Real estate developer Bob McKinley, who manages Canada-based private-equity firm MPM Seven LP, intends to build a self-storage facility in Wabasso, Fla. The developer is still creating a site plan for a self-storage structure of up to 60,000 square feet, but has been clearing trees and brush from a combined property of more than 21 acres, according to the source. The building site is north of 77th Street between U.S. Route 1 and Old Dixie Highway, but the project requires approval from River County, Fla.

MPM Seven purchased adjoining 6.5- and 15.2-acre lots for $1.125 million out of foreclosure from two separate banks, which marketed the land together, according to the source. Last April, the planning and zoning commission approved a rezoning request to change 12.4 acres to heavy commercial, which would allow self-storage, and 2.8 acres at the northernmost portion of the property to light commercial.

McKinley’s original plan was to develop a vehicle-storage facility with a clubhouse catering to high-end car collectors. The facility may have also included detailing and repair shops, but the owner and residents of Palm Paradise Mobile Home Park to the north of the site objected to the project.

After meeting with Palm Paradise owner Bill Brehm and residents, McKinley agreed to change the development to traditional self-storage. Brehm officially withdrew his objection during the April rezoning meeting, and McKinley agreed to retain trees along the northern border of the property to serve as a 100-foot buffer, the source reported.

If approved, the self-storage facility would be McKinley’s second real estate development in the United States, according to the source.

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