GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Greenville Board of Zoning Appeals on Thursday denied an appeal that would have let Magnolia Park begin renovating space for a proposed IKEA before finishing required traffic work on Woodruff Road in Greenville, S.C.
Plans filed Oct. 31, 2025, call for remodeling a 58,907-square-foot retail bay at Magnolia Park, near Costco, Bass Pro Shops and the Interstate 85 and 385 interchange, into a small-format IKEA that would be the first in South Carolina.
City staff, SCDOT and the shopping center have discussed traffic impacts since April 2026. A study recommended widening the Magnolia Park driveway so exiting traffic would have a separate left-turn lane, a through lane and a separate right-turn lane.
Magnolia Park offered a $1.5 million performance bond so renovation could start before the lane work, arguing construction could stretch into late 2027. City attorneys said code does not allow that bond shortcut under the current application.
After nearly three hours of discussion, the board sided with the city that the development code process should not be skipped. City Manager Shannon Lavrin said a major regional destination store on Woodruff Road would not generate the same traffic as the spaces that came before it.
Zoning filings run more than 600 pages, and Magnolia Park still has not submitted a revised site plan showing the mitigation. Whether IKEA stays if the timeline slips further remains unclear.
