Is Red Hook's Future a Lot of (Big Box) Shopping?

The new Ikea in Red Hook, which will open sometime next year, may not be the only big box on the waterfront for long. The new Brooklyn Paper reports that Bed, Bath & Beyond may be considering part of the Ikea site and a separate story suggests that the looming grain silos may also become the site of a mixed use development that would include retail. The Bed, Bath & Beyond would come first, as up to 70,000 additional feet of retail space has been approved for the Ikea site.

The owner of the old grain terminal site, however, also says his long-term plans include retail, although the short-term plan is to use the silos for his firm's concrete business. "Ikea has created a shopping destination here," says John Quadrozzi, who owns the Grain Terminal property. "I could swim upstream [and continue to do only industry], or I could swim with the other fishes."

The Ikea will add up to 50,000 additional cars a week on local streets or 2.5 million a year.