Update 6/25/18 – On Wednesday the city council approved the Prime Storage request for a special-use permit in Appleton. A timetable for the project wasn’t provided, but the facility will be built in stages, according to the source.

The development faced some opposition, particularly regarding aesthetics. However, Prime Storage said it’ll work with city officials on the facility design.

The area is in need of more storage, according to Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna. “I tell you what, it's going to be a lot nicer than what it looks like now. It’s going to generate [a] tax base. They’re not asking for any contribution from the city, and we will work with them on the development of that front piece, and I think it will be a nice development,” he said.

5/10/18 – Prime Group Holdings LLC, a New York-based real estate group that owns self-storage and other real estate interests, has acquired a former Kmart property in Appleton, Wis., on which it intends to build a 194,000-square-foot storage facility. The project on a W. College Avenue would include 12 buildings and reserve a front portion of the parcel for future retail development, according to the source.

Though the property is zoned for commercial use, self-storage requires a special-use permit approved by at least a two-thirds of the city council. While council members approved the permit earlier this month, the project could still face hurdles with building permits and the development agreement, the source reported.

"To develop that first as mini-storage and hope that somebody will come back in and put retail or something up front … Maybe if this was the reverse situation where the retail were already up front, I would have some different thoughts on it, but at this point I don't. I will not support it," councilmember Patti Coenen said during a recent meeting.

Sig Strautmanis, a developer with Milwaukee-based real estate and development firm General Capital, argued the climate-controlled facility would fit in well with the area. "It's a different kind of storage facility,” he told the council. “Maybe it sounds cliché, but basically what their business is, is climate-controlled storage that's in high-visibility, high-quality commercial corridors."

The Kmart site has been vacant since the store closed in 2000. The structure was demolished about 10 years ago. "I think that I'd rather have the site developed than have it continue sitting there [empty]," said councilmember Vered Meltzer.

Headquartered in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Prime Group owns and manages more than 170 self-storage facilities in 23 states. Its operating portfolio comprises more than 10 million rentable square feet.

Sources:
WBAY, Proposed Storage Facility on Site of Former Kmart Lot Moves Forward in Appleton
WBAY, Huge Storage Facility to Be Built In Appleton, as Industry Faces Growing Demand