Former Walmart Market to Be Converted to SpaceMax Self-Storage, Retail Space in Nashville, TN

Childress Klein, which operates the SpaceMax Storage brand, has purchased a former Walmart Neighborhood Market in Nashville, Tenn., which it plans to develop into self-storage and retail space. The $5 million property at 1216 Gallatin Ave. will become the first SpaceMax location in the state. Childress will convert the existing 38,690-square-foot building to self-storage and build more than 15,000 square feet of retail space, according to the source.

“We are very much looking forward to our first SpaceMax Storage in Nashville,” said Chris Poholek, a partner at Childress Klein. “The East Nashville neighborhood is booming, so it was a top choice for our new location. We are excited to join the neighborhood as not only business owners, but as neighbors, and to take part in all that East Nashville has to offer.”

The grocery store was one of five Walmart locations closed in Tennessee five months ago. The big-box retailer plans to shutter 269 stores worldwide to focus on it supercenters and e-commerce business. Although other food retailers expressed interest in the building, Walmart stipulated the Gallatin Avenue property couldn’t be sold to a potential competitor, the source reported.

Childress Klein was represented in the purchase by JC Darby, a broker with Southeast Venture, a Nashville-based brokerage and real estate development firm. John Cavin, also a broker with Southeast Venture, represented the seller, Walmart Real Estate Business Trust.

“When studying the site, we realized that, since there is a minimum parking requirement for the storage component, another commercial use was possible,” Darby said. “We believe that delivering class-A, newly developed retail on the street level with high parking ratios is a great complement to the project. This is non-existent in present day East Nashville and will be a welcome amenity.”

Founded in 2005, SpaceMax operates six facilities in Georgia and North Carolina. For more than 35 years, Childress Klein has developed, leased and managed approximately 42.2 million square feet of industrial, multi-family, office and retail properties in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

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