U-Haul International Inc. is converting the former Economy Folding Box Corp. manufacturing plant in Bronzeville, Ill., to a self-storage facility. The 1.2-acre property at 2601 S. LaSalle St. is near two Chicago expresswaysInterstate 55 and Interstate 90/94—and consists of a single-story concrete building encompassing 159,413 square feet of space. It’s been rebranded as U-Haul Moving and Storage of Bronzeville.

The facility currently features a temporary showroom offering truck and trailer rentals, and moving supplies. Self-storage and U-Box moving and storage containers will soon be added. The showroom will also serve as a museum featuring product displays from U-Haul as well as the box manufacturer that formerly inhabited the building.

The opening of the Bronzeville store is being 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 buildings 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 1,000 owned and managed facilities throughout North America.

Sources: