Phoenix-based AMERCO Real Estate Co., the acquisition and development entity for The U-Haul Co., purchased a vacant office and warehouse space in Richmond, Va., which it’s converting to a U-Haul rental and self-storage facility. The facility has been named U-Haul Moving & Storage of West End. The property address was changed from 8741 Landmark Road to 3133 E. Parham Road, according to one source.

The company paid $4.3 million for the former home of McKesson Medical-Surgical, a provider of medical supplies and solutions. McKesson moved its 600 employees in August to Deep Run III, an empty Circuit City building.

Built in 1976, the 15-acre property had been owned by McKesson since 1994, according to the source. An assessment by Henrico County valued the property at $6.5 million in 2015 and $9.7 million in 2014.

The nearly 200,000-square-foot space is one of U-Haul’s largest locations, according to Sovirak Top, general manager. U-Haul opened the property on Sept. 15, the day it closed the real estate transaction, according to company spokesman Jeff Lockridge.

The facility currently offers trailer, truck and U-Box container rentals. U-Haul intends to add 126,000 square feet of self-storage space in 3,000 units and hitch bays. Four employees work at the site now, with 20 to 30 more to be hired in the future. “This will be a full-service U-Haul store,” Top said.

The acquisition of the Landmark Road property was driven by U-Haul’s sustainability initiatives, according to Carlos Vizcarra, president of AMERCO. “U-Haul supports infill development to help communities lower their carbon footprint. Our adaptive reuse of existing buildings reduces the amount of energy and resources required for new-construction materials and helps cities reduce their unwanted inventory of unused buildings,” he said.

U-Haul operates seven other properties in Richmond, including its second largest, with 110,000 square feet of storage space, at 900 N. Lombardy St.

The transaction was brokered by the Richmond office of commercial real estate firm CBRE.

AMERCO is the parent company of U-Haul International, Oxford Life Insurance Co. and Repwest Insurance Co. Established in 1945, U-Haul has 40 million square feet of storage space at more than 1,200 owned and managed facilities throughout North America.

Sources: