September 2, 2022

15 Min Read
Self-Storage Development and Zoning Activity: February 2021

Update 9/2/22 – Strategic Development Group opened North Penn Self Storage in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. The building comprises 65,000 rentable square feet in more than 580 units.

2/4/22 – Self-storage owners Carey and Jim Abraham this week received preliminary site-plan approval to add three portable-storage containers to Howell Storage in Marion Township, Michigan. The facility currently has 15 containers on the property and might add more, Jim Abraham told the board of trustees during the Jan. 31 meeting. The unanimous vote came after discussion about the surface on which the containers would be placed. Though city planners recommended asphalt, Jim Abraham asked to keep it gravel for drainage purposes. Drainage for the property as it expands has yet to be decided by the city. An additional retention pond could be required, or water might be diverted to a lake at the front of the site.

2/25/21 – The global self-storage development pipeline continues to be extremely dynamic. Inside Self-Storage regularly covers new projects being planned and approved as well as zoning and other municipal issues. Following is additional activity taking place in February 2021.

Self-storage owners Carey and Jim Abraham are renovating and expanding Howell Storage in Marion Township, Mich. The married couple acquired the former McGowan Mini Storage property at 1650 Pinckney Road last summer. In addition to capital improvements, they intend to add 50 to 70 units. Depending on township approvals, the project could be complete this fall. Built in the 1980s, the facility comprises 300 units. The Abrahams also own Abe’s Storage in Holly, Mich., and Abe’s Storage North in Grand Blanc, Mich.

A partnership between Amenity Self-Storage Holdings and LSC Development LLC opened a new facility in Lawrence, N.Y. The six-story structure at 4 Bay Blvd. comprises 120,613 square feet in 1,220 climate-controlled units. It includes a 45-foot-wide interior drive aisle for loading and unloading, and premium drive-up units on the ground floor intended for contractors. The property will be managed by REIT Life Storage Inc. New York-based Amenity is a commercial-development company specializing in self-storage REIT projects. Based in Barrington, Ill., LSC specializes in industrial parks, office complexes and self-storage facilities. Its portfolio and development pipeline comprise more than 2.7 million square feet. Alex Catalano, president of Amenity Self-Storage Consulting & Development, owns the Lawrence facility as well as another in Hewlett, N.Y.

Ash Properties Inc., a property-development and -management company that operates more than 50 Atlantic Self Storage facilities in Florida, is building a three-story facility in Jacksonville, Fla. Plans for 773 Mill Creek Road include 101,900 square feet of storage at a cost of about $759,228. Ash has another project under development in the city at 11969 Beach Blvd. If approved, it’ll include four stories and 107,200 square feet. The city is reviewing the permit application for the $3.3 million project. Ash Properties is a locally owned real estate development company that leases, manages and develops commercial, retail, self-storage and office properties.

Attic Self Storage is building a new facility in Harrow, England. The multi-story property will comprise about 1,000 units and several “work pods” that’ll provide access to WiFi, a printer and coffee. The project is expected to be complete this spring. Founded in 2006, Attic operates three facilities in Greater London.

Eagle Self Storage intends to build a new facility in Hendersonville, N.C. Plans call for seven buildings on the 7.4-acre site at 2310 Asheville Highway. The project would comprise 99,330 square feet, with traditional units and some large enough to store RVs. The planning board is expected to consider the application in April. Owned by the Salvaggio Family, Eagle operates one other facility in Hendersonville and two locations in East Flat Rock, N.C.

Extra Space Storage received approval from the planning commission to expand its facility in Gilroy, Calif. The operator plans to construct a two-story, 30,978-square-foot building at 8900 Murray Ave., on an area currently being used for vehicle storage. The 4-acre property contains 73,154 square feet of existing storage space. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space is a self-storage REIT that owns or operates more than 1,921 self-storage properties nationwide and in Puerto Rico.

A group of developers has proposed a mixed-use project for Boise, Idaho, that would include apartments, retail and self-storage. Kai Pacific, RGJ Cole Rd. and South Beck & Baird Landscape Architecture are seeking to build a five-story structure on a 2.13-acre parcel at the corner of Cole Road and Denton Street. The ground floor would contain 1,000 square feet of retail space, a management office, self-storage units and parking. The remaining floors would offer 136 apartments. Additional parking would be available in an underground garage. A public hearing is scheduled for March 8.

