(Ikea)

Ikea has made it official, again, and has hired a Memphis contractor to handle the heavy lifting.

Linkous Construction Co. will serve as construction manager for Ikea’s Memphis project, which is set for a groundbreaking next month and a fall 2016 opening.

Ikea made the announcement Tuesday, Nov. 24.

After a property tax valuation hang-up with the Shelby County Assessor of Property, the Swedish furniture retailer reached a compromise last week with the Memphis-Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine.

EDGE extended Ikea’s payment-in-lieu-of-taxes term by 11 months to offset the costs of a higher-than-expected land valuation.

(Read more about the PILOT terms here.)

Ikea has other local partners involved in its project including two Memphis-based law firms, Baker Donelson and Burch Porter & Johnson; CB Richard Ellis Memphis; Kimley-Horn & Associates; Pangean CMD Associations; and Brophy-Heineke.

The 271,000-square-foot store’s construction is expected to create 500 jobs. About 225 workers will staff the Ikea store when it opens.

“With a contractor onboard, plans can proceed towards opening the future IKEA Memphis,” Ikea U.S. president Lars Petersson said in a statement. "This store will provide a more convenient IKEA shopping experience for current and potential customers throughout Tennessee and the Mid-South, growing our IKEA presence in the Southeastern U.S.”

The Cordova store will be Ikea’s first in Tennessee; it opened a St. Louis store in September. The next-closest locations are in Atlanta and Frisco, Texas.

Ikea Memphis will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 350-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.