By admin 
What was once Babies R Us and then a trampoline park could be South Carolina’s first IKEA, but there is something standing in its way: traffic on the much maligned Woodruff Road in Greenville.
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The proposal is for IKEA to lease almost 60,000 square feet for one of its small-format stores in Magnolia Park in Greenville. That’s home to Costco, which has in turn already complained about traffic congestion, and Bass Pro Shops as well as Regal Theater and a number of smaller retailers and restaurants.
It is a much-improved site of the former Greenville Mall at the intersections of Interstates 85 and 385 and Woodruff Road. The mall was developed between 2007 and 2014 and Magnolia Park purchased it in 2014.
The tale of a Greenville IKEA is told over more than 600 pages on file with the City of Greenville Board of Zoning Appeals, which received an initial plan on Oct. 31, 2025, and has spent the better part of a year hashing out how this ever popular Swedish home goods store can make its entrance into Greenville and South Carolina.
IKEA, with more than 500 stores worldwide, attracts some 900 million customers a year. Its biggest competitor is Walmart.
But the City of Greenville Board of Zoning Appeals put the brakes on the project Thursday — at least temporarily — by denying an appeal from the developer asking that IKEA be allowed to begin renovations before a site plan is submitted to alleviate traffic congestion.
After and almost three-hour discussion, the board sided with the city that process set out in its development code should not be circumvented.
Representing the mall owner — Met Life and M&J Wilkow — attorney Catherine Wrenn made the point that the IKEA project and traffic remediation were two separate discussions. She along with a Magnolia Park representative said they did not know whether IKEA would continue with the project if it were delayed further.
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They say it could be another year before road improvements are made.
Traffic: What needs to happen
In an email accompanying the lengthy application, Magnolia Park’s attorney said the shopping center would be willing to post a $1.5 million performance bond for traffic mitigation if work on the renovation could begin.
The city required a traffic impact assessment, which has been done but a modification showing the traffic plan has not been filed.
City Attorney Leigh Paoletti also told Magnolia Park representatives city code does not allow for a performance bond in lieu of completing traffic mitigation improvements prior to occupancy.
“Numerous options were explored, a number of which were rejected by Magnolia Park for various reasons including that it did not want to remove or relocate a sign. Availability of mitigation options was further complicated by the need for SCDOT approval due to the Property’s location on an SCDOT road,” the Planning Department said.
The traffic study, which was completed by Ridgeway Traffic Consulting in Irmo, said the average rate for a traditional square-foot-sized Ikea was adjusted to take into account the lesser square footage, “which still generates significantly more traffic than a traditional furniture store as can be expected.”
“The recommended mitigation is that the Magnolia Park driveway be widened for a dedicated through lane resulting in a separate left-turn lane, one through lane and separate right-turn lane exiting the site,” the city said.
“Staff finds that requiring a Magnolia Park to mitigate the traffic impact caused by proposed development prior to occupancy of the retail space is reasonable and related both in type and scale to the impact the development would have on the public and surrounding lands,” the application documentation says.
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