GTown Storage Plans 6-Story Self-Storage Facility for Germantown, TN

Update 3/7/17 – The planning commission is scheduled to vote on the self-storage site plan for Germantown Urban Storage on April 13. New figures from the investment group, doing business as GTown Storage LLC, decreased storage space to 90,000 square feet and increased the retail area to 6,500 square feet, according to the source. The facility has a cost estimate of $10 million and will face Third Avenue.

B3 Studio Inc., based in Franklin, Tenn., is the architect for the project.

10/27/16 – The Germantown Urban Storage investment group has purchased the KeyStop property for $2 million. The group received rezoning approval last month for a slightly larger area than the acquired parcel to permit the self-storage development. The property was previously zoned for industrial use. Key Oil Co., which is currently housed on the land, intends to relocate before the end of the year, according to the source.

The investment group now includes Jewell Hale and Bobby Kirby, who are also involved in Melrose Storage LLC with Preston and Tarver. Melrose is a Nashville, Tenn., group of investors and developers, which is building a self-storage facility in Berry Hill, Tenn.

Hale, Kirby and Tarver are also affiliated with Eighth South LLC, which is developing a five-story, mixed-use project in Nashville. The Eight South project will offer upscale condominiums and retail.

5/18/16 – Mark Tarver, president of Tarver Properties Inc., and Taylor Preston, principal of The Natchez Group, plan to seek zoning approval this fall to build a six-story, mixed-use development in Germantown, Tenn., that will include five floors of self-storage. The proposed .64-acre site at 1232 Third Ave. N. is owned by KeyStop Inc. but under contract with the developers.

Under the plan, Germantown Urban Storage would include 105,000 gross square feet of storage space on the project’s five upper floors. The ground floor would comprise 6,000 gross square feet of retail space and a 1,000-square-foot management office for the storage operation. The plan also includes 40 parking spaces for customers.

Due to the lack of parking, the retail spaces fronting the intersection of Monroe Street and Third Avenue North would likely not be rented to restaurants, Tarver told the source. Despite this limitation, the site was appealing because storage doesn’t require many spaces. “Once [the units] get leased, there's very little coming and going, very little parking demanded," Tarver said. "We want to fit in. The reason we're interested in the neighborhood is because it's a unique neighborhood and we want to be part of it."

Preston and Tarver presented their plan on Monday to the development committee for the Historic Germantown Neighborhood Association, which responded favorably. "It helps round out the neighborhood. It's a feature that we don't have currently," said Richard Audet, association president.

The architect on the project is Smith Gee Studio. Ragan-Smith Associates Inc. is providing engineering services. If the zoning request is approved, construction could start in spring 2017, the source reported.

Preston and Tarver are part of a group of investors developing another mixed-use self-storage project in Berry Hill, Tenn. Preston was also part of a separate partnership that purchased Cool Springs Storage in Franklin, Tenn., in December.

The Natchez Group intends to build an eight-story facility in the SoBro neighborhood of Nashville, Tenn. Preston has the property under contract but needed approval for a downtown zoning exception to move forward. The Nashville Downtown Code Design Review Committee initially approved the project earlier this month, but has requested more details before offering its final approval, the source reported.

Based in Nashville, The Natchez Group was founded by Preston in 2013.

Founded by Mark Tarver in 1990, Tarver Properties is a commercial development company based in Knoxville, Tenn.