Update 7/5/18 – Storage Master has acquired the former Cudahy Tannery property for $325,000 from Tasman Great Lakes Real Estate LLC. The purchase includes four buildings comprising a total of 94,173 square feet. About two-thirds of the facility’s 650 storage units will be climate-controlled. The facility is expected to open in March 2019, according to the source.

Earlier reports inferred the property contained a single structure. The tannery operated from 1952 to 2007. In addition to environmental concerns, the site has been plagued by vandalism and fire during the decade it’s been vacant.

5/18/18 – Storage Master LLC, which operates nine self-storage facilities in the Milwaukee area, received a recommendation from the city’s planning commission last week to convert a former tannery in Cudahy, Wis. The property at 5083 S. Packard Ave. has been vacant for 14 years. Storage Master expects to close on the sale in July or August, and open within a year, according to the source.

The plans include 600 storage units that will mitigate a “severe shortage of self-storage in Cudahy,” said CEO Alex Simic, noting the city has three storage facilities.

Mayor John Hohenfeldt said the proposal will bring a “new vibrant use” to a challenging site. The building has been vandalized and damaged by fire. It also has environmental issues, including soil and an underground, capped area that are contaminated.

During the meeting, Storage Master proposed a decorative plant structure for the property, but the planning commission voiced concerns about it being allowed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Noting that the DNR considers the site “closed,” the commissioners suggested the weight of the structure could disturb the underground cap.

“To raise or alter the buildings, the DNR would have many requirements for the soils on the site and the costs would be astronomical. That is why no one has touched the site in years,” Hohenfeldt wrote on the city’s Facebook page. “The new site plan only fixes up the outside of the buildings and allows a viable use for the inside.”

In addition to updating the building exterior, Storage Master plans to seal and restripe the parking lot. “[We will] transform the façade to give it the ‘wow’ factor,” Simic said.

Storage Master operates three facilities in Milwaukee, and has locations in Caledonia, Franklin, Franksville, Muskego, New Berlin and Waukesha, Wis. In addition to self-storage, select properties offer interior and exterior vehicle storage.

Source:
Journal Sentinel, Storage Master Continues Expansion With New Facility at Former Cudahy Tannery Site
Journal Sentinel, Former Tannery in Cudahy, Vacant for 14 Years, to Become Mini-Storage Warehouses