MBCI, a manufacturer of building components for self-storage and other industries, has launched online ordering tool to streamline the sale of its products. Shop.MBCI.com was developed with a focus on mobile-first design, a platform that allows customers to order products any time via desktop computers, tablets and mobile devices, according to a press release.

MBCI’s suite of metal roof and wall panels as well as other building components are available through the website. Customers can also use the tool to get price quotes. The user dashboard provides an at-a-glance overview of quotes and order status, which can be shared with colleagues. The site offers several shipping methods and payment options, the release stated.

“I am very excited that MBCI has launched this online ordering site for our customers, an initiative that’s in alignment with our commitment to continually improve overall sales service and create exceptional customer experiences,” said Joel Viechnicki, president. “This tool will streamline the way our metal roof and wall products are ordered, enabling us to deliver increased transparency and convenience to our customers every day.”

Founded in 1976, MBCI is a manufacturer of metal roofing and wall products. Its products serve