The U-Haul Co. of Ohio has converted a former Ames Department Store in Columbus, Ohio, into a new self-storage facility. The property at 2189 Eakin Road is now U-Haul Moving and Storage at Eakin Road. Located in the Southwest Square Shopping Center, the facility offers truck and trailer rentals, self-storage, and a retail center that sells moving and packing supplies.

Situated on just over 5 acres, the storage building comprises 65,652 square feet of storage space in 402 climate-controlled units. Future plans include the construction of drive-up units.

"This U-Haul location is the first to offer climate-controlled self-storage units in this neighborhood," said Jennifer Walters, general manager.

The acquisition of the Ames store was driven by U-Haul’s corporate sustainability initiatives, which support infill development to help local communities lower their carbon footprint, according to a company press release. U-Haul’s adaptive reuse of existing structures eliminates the amount of energy and resources required for new-construction materials and helps local cities diminish their unwanted inventory of unused buildings, U-Haul officials said.

Established in 1945, U-Haul International Inc. has more than 40 million square feet of storage space at more than 1,200 owned and managed facilities throughout North America.

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