City council members in Joliet, Ill., last week approved a proposal to convert a former Walmart retail store to a self-storage facility. The property at 305 S. Larkin Ave., considered an “eyesore” by council members, has been empty for seven years. The 116,000-square-foot property was vacated after Walmart built a new Supercenter on West Jefferson Street, according to the source.  

DealPoint Merrill LLC, a real estate development and property-management firm, plans to build 865 climate-controlled units into the storage project. Property amenities may include 24-hour access, a business center, shipping services, truck rentals, and the sale of moving and packing supplies, the source reported. The facility will be managed by CubeSmart, a self-storage real estate investment trust.

The 13.4-acre site is listed as a pending sale on the Walmart realty website, the source reported. The listing price is $2.6 million, a downgrade from the $4.3 million asking price in 2007. Since the property was vacated, the company has received only one other proposal, according to the source.

Councilwoman Jan Quillman told the source the storage conversion could help revive the area because the site is one of the first things people see as they exit Interstate 80 into the city. “It was such an eyesore,” she said. “Being one of the gateways into the city, I’m glad something is going to be in there and it’s going to look a lot nicer than what it is now.”

District 3 Councilman John Gerl told the course there isn’t a construction timeline yet, but he hopes the facility will open early next year.

DealPoint Merrill is a subsidiary of The Merrill Group of Companies, a privately held real estate development and property-management firm that has been in business since 1985. Merrill Group manages more than 2 million square feet in office and retail assets nationwide.

CubeSmart owns or manages 562 self-storage facilities across the United States and operates the CubeSmart Network, which consists of more than 800 additional self-storage facilities.

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