Next Door Self Storage Conversion Project Approved in North Aurora, IL

Update 8/4/15 – The village board has approved the Next Door Self Storage plan to convert a former bowling alley and add additional buildings on the property at 310 S. Lincolnway. The lone dissenting vote came from trustee Faber, who lobbied for a business that “creates jobs or tax revenues,” according to the source.

“[The storage facility] would be a vast improvement over what is there right now,” Jack Murphy said during a recent presentation to the board.

Berman, who originally didn’t express much public enthusiasm for the project, put his support behind Next Door, noting the property had been for sale for eight years and the Route 31 corridor has a higher concentration of service businesses than typical retail, the source reported.

“I would love to see some [retail] project there that would bring in lots of money to the village, but it’s been vacant all this time,” he said. “They’ve been trying to market it, and things are just not coming to Route 31.”

5/21/15 – A proposal by Next Door Self Storage to convert a former bowling alley to a storage facility met resistance this week from the North Aurora, Ill., Village Board of Trustees. Next Door would like to convert the interior of the 40,000-square-foot building at 310 S. Lincolnway to self-storage units and add five storage buildings on the northern and western portions of the property, but board members would rather see an entertainment venue, hotel or restaurant on the site, according to the source.

“I would like to see something there that creates more than two and a half jobs,” trustee Chris Faber said. “I’m not ready to sell the farm for the first offer we get.” Faber also pointed out the village already has three self-storage facilities.

The building has been vacant for seven years, according to the project proposal submitted by Jack and Phil Murphy, who own Next Door. “[Self-storage] would be a vast improvement over what is there now,” Jack Murphy told the board. In their proposal, the Murphys argue that the three existing storage facilities are near capacity, and adding a new option would have little impact on competitors while providing the community with more choices.

The $4 million project would include more than $2.5 million for building and land improvements. As part of the plan, Next Door would expand green space on the property from 30,000 square feet to nearly 120,000 square feet, according to the proposal. The company would also demolish a dilapidated building that stands on the site. The five self-storage buildings the company plans to build would add more than 48,000 square feet of storage space. The location would be called North Aurora Self Storage.

The project did receive support from trustee Mark Guethle. “It adds value,” he said. “It is better than looking at what is currently there. It will draw people into the community. All I have heard while on the board is that we need to do something on Route 31.”

After listening to both sides, board president Dale Berman told the Murphys he didn’t see “overwhelming enthusiasm for the project.”

Based in Crest Hill, Ill., Next Door operates 14 self-storage facilities in Illinois.