot.  That move connected the T stop to what will now be known as Assembly Row, and allowed Federal to develop an optimal riverfront park.

Last week, IKEA announced that changing economic models and forecasts convinced them that they no longer needed another store in the Boston area, and that a Somerville IKEA, although likely to be successful, would have undermined the business at their Stoughton store in era when more customers were already shopping online.

IKEA will put their 12-acre parcel on the market, and the City will ensure that future development at the site conforms to the mixed-use, transit-oriented approach that characterizes the rest of the Assembly Square development district.

Throughout their long association with the City, IKEA remained an honest and excellent partner.  Even though they’re not going to build here in Somerville, they made a lasting and positive contribution to the evolution and ultimate success of the Assembly Square redevelopment effort.  They would have been good neighbors, but their departure opens up their prime 12-acre site for the creation of something even better – and more closely aligned to our shared vision of a thriving new mixed-sue neighborhood.

So farewell, IKEA.  And sincere thanks for making Assembly Square a success – even in your absence.