The City Council on Wednesday voted in favor of allowing the city’s first IKEA store to be built on the waterfront in Brooklyn.

In a 49-1 vote, the Council followed the lead of the Land Use Committee, which unanimously approved the plan last week, despite objections from some local residents.

"This is a big step forward for the city," said City Council Speaker Gifford Miller.

The Swedish furniture store would be built on a 22-acre site in Red Hook where abandoned buildings now sit. The $$100 million project also calls for transportation enhancements, including free weekend ferry service from Manhattan.

Right now, the waterfront behind the building is rundown and industrial, but Ikea says it will renovate part of the waterfront and open it up to the public with a six and a half acre esplanade.

"You can walk around Beard Street, be within 100 feet of the water and not even know it's there," said Pat Smith of IKEA. "We're creating a six and a half acre park that will be open to the public everyday."

Ikea also hopes shoppers will use the water to visit the store. The company plans to run ferries to and from Manhattan, with boats, they hope, will have room for furniture.

Critics say the project will cause traffic congestion and say it is a waste of prime waterfront property.

“The waterfront is a totally inappropriate use for a store that depends on traffic, especially when all the traffic has to go through local narrow streets, many of which are cobblestone,” said Red Hook community activist Lou Sones.

IKEA and many Council members say the store will bring 600 jobs to the community and improve the local economy.

“This project will create jobs·in a district where the percentage of unemployment is over 17 percent,” said Brooklyn Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez.

The project still faces state and federal environmental approvals and opponents to the project still plan to file a lawsuit to block it.

If approved, IKEA says it plans to break ground by the end of the year, and complete construction by 2006.