Development firm Mequity Cos. and Ramrock Real Estate are converting a former parking building in New York City’s Flatiron District to a CubeSmart facility. Mequity purchased the site in 2019 for nearly $32.2 million. Once complete, the eight-story structure at 41-47 E. 21st St. will offer 64,360 rentable square feet. Cerberus Capital Management provided the $35.1 million in financing. The borrowers were represented in the transaction by JLL Capital Markets, a global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The team included senior managing directors Steve Klein and John Rose, managing director Geoff Goldstein, and associate Mitchell Kaliner.

Powerhouse Properties Ltd. opened a new facility in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, that’ll be branded under the Bluebird Self Storage name and managed by Life Storage. The property at 207197 Highway 9 comprises 70,000 square feet in 486 units. Powerhouse specializes in small and mid-size commercial and residential projects in Southern Ontario. Bluebird operates facilities in six Canadian provinces.

Rapid Building Solutions LLC is converting a former Kmart in Jacksonville, Fla., to 125,632 square feet of drive-through self-storage. Partners affiliated with Rapid purchased the store at 5751 Beach Blvd. last year. Based in Winter Garden, Fla., Rapid offers site-planning assistance, custom engineering and installation.

The Warren, N.J., Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled to review a proposed self-storage development next week from Rica Properties LLC. The plan calls to demolish an existing residential structure and build a three-story, 104,206-square-foot facility on 2 acres at 256 King George Road. The project would require a use variance for self-storage as well as other variances for building height, floor area coverage and a residential buffer. The city’s environmental commission recommended against the project in December, arguing it would negatively impact a nearby forested area and wildlife. Commissioners said rooftop solar panels should be required if the project is approved.

Salt Grass Point Farms Mini Storage received approval to build a facility in West Ocean City, Md. Plans for the vacant property off Maryland Route 611, just south of Snug Harbor, include construction of eight buildings comprising 75,000 square feet. The facility will resemble a “family horse farm out in the country,” said Chris Larmore, one of the project’s partners.

Storage Sense, which operates 140 facilities nationwide, opened a new location in Knoxville, Tenn. The facility at 6410 Deane Hill Drive offers more than 700 units. It’ll be managed by Storage Asset Management, a property-management and consulting company.

Tariq Khalil of Storage USA Realty MA LLC is building a self-storage facility in North Attleboro, Mass., on the site of the former Handy & Harman factory at 72 Elm St. He purchased the property for $3 million. The plan is to demolish the older buildings that date back to the early 1900s, which are in disrepair, but preserve a section of the 93,000-square-foot office building that was constructed in 1981. Khalil will add 19 prefabricated steel buildings to the 6-acre site and install a second story on the retained structure. Vacant since 2000, the factory was once used for electroplating in the electronics and jewelry industries. The state completed an extensive environmental cleanup at the site a few years ago. Khalil previously converted a former metals-processing plant to self-storage in Cumberland, R.I.

Store Here Self Storage, which operates more than 15 facilities across 13 states, has opened a new location in Racine, Wash. The company converted a single-story, industrial facility at 1220 Mound Ave. to 150,000 net rentable square feet of indoor self-storage. Store Here owns, manages and provides capital to facilities in major metropolitan and rural areas.

2/10/21 – The global self-storage development pipeline continues to be extremely dynamic. Inside Self-Storage regularly covers new projects being planned and approved as well as zoning and other municipal issues. Following is activity taking place in February 2021.

A-Metro Self Storage received site-plan approval last month to build a facility on 10.6 acres in Altamont, N.Y. Plans for 4774 Western Turnpike includes three climate-controlled buildings—two at approximately 10,000 square feet and one at 6,100 square feet—and an 8,700-square-foot drive-up structure. It’ll also contain 12 vehicle-storage spaces with canopies. A-Metro also submitted a variance application to the zoning board requesting concessions on items such as sprinkler installation, a 100-foot building buffer, and six-foot-high screening between the industrial and residential districts.

