Storage Development Partners LLC (SDP), the self-storage development affiliate of Storage Pros Management LLC, has proposed a four-story facility for an area of Waltham, Mass., that has a history of flooding. The company intends to build a 121,000-square-foot structure on 1.62 acres at 96 Linden St., but city officials will determine if self-storage is a better use for the land than a condominium project proposed for the same site, according to the source.

SDP attorney Michael Connors told city council members this week the self-storage facility was better suited for the site because it would help the city avoid a situation in which residents could be impacted by flood damage. “Time and time again, neighboring apartment buildings and businesses have flooded, causing many personal and economic hardships,” Connors told the council. “The proposed self-storage facility use of the locus, as opposed to 14 residential units, eliminates the possibility of additional residents being put in harm’s way if it floods again.”

Council member Robert Waddick concurred with that sentiment, arguing that future flooding was inevitable. “Given the situation in that area, to put more residents there is problematic. I suppose with a by-right development, there’s not a lot we can do, but I really think it would be a disservice to people who don’t know the history of that area to be renting to them,” Waddick said during the meeting. “They’ll be taking them out of there on front-end loaders at some point in the future unless we correct that situation.”

To minimize flood impact on self-storage tenants, SDP has reserved the first floor primarily for loading, a management office, parking and a small area for storage. Most of the facility’s storage units would be placed on the upper three floors, Connors told the council. In contrast, the condominiums would be built on stilts, the source reported.

The city would have to approve a special permit and variances for the self-storage project to proceed. Connors indicated the condominium project would move forward if the city rejects the SDP proposal.

The property is owned by 96 Linden St. Realty Trust. Principals John Severini and Babak Veyssi purchased the land in 2008 and have been working on the residential project for three years, but both are willing to move forward with the self-storage project if the developer’s plan is approved by the council, according to the source.

The council referred the proposal to the ordinance and rules committee. Connors told the council the project engineer could address any flood-related concerns during a meeting scheduled for next week, the source reported.

Founded in 2007, Storage Pros is a privately owned company specializing in the acquisition, development and management of self-storage facilities in the eastern states. The company began selling the majority of its owned assets in December, including an agreement to sell 37 properties to a joint venture led by a Chicago-based institutional investment firm for $242.5 million. Prior to the sale, it owned 51 facilities in Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire and Tennessee. It also manages five facilities in Michigan.

The company’s primary focus is now the “acquisition and re-positioning of existing self-storage facilities with value-add opportunities to improve facility operations and their physical condition,” according to its website. It also develops new facilities through SDP, which is a partnership between self-storage developer Darryl Kusek and Storage Pros principals Ian Burnstein and David Levenfeld. SDP is focused on projects primarily in the Boston area and South Florida.

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