Self-storage developer French Property Management LLC (FPM) intends to build a three-story facility on a 1.6-acre vacant lot in Indianapolis that last housed a Chevrolet dealership. The company has agreed to buy the land, contingent on its applications for rezoning and design approval. The property at 1450 N. Pennsylvania St. is owned by the estate of local businessman Bill Mays, who died in December 2014, according to the source. The city’s Regional Center Hearing Examiner will review the project design on Feb. 25, but no date has been scheduled to discuss the rezoning request.
The $8 million facility would comprise 650 units ranging from 25 to 300 square feet. Units would be accessed from an interior drive and a large elevator. Self-storage real estate investment trust Extra Space Storage Inc. would manage the facility, the source reported.
King Park Development Corp., a local, nonprofit development group, wrote a formal letter to the city opposing the project. “The proposed development will detract from the historical significance of the Old Northside neighborhood,” the group wrote, according to the source.
The property has been vacant since the Payton Wells Chevrolet dealership closed in 2007. FPM maintains a residential boom in the downtown area has created additional demand for self-storage. “We want to provide a product that is very underserved,” FPM CEO Jim Adams told the source. “There’s a considerable number of people who are moving downtown.”
The presence of contaminants on the property and its mid-block orientation make the site unattractive for residential or retail use, Adams said.
FPM self-storage facilities are marketed under the Storage Depot name. Founded in 2004, the company operates five locations in the Indianapolis area and has four other facilities in development, the source reported.
Sources:
- Indianapolis Business Journal: Company Pitching ‘Upscale’ Storage Facility on Downtown Lot
