Ikea to build flat pack city in East London
Furniture giant Ikea has spent £25 million on a 26 acre plot of land in East 
London.
The Scandinavian company plan to construct 48,000 sq ft of office space next to the Olympic Stadium.
The Scandanavian furniture company Ikea has spent £25 million on its first British property development in East London. As part of the multi-million pound deal, the firm will acquire a 26 acre site in Stratford upon which it plans to build a “flat pack city”.
The Strand East project will contain 48,000 sq ft of office space, 1,200 homes, a 350 bed hotel, additional retail space and an usual floating cocktail bar in a prime London location close to the Olympic Stadium. Although planning application doesn’t have to be submitted until 2012, Ikea claim the new development will be similar to a “mini Venice” due to its close proximity to a canal.
It’s believed the new “city” will be surrounded by waterways, with residents and visitors to be transported via water taxis, boats and pedestrianised walkways.
Commenting on the deal which was agreed earlier this week, London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “This is yet another great example of the 2012 legacy rippling out of the Olympic Park and across east London.”
Although the iconic furniture firm have a number of commercial developments across the world, the deal marks the first British development by the company’s London-based investment firm LandProp.
“We are hugely excited to be bringing forward these plans, we see Strand East as a place for families which contributes to the regeneration of Stratford and takes its place alongside the many neighborhoods of London,” commented Managing Director of LandProp Harald Muller.