Gypsy Moth Storage is building a facility in the Pantheon Park business complex of Wolverhampton, England, on land it purchased from U.K. self-storage operator Lok'nStore Group PLC. Expected to open in early 2022, the project will comprise 52,600 square feet. Lok'nStore will consult on the project’s development and manage it once complete. Founded in 1995, Lok’nStore operates 34 self-storage facilities in Southern England.

Officials in Hendersonville, N.C., are scheduled to hold a neighborhood compatibility meeting this week to discuss a four-story self-storage facility proposed for the intersection of Aiken Road and Signal Hill Road. Lemart Realty Inc. and property owner North Main Street Properties of Hendersonville LLC jointly applied to rezone the vacant, 1.83-acre site from low-density residential to a conditional highway business use. The facility would comprise 15,800 square feet in 246 units.

Real estate developer C. Sam McGee intends to build a facility in the South Hall area of Flowery Branch, Ga. The project at 7038 Spout Springs Road would comprise 61,000 square feet in seven buildings. It would cover 5.6 acres of a 34-acre site that has development challenges due to a significant portion being in a designated flood plain. McGee has applied to rezone the property from agricultural-residential to light industrial. As part of negotiations, he agreed to donate 2.5 acres for a detention pond and frontage needed for the widening of Spout Springs Road. The Hall County Planning Commission is scheduled to review the project on Feb. 15. Planning staff recommended against approval in part due to inconsistencies with the county’s comprehensive plan. The Hall County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to make a final decision on March 25.

Real estate and development firm Poverni Sheikh Group is converting space at the Mall at Prince Georges in Hyattsville, Md. Plans call for 90,000 square feet of drive-in self-storage at the subgrade level that’s expected to be complete early next year. Baltimore-based Poverni has developed similar projects in Baltimore and Rockville, Md. It also has a 110,000-square-foot facility under construction in District Heights, Md.

Self-storage owner Mike Pride is developing a new Scarborough Storage Solutions in Scarborough, Maine. The facility at 192 Innovation Way will comprise 550 units across 10 buildings at the Innovation District, in the Downs mixed-use development. The project is expected to be complete in August. Pride owns two other Maine facilities, including another under the Scarborough name and one called Pride Storage Solutions.

The Vermilion, Ohio, City Council last week rejected a zoning request from Todd Sommer, who sought to develop a self-storage facility on 6 acres of his 35-acre parcel on Liberty Avenue. It’s the second time the council has rejected the request due to opposition from adjacent neighbors and other community members. Sommer reconfigured the plans he had submitted in October, removing the use of shipping containers as storage units and increasing the setback from the road. He also pledged to donate the remaining acreage to Lorain County Metro Parks.

Storage 365, which operates 12 facilities in Colorado, Minnesota and Texas, is building a new location in Richardson, Texas. Slated to open this summer at 350 Buckingham Road, the project will also contain three to five retail spaces.

U.K. self-storage operator Storage Giant has submitted a proposal to the Walsall Council to build a mixed-use development in Willenhall, West Midlands, England. The project will include indoor and drive-up self-storage plus eight business suites. The vacant parcel is between Lower Lichfield Street and Wood Street. Founded in 2007, Storage Giant operates five facilities in England and five in Wales.

Strategic Development Group LLC (SDG) intends to convert a former New York Boiler Co. Inc. building in Lansdale, Pa. The three-story self-storage facility on 1.75 acres along Route 309 would comprise 88,000 square feet in more than 500 units. It’ll be designed and built by York, Pa.-based Storage Contractors and managed by 180 Self-Storage LLC, a consulting management and firm based in Gilbert, Ariz. Also based in Arizona, SDG has development projects pending in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

Strategic Storage Trust IV Inc. (SST IV), a public non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) sponsored by an affiliate of SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc., opened a new facility in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). SmartStop Self Storage at 50 Cityview Blvd. in Vaughan is a four-story facility comprising 103,000 square feet in 1,050 climate-controlled units. It was developed as a joint venture between SST IV and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust, a Canadian REIT that specializes in retail real estate. Adjacent to a SmartCentres shopping center, it’s the third self-storage joint venture between the companies and SmartStop’s 16th location in the GTA.

