East 7th St LLC, a company affiliated with real estate developer Proffitt Dixon Partners, intends to build a seven-story self-storage facility in the Uptown area of Charlotte, N.C. The climate-controlled structure will be built on a 1-acre site at 969 E. 7th St., and comprise 90,725 net rentable square feet in more than 1,080 units. The project will also include about 2,150 square feet of commercial space. Expected to open in early 2019, the facility will be managed by CubeSmart, a self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management firm.

The developer acquired the land in December from Trinity Episcopal School for about $2.5 million, according to the source.

“Uptown Charlotte is undergoing tremendous growth, and we are excited to develop a state-of-the-art self-storage facility that will serve as an amenity to all surrounding residents and business users,” William Andrews, a partner with East 7th St and a principal with Proffitt Dixon, said in a press release issued by HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP). HFF is the commercial real estate and capital-markets services firm that secured construction financing on behalf of the developer.

A spike in self-storage development across the city has coincided with multi-family housing growth, a source reported. Charlotte officials also recently made it easier for developers to build multi-story self-storage facilities in the urban core. The 7th Street site is near apartments and the convergence of three major thoroughfares, including Interstate 277.

“Upon completion, this will be the largest self-storage property inside Uptown Charlotte’s 277 Loop,” said Brent Bowman, senior director at HFF. “The project’s convenient location and accessibility will be attractive to the increasing number of renters gravitating toward Uptown.”

Proffitt Dixon previously built an apartment building in Uptown and has another multi-family project under construction two blocks away on the former site of the Charlotte Actor’s Theatre, the source reported. The company specializes in luxury apartment communities in the Southeast. It has an active development pipeline in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to the company website.

HFF and its affiliate, HFF Securities LP, are owned by HFF Inc. The firm operates out of 22 offices nationwide and specializes in advisory services, commercial-loan servicing, debt and equity placement, and investment and loan sales.

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