Devon Self Storage, a California-based operator that owns or manages 46 facilities nationwide, has acquired a 21-story U-Stor-It facility in downtown Chicago. The building on S. Wabash Avenue comprises 95,589 net rentable square feet, according to a press release from Marcus & Millichap, the commercial property-investment firm that brokered the deal.

Converted from a parking garage in 2016, the property features exterior brickwork, fire suppression and heating systems, and new flooring. Two high-speed elevators capable of climbing one floor per second also have a security feature that limits tenant access to floors on which they rent a unit, the release stated.

Amenities include a pull-through loading area and indoor, off-street parking for new customers. The structure also has a side loading area with 14-foot clearance for larger vehicles. The leasing office includes a retail component and security monitor displays.

“The buyer will benefit greatly from leasing up the remaining square footage, with nearly 8,000 apartment and condominium units under construction or permitted in the immediate area,” said Charles “Chico” LeClaire, executive managing director of investments in the Marcus & Millichap Denver office, who represented the seller in the transaction, along with Adam Schlosser, first vice president of investments. “This is truly a one-of-a-kind asset and at 21 stories, it is, to our knowledge, the tallest storage facility in the world.”

LeClaire and Schlosser also procured the buyer. Steven Weinstock, regional manager of the Marcus & Millichap office in Oak Brook, Ill., also assisted in the transaction.

Founded in 1971, Marcus & Millichap is a commercial property-investment firm with more than 1,700 investment professionals in offices throughout Canada and the United States. The firm closed nearly 9,000 transactions in 2016 with a value of approximately $42.3 billion.

Devon has maintained a dedicated self-storage operating platform since 1993. Since then, the company has been involved with the acquisition, development, disposition and management of approximately $1 billion in self-storage assets.