Commercial real estate developer GHK Cape Fear Development intends to build a self-storage facility on a vacant 4-acre lot in Wilmington, N.C. The facility at 1101 S. 17th St. would comprise 76,000 square feet. The land is zoned for light-industrial use, which allows self-storage under certain conditions. GHK is under contract to purchase the parcel from GateHouse Media Inc., which owns the neighboring “StarNews” newspaper and its offices, according to the source.

"We've done a tremendous amount of market research starting last summer. We feel like self-storage is an asset class that is underserved in that submarket," Mike Brown, a GHK partner, told the source. The facility will offer mostly climate-controlled units, which Brown indicated was lacking in the area.

The project will be GHK’s first self-storage development. "It will be a nice facility. It's going to look great from the street, where we are planning an architecturally appealing building façade. We also plan to include the best technology available in the self-storage industry," Brown said. "Self-storage is an industry that has evolved over the past 20 years from an old business model where you have multiple linear buildings with a lot of non-climate-controlled space to present day where we are seeing facilities that utilize high-end architectural elements, which better fit the urban streetscapes, not to mention advances in product offerings available to the customer."

Based in Wilmington, GHK specializes in industrial, medical, multi-family, office and retail development. It has been involved in several local developments including project management of a grocery store and office buildings, according to the source.

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