Nuvo Development Builds 5-Story Self-Storage Facility in Jacksonville, FL

Nuvo Development LLC is building a five-story self-storage building in the Brooklyn neighborhood in Jacksonville, Fla. The company paid $1 million for the .73-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Myrtle Avenue and Elder Street on which to construct a 91,700-square-foot facility. Jacksonville Self Storage will resemble an office building and include a small parking area with a "drop-off and loading zone" between the rear of the structure and Interstate 95, according to a source. The project is scheduled to be complete next year.

In connection to the self-storage development, affiliate IP Nuvo Jacksonville LLC, plans to buy a .08-acre lot behind the existing lot on which to build a real estate sales office. The city acquired the land in 2007 through a tax deed. Nuvo has agreed to pay $16,000 for the property, a source reported.

The smaller property was among three parcels approved for sale last week by the Strategic Implementation Committee of the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA). The parcels have been referred to as “piano keys” due to their size and proximity to other thin, privately owned sites, according to a source. One lot is just 4 feet wide.

The vacant land around the piano-key sites and behind the self-storage project is owned by the Florida Department of Transportation, which uses it as a buffer from I-95.

Since the secondary lot is being purchased for less than $25,000, the DIA’s approval will be forwarded to the mayor’s office for final authorization, instead of the city council.

Nuvo has seven self-storage projects under construction in Florida and Virginia, with eight others in the pipeline, according to its website. Projects include a mixed-use self-storage and office complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Nuvo Development, an affiliate of Winter Park, Fla.-based Nuvo Co., offers architecture, development and engineering services to the self-storage industry. The company is led by CEO Gary Cardamone, who founded the Stor-A-Way brand in 1999 with his brother Rich Cardamone. The brothers sold the properties in 2007.