Update 6/15/17 – A second self-storage project is on tap to be built on Kings Avenue in the San Marco neighborhood of Jacksonville. Liberty Investment Properties Inc., which specializes in the development and operation of commercial real estate, has partnered with land owner Finley & Shell Properties LLC to develop a three-story facility on more than 2.5 acres at 1820 Kings Ave. It’ll comprise more than 110,000 square feet in nearly 700 climate-controlled units. It’s expected to break ground this fall and be complete early next year, according to the source.

The parcel is across the street from the project being developed by NitNeil Development. Under the partnership agreement, Finley & Shell will sell the land to Liberty but remain limited partners, with Liberty serving as general partner. The facility will be operated by a third-party management company, the source reported.

Liberty President Adam Mikkelson said an uptick in commercial and residential development in San Marco and the Southbank has created more demand for self-storage. Finley & Shell associates Jason Finley and Brian Shell are San Marco-area residents and indicated in a press release that the community is undersupplied.

The facility will feature elevators, security monitoring, wide hallways and “easy access and mobility,” Finley said in the release.

This self-storage development partnership is the first for Finely & Shell, the source reported.

Based in Orlando, Liberty focuses on income-producing assets and related equity and debt investments on behalf of individual and institutional investors. The company was founded by husband and wife Mike and Melissa Mikkelson, who built their first self-storage facility in 1988. It has diversified to offer a range of investment, asset-management and development ventures in the self-storage and hospitality industries.

6/9/17 – Property owner Bee Street Investors Inc. has proposed a four-story, 100,000-square-foot self-storage facility in Jacksonville, Fla. The project would be developed by NitNeil Development LLC, an affiliate of Atlanta-based real estate development and investment firm NitNeil Partners. The asset would include up to 750 units on 1.16 acres at 1853 and 1877 Kings Ave., in the San Marco neighborhood, according to the source.

The facility would replace existing vacant buildings and feature a modern design, with “state-of-the-art lighting and surveillance throughout the interior and exterior of the building, as well as access-controlled glass sliding doors at multiple points in the building,” according to the application. A third-party management firm would run the daily operation.

The project would be built on a portion of the total parcel, which also includes Dex Imaging, a document copying and printing business. Bee Street Investors has submitted a variance request to reduce the minimum lot area from 2 to 1.16 acres. It’s also asked for deviations to reduce the minimum number of off-street parking spaces from 50 to 15, decrease the number of loading spaces from three to two, and reduce the interior vehicle-use area from 1,125 to 974 square feet, the source reported.

The site is attractive for self-storage because at least six multi-family development projects are planned for the San Marco area, according to the source. The facility would also serve the downtown region.

NitNeil Partners is a regional investment firm that specializes in the acquisition, development and management of commercial real estate, including self-storage. Its storage portfolio comprises eight facilities totaling nearly 500,000 square feet of storage space primarily in the Southeast. The company has said it intends to expand into new markets, including Arizona, Colorado and Texas, through strategic partnerships.

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