Cary mall mortgage documents note potential IKEA

CBL Properties has plans to redevelop the struggling mall over the next couple of years, including rezoning the back side to allow for a taller building.

Although CBL officials insist no specific tenants have been lined up for the revamped portion, a section of the 71-page refinancing agreement with Prudential Insurance on the mall's $46.7 million mortgage is labeled "IKEA Release Parcel" detailing how the lender would remove 15 acres from the lien on the property. A black-and-white image of the mall's site plan is attached as an exhibit to the agreement, showing the 15 acres on the back side of the mall, where former anchors Sears and Macy's were once located, as the section set aside for IKEA.

Even without official confirmation, Cary residents have been putting together clues about a possible IKEA in town similar to the way the retailer's customers assemble its furniture.

"I have heard the rumors of IKEA coming," a man named Mike said Friday. "It would be pretty interesting. It might bring in a new stream of people, people who want to live here, people who want to work here."

One of the clues was Mayor Harold Weinbrecht referring to blue and gold – the colors of IKEA's logo – in a recent blogpost about the Cary Towne Center project.

"That would be great because I wouldn't have to go to Charlotte or (Washington,) D.C.," Melassa Whiting said, referring to the closest IKEA stores to the Triangle. "We need something like that around here."

"It's the right place to have the location because we have the right economic means, the demands that IKEA can provide. It's a wonderful idea," Augustus Cho said.

Others weren't so sure, however.

"They may not have enough people to support them," a man named Louis said.

"I don't really care for one. I don't use IKEA," Ashley Zaffarefe said.