Situated on a skinny parcel of just 1 acre, West Coast Self Storage in Costa Mesa, Calif., needed serious pizzazz to gain notice in the crowded neighborhood. The facility features a three-story building on one side of the drive aisle and a single-story, drive-up building on the other to improve project efficiency. Another interesting element of the facility, which has 27,250 net rentable square feet and 280 units, is the covered drive aisle, a great amenity for its tenants. Mako Steel Inc. and Janus International provided the roof, doors and interior systems.

Mako designs, supplies and installs steel buildings for the self-storage industry, including boat/RV storage, multi-story and custom buildings. The company has plants located throughout the country to serve all areas and specializes in working with first-time customers.

Janus provides a full line of self-storage doors, hallway components, portable storage and mezzanine systems. Standard features include tension-holding devices, enclosed spiral torque tubes and pre-lubricated springs. Windload-rated doors, detailed unit-mix designs and warranties are also available.

The second and third floors of West Coast Self Storage have glass storefronts to show off the facilitys bright blue roll-up doors. The shaded canopy between the buildings keep tenants out of the hot California sun.

The 900-square-foot office has an inviting appearance from the street. The zoning department required that retail space be added to the storefront. The 1,000-square-foot space, which is leased on a four-year term, provides an attractive retail frontage use.

Brightly lit, West Coast Self Storage stands out for its interesting architecture. It has a wide loading bay with two elevators for the three-story building. Theres a side yard setback of 15 feet that includes drought-tolerate landscaping.