Phoenix-based U-Haul International Inc., which operates more than 1,700 self-storage facilities across North America, intends to convert a former newspaper-production building in Carbondale, Ill. Acquired just last month, the 3.25-acre property at 710 N. Illinois Ave. houses a single-story, 48,106-square-foot structure that, once converted, will yield about 400 indoor units. Renovations are expected to be complete this spring. Established in 1945, U-Haul operates more than 68 million square feet of storage space in North America.

WA SS 16 AVE 20 LLC is building a self-storage facility in White Center, Wash., on the former site of Yarington's Funeral Home, which burned down last summer. The property at 10708 16th S.W. is in unincorporated King County.

The William Warren Group (WWG), a privately held real estate company that operates the StorQuest Self Storage brand, intends to build a four-story facility in Tenafly, N.J. The project at 22 Jersey Ave. will replace a two-story structure that currently houses a pool-maintenance company and auto-repair shop. It’ll comprise 77,594 square feet and two interior loading areas. WWG is seeking several variances including two for building height and lot coverage. The project is opposed by the owner of the commercial property across the street. The planning board is scheduled to discuss the project on March 10. Founded in 1994 and based in Santa Monica, Calif., WWG acquires, develops and operates more than 165 self-storage facilities in 14 states.

The Braselton, Ga., Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider a permit for a proposed self-storage facility at Cherry Drive and Green Street. The three-story project would comprise 95,000 square feet. If planners recommend for approval, the town council will hold a public hearing on March 4 to discuss the project.

New Sources:
Benzinga, Store Here Self Storage Announces Opening of New Facility in Racine, Wisconsin
BlueRidgeNow, Eagle Self Storage Looking to Open Fourth Location in Henderson County
Boise Dev, Self-Storage and More Apartments Planned Near Boise Towne Square
Commercial Observer Cerberus’ $35M Loan to Fund Self-Storage Conversion in Manhattan
Gilroy Dispatch, Split Commission Approves Expansion for Storage Facility
Harrow Times, Attic Self Storage launches a UK first in Harrow
Jacksonville Daily Record, Atlantic Self Storage locations
LI Herald, New Life Storage Facility Opens in Lawrence
Livingston Daily, Couple Upgrades Longtime Storage Business Near Howell, Plans to Add 50 to 70 More Units
My Central Jersey, Warren Environmentalists Oppose Self-Storage Proposal
The Dispatch, New Storage Facility Eyes Route 611
The Sun Chronicle, Work Begins on Two Prominent Sites Along Route 1 in North Attleboro
WJCT, Close Beach Blvd. Kmart Being Converted to Drive-Thru Self-Storage
WHMI, Marion Township Mini-Storage Business Clears First Hurdle for Expansion

Previous Sources:
The Altamont Enterprise, More Self-Storage Proposed for Route 20
ShareCast, Lok'nStore Acquires Chichester Store, Sells Wolverhampton Site
PR Newswire, PREIT Executes 90,000 Square Foot Lease for Self Storage Facility at Mall at Prince George's
The Hyattsville Wire, Mall at Prince Georges in Hyattsville to Add Underground Self-Storage Space
Community Impact Newspaper, Storage 365 Facility Coming Soon to Richardson
Birmingham Live, Storage Unit Plans on Vacant Land Could Bring New Jobs to Willenhall
The Chronicle, Plans for Self-Storage Units Have Residents Upset in Vermilion
The Chronicle, Vermilion Council Rejects Storage Facility Zoning Request
Westside Seattle, Mixed-use Self Storage Facility Coming to Former Funeral Home Site in White Center
AJC, Braselton to Consider Self-Storage Facility on Green Street
BlueRidgeNow, 246-Unit, 4-Story Storage Facility Proposed for Hendersonville's Signal Hill Road
Mainebiz, The Self-Storage Story: Little Glamour, but Steady Returns Drive the Market
NorthJersey.com, Developer's Plan for Self-Storage Facility in Tenafly Gets Pushback
PR Newswire, U-Haul Reusing Carbondale Building for Climate-Controlled Storage
The Times, Why Developer Says Proposed Self-Storage Development Off Spout Springs Road Is Needed
WFMZ-TV, Strategic Storage Trust IV Opens Newly Constructed Facility Location in Greater Toronto Area

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