Update 6/20/19 – Longview Development has completed its conversion of a former Kmart in Texas. Opened earlier this month, Simply Stor-It offers 566 interior, climate-controlled units, and five drive-up spaces. Boone & Boone Construction Inc. of Tyler, Texas, was the general contractor.

“We’ve had five customers already in a week,” said property manager Cheryl Buys, who previously managed a Katy, Texas, facility owned by United Properties Group.

Plans to include the 180-unit Parkside Apartments in the project are still in place. “We are waiting to receive building plans,” said Vance Wyly, office manager for the Longview Development Services Department.

11/19/18 – The McCann Road conversion is expected to be complete in the first quarter of next year, according to the source. The $1.6 million project received approval from the city council in September, according to a source. The facility will be called Simply Stor It.

Though the source originally identified the developer as Pacific Bay Investments, the company is now being referred to as Longview Development LLC.

“We hope to have a permit [issued] by the end of the year and start construction early next year,” said Steve Bigelow, project manager with Longview Development LLC, which purchased the property in August. “We are still in the design phase right now.”

Boone & Boone Construction Inc. of Tyler, Texas, will convert the building to 105,000 square feet of climate-controlled storage. The facility will contain drive-through access to between 500 and 600 storage units.

Longview Development is also working with the Greater Longview Apartment Association on the 160-unit apartment complex and has received positive feedback from the Longview Economic Development Corp., Bigelow said.

Longview Development is registered to Houston real estate attorney Antoinette M. Jackson. The group’s mailing address is for Pinnacle Housing Group in Miami. Pinnacle developed the 78-unit Amberwood Place Apartments on Hawkins Parkway in 2013, the source reported.        

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8/28/18 – Real estate development firm Pacific Bay Investments is seeking to convert a former Kmart store to self-storage and apartments in Longview, Texas. Last week the planning and zoning commission recommended the city council approve the proposal for the 11-acre property at 1100 McCann Road. While the existing building would be transformed into storage units, apartments would be constructed on the 7-acre parking lot.

“We’ve done a conceptual layout of the property and, right now, we’re hoping to be able to put about 160 [apartment] units on the property,” said Jeff Hamilton, an engineer with Johnson & Pace, which filed the application on behalf of Pacific Bay.

The facility won’t include any exterior vehicle storage. “It’s just completely internal to the building,” Hamilton said. “We’re not planning to have anything outside of the building—no outside displays or storage of that nature, but internal self-storage units.”

During the Aug. 21 meeting, commissioner Tracy Vincent asked whether asbestos removal was a part of the conversion. Hamilton confirmed it would, if any building demolition occurs.

Kmart vacated the site in 2016. The property is managed by Triple Horseshoe Inc., which supports the project.

Based in San Francisco, Pacific Bay is a real estate syndication, management and development company with a portfolio throughout the United States. Led by CEO Adam Sparks, the company focuses on stable, undervalued markets for its acquisition.

Sources:
Longview News Journal, Former Longview Kmart Building Site Proposed for Apartments, Storage
Longview News Journal, Longview Kmart Redevelopment Set to Begin in Early 2019
Longview News Journal, Business Beat: Self-Storage Facility Opens at Former Kmart Site