Stein Investment Group (SIG), an Atlanta-based private real estate investment firm, won zoning approval this week from the Marietta, Ga., Board of Commissioners for a proposed four-story self-storage facility on Roswell Road, despite opposition from nearby residents. SIG intends to build a 70,000-square-foot facility on the 1.4-acre property that borders the Glenside neighborhood. It will be branded as The Space Shop Self Storage, according to the source.

The board voted 5-0 in favor of changing the zoning to self-storage from an office designation. Residents have opposed the project since SIG filed its proposal last year, with the primary complaints focusing on having to view the building’s brick wall and the structure’s incompatibility with the neighborhood, according to the source. The building will be 38 feet tall at its highest point.

After hearing initial complaints from residents about the building’s industrial design, SIG agreed to spend $100,000 to cover the exterior in brick to blend in with the community, the source reported. The company would like to complete the project in time to open next spring, according to Jason Linscott, a principal with SIG.

To ease views of the building from the neighboring community, SIG plans to install more than 100 feet of trees and shrubs between the facility and homes, according to James Balli, an attorney representing SIG. Part of the project’s landscaping plan includes working with the county arborist to save some of the 100-year-old oak trees on the property, the source reported.

SIG also has agreed to work with the community on installing a fence between the storage property and the Glenside neighborhood. “One of the things the applicant has agreed to is to put a fence along the edge [of the property] adjoining Glenside, and that fence would be of the Glenside owner’s choosing, whether it be wooden or chain-link,” said commissioner Bob Ott.

“The residents of Glenside just don’t see how a building of this scale will fit in with our subdivision or any surrounding subdivisions,” said John Fabbrini, president of the Glenside Homeowners Association.

Atlanta-based The Space Shop currently operates four facilities in Georgia, including one in Marietta.

SIG is actively seeking real estate acquisition opportunities in multi-family, office, residential, retail and self-storage throughout the Southeast.

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