Self-Storage Development and Zoning Activity: July 2023

The global self-storage development pipeline continues to be extremely dynamic. Inside Self-Storage regularly covers new projects being planned and approved as well as zoning and other municipal issues. Following is activity taking place in July 2023.

Abacus Property Group, an Australia-based, publicly traded, diversified real estate investment trust (REIT), is seeking approval to expand its self-storage facility on the Gold Coast. Plans include the addition of a four-story building at 15 Paradise Ave. comprising 46,586 square feet. If approved, the facility would total 105,432 square feet.

Arcland Property Co. opened Self Storage Plus in Hanover, Pennsylvania. The first phase of the project in the Penn Shopping Center at 1013-1025 Baltimore St. included the conversion of a former Weis grocery store. It includes all ground-level units and vehicle-storage spaces. A second phase is scheduled to be complete this fall. Arcland is a real estate development and investment firm that owns 45 properties along the mid-Atlantic. Self Storage Plus operates more than 60 sites primarily in the Southeast. Pennsylvania is a new market for both companies.

Cinch Self Storage, which operates 20 self-storage facilities in the United Kingdom, has opened its conversion project in Brentwood, Essex, England. The facility at Unit C Hubert Road comprises 55,000 rentable square feet in 500 units. It also offers a 2,000-square-foot office for rent. Founded in Oxfordshire, South East England in 2017, Cinch has a portfolio comprising more than 850,000 square feet.

Dawson Road Self Storage opened a conversion project in Albany, Georgia. The building at 1515 Dawson Road formerly housed a Social Security Administration office. Owned by Ralph McKnight, the facility offers climate-controlled units.

Delco Storage at 519 MacDade Blvd. in Collingdale, Pennsylvania, opened under new ownership. Acquired by a private investor in August 2022, the property previously comprised 13,550 rentable square feet in 152 units.

Drayton-Parker Cos. LLC intends to develop a mixed-use project in Jacksonville, Florida, that could include hotels, retail and self-storage. Affiliate DPC-FL LLC acquired the 10-acre site at Alta Drive and Faye Road on July 6 for $5.3 million from Dames Point Signature LLC. Based in Savannah, Georgia, Drayton-Parker primarily does business as The Parker Cos.

A joint venture between DXD Capital and investment firm Realty Capital Partners is building a new self-storage facility in the Huntington Station area of Long Island, New York. The property will comprise 52,125 rentable square feet in 664 units. Construction began in June and is expected to be complete next August. It’ll be managed and branded by REIT Extra Space Storage Inc. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, DXD is a real estate and private-equity firm that leverages data technology to make opportunistic investments. Based in Dallas, Realty Capital is a real estate investment company that specializes in commercial projects.

Extra Space Storage intends to develop a new location on 5.6 acres in McKinney, Texas. The facility at the southeast corner of Bloomdale and Custer Roads would include a four-story, 130,000-square-foot building and a 7,200-square-foot, single-story structure. The project received unanimous approval for a specific-use permit on June 27 from the planning and zoning commission.

Home Star Storage opened a new location in Port Charlotte, Florida. The 600-unit facility at 18485 Paulson Drive also offers outdoor vehicle storage. The property will be managed by Storage Asset Management (SAM), a self-storage management company based in York, Pennsylvania. Home Star has a second facility in Memphis, Tennessee.

JLL Real Estate LLC is seeking permission to build a self-storage facility in Ludlow, Massachusetts. Rich Kowalski of JLL Real Estate LLC, Tom Reidy of Bacon Wilson P.C. and Lucien DiStefano of Bohler Engineering presented a proposal for 590-596 Center St. that would include six buildings comprising 29,550 square feet. JLL was denied a special permit a year ago for failing to meet or exceed the Ludlow Zoning Bylaw requirements. The company appealed the ruling with the Hampden County Superior Court, then revised and presented a fresh proposal to the planning board, which continued the discussion to its next meeting.

The Austin, Texas, Planning Commission recommended against approving a rezoning request from REIT Life Storage Inc. that would allow it to expand an existing facility at 8227 N. Lamar Blvd. The site is near a future light-rail station and within an Equitable Transit-Oriented Development area. Though light rail won’t likely be installed for more than a decade, planners would prefer a mixed-use or transit-oriented project for the location. The rezoning request would change the property from a limited-industrial use to commercial services/mixed-use, which the REIT argued would allow for easier future redevelopment into a use other than self-storage. The city council will have final say on the proposal.

Lok’nStore Group PLC intends to convert a building it recently acquired in Eastbourne, England, to self-storage. The £12 million, 60,000-square-foot project is expected to be complete by year-end. The site is near an existing Lok’nStore location and adjacent to retail properties. Founded in 1995, the company operates 38 self-storage facilities in Southern England. It has three development projects underway that are scheduled to conclude in the next 12 months.

Metro Storage LLC, which operates more than 85 facilities in 12 states, opened a new location in Wall Township, New Jersey. The three-story building at 2274 Route 34 comprises 59,245 rentable square feet in 558 units.

MV Investment, a self-storage asset management, construction and development firm, is building a second location in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Plans for the 2-acre site at 4247 Ramsey St. include a multi-story building comprising 107,000 gross square feet in 800 climate-controlled units. Construction is slated to be complete in May.

Natgen Development Trust ML23, an affiliate of Brisbane, Australia-based property-fund manager National General (Natgen), will build a self-storage facility in Molendinar, Australia. The property at 2 Industrial Ave. will comprise more than 5,250 square meters of rentable space. Natgen intends to operate the site for up to seven years before selling. The trust is focused on self-storage projects in the Gold Coast area.

Noah’s Ark Storage, which operates eight facilities in Indiana and Kentucky, opened a new location in Bronston, Kentucky. The facility at 2266 KY-90 offers drive-up and outdoor vehicle storage.

Parkland Storage LLC is developing a facility in Parkland, Florida. The multi-story building on Loxahatchee Road was able to move forward after the Parkland City Commission approved a pair of measures last month to allow self-storage as a special exception in commercial-use areas.

People’s Choice Storage is converting a large portion of the former Pleasantview Commons shopping plaza in Canton, Ohio, which it purchased in October for $1.5 million, to self-storage. The $3 million project at 2701-2785 Maret Place N.E. will comprise about 38,000 square feet. It’ll be accompanied by Aldi and M@C Discount retail stores. Oden Hardy Construction will serve as general contractor. People’s Choice operates 14 self-storage locations in Florida, Kansas, Kentucky and South Carolina.

Prime Group Holdings, which operates the Prime Storage brand, plans to convert the former Fingerpaint building in Saratoga Springs, New York, to self-storage. Prime purchased the property at 395 Broadway for $11 million from Ed Mitzen, who founded the marketing firm in 2008.

Public Storage Inc., a self-storage REIT and management company, is building a new location in Toms River, New Jersey. The multi-story structure is along New Jersey Route 37. Based in Glendale, California, Public Storage has interests in 2,877 self-storage facilities in 40 states.

SAFStor Real Estate Co. LLC, which owns five self-storage facilities across four states, received approval to build a new location in Portsmouth, Virginia. Plans for the property at 0 Effingham St. include a three-story building comprising 793 units. The site previously housed the Washington Park public-housing development, which was demolished in 2006. It has a history of lead contamination and was declared a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1990. As a result, self-storage is one of only a few approved uses for the parcel. Among conditions for the project, SAFStor will have to elevate the property seven feet to be above the flood plain and adhere to Superfund excavation requirements.

Shurgard Self Storage Ltd., the European affiliate of Public Storage, is developing a new location in London. Expected to open in early 2025, the four-story building will comprise 79,652 square feet in 1,100 units. Shurgard operates 267 self-storage properties comprising 1.4 million net rentable square meters in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

SpaceGenie broke ground on a 40-unit self-storage facility in Hassloch, Germany. It’ll be built with sustainable materials including photovoltaic solar panels, charging stations for electric vehicles and a green roof. SpaceGenie expects the site to receive a platinum ESG (environmental, social and governance) rating from the German Sustainable Building Council. The company acquired the 1,700-square-meter property last June and has scheduled construction to be complete by March 31. The project is the first for the company, which was launched last August by Intriva Capital, an independent alternative-asset manager. SpaceGenie intends to develop about 50 self-storage locations in Germany by 2027.

Stack-N-Store opened in Rotterdam, New York. The facility at 690 Mariaville Road offers 608 indoor, climate-controlled as well as drive-up storage units. The operator opened its first two facilities in Milton and Patterson, New York, last year. All are managed by SAM.

Squab Storage is expanding a site it recently acquired in Bridgewater, England. The £1.5 million project on Crossways Road will increase capacity from 7,000 to 37,000 square feet. It’s expected to be complete by year-end. Squab operates four self-storage locations in England. In addition to storage units, it offers flexible workspaces and various business amenities.

Phoenix-based U-Haul International Inc. is developing a new facility in San Antonio. Plans for the property at 9451 Interstate 10 include a multi-story building containing 1,000 indoor climate-controlled units. Established in 1945, U-Haul owns and manages more than 78 million square feet of storage space nationwide.

UA Asset Management has submitted a proposal to develop the former Parkside Nurseries property on Cromwell Road in Wisbech, England, into a mixed-use site that’ll include self-storage and a Starbucks with a drive-through window. The two-building facility will be branded and operated by Cinch Self Storage. A decision about the project is expected this year.

United Storage 360 LLC is converting a former Kmart in Englewood, Ohio, to self-storage. Once complete, the 85,000-square-foot building at 360 W. National Road will comprise 60,000 square feet in 546 units. It’s expected to open later this year.

Uplift Development Group LLC is building a four-story self-storage facility in Lawrence, Kansas. The building will have three levels above ground and more than 98,000 square feet. The location will be Uplift’s 56th under ownership and its second in the city.

Uplift also opened a new self-storage facility in Overland Park, Kansas. The property at 12252 Metcalf Ave. comprises more than 102,000 square feet. Uplift is a real estate development company focused on self-storage and other asset classes. It operates the Blue Sky Self Storage brand.

Vanguard Self Storage, which operates eight facilities in the United Kingdom, received planning permission to tear down the former Regency Laundry on Lower Bristol Road in Bath, England, and build a multi-story self-storage facility in its place. The Bath Preservation Trust objected to the building’s size and design, claiming it wouldn’t fit the site’s “townscape context.” Plans include adding solar panels on the roof. The company will also display a plane suspended above the entrance lobby similar to its facility in Bristol, England.

Sources:
Austin Monitor, Planning Commission Says No to More Mini Storage Units Near Future Light Rail Station
Bath Echo, Self-Storage Facility on Former Regency Laundry Site Approved
Community Impact, Extra Space Storage Planned for North McKinney
Connect CRE, Red Oak Funds Acquisition of Site for Self-Storage Conversion
Digital Journal, Noah's Ark Storage Opens New Location in Bronston, Kentucky
Digital Journal, Self-Storage Specialists Delco Storage Open New Facility in the Collingdale Area
Eastern Daily Press, Wisbech: New Drive-Thru Starbucks and Self Storage Planned
Greater Fayetteville Business Journal, MV Investment Breaks Ground on Second Self Storage Facility in Fayetteville
Insider Media Limited, Squab Storage Confirms South West Expansion
Jacksonville Daily Record, Savannah Developer Buys North Jacksonville Property for Retail, Commercial Project
Jersey Shore Online, Self-Storage Denied Near Houses
MNR Journal, New Self-Storage Facility Granted Planning Permission on Old Regency Laundry Site on the Lower Bristol Road
News 10, Fingerpaint Building in Downtown Saratoga Springs Sold
Parkland Talk, Parkland City Commission Approves Commercial Self-Storage Zoning Ordinance
PR Newswire, Arcland Property Company Continues Mid-Atlantic Expansion with First Pennsylvania Location
PR Newswire, New U-Haul Center Opens in San Antonio; 1,000 Storage Rooms Coming Soon
PR Web, Metro Storage LLC Opens New Store in Wall Township, New Jersey
Property Magazine International, SpaceGenie Breaks Ground on First Self-Storage Facility in Hassloch, Germany
REBusiness Online, Realty Capital, DXD Underway on 664-Unit Self-Storage Facility on Long Island
The Business Magazine, Self storage Giant Buys Land in Eastbourne
The Property Tribune, Natgen Settles $4.5M Land Acquisition at Molendinar
The Reminder, Ludlow Residents Speak Against Proposed Self-Storage Facility
The Urban Developer, Abacus Grows Self-Storage Empire as Spin-Off Listing Looms
WALB News 10, New Climate Controlled Storage Units Now Available in Albany
WAVY, On 3rd Try, Portsmouth OKs Storage Facility at Former Public Housing Site
WOBM, Huge New Storage Facility Gets Closer to Completion in Toms River, New Jersey
Yahoo News, Shopping Plaza Off U.S. Route 62 in Canton to Be Converted to New Storage Unit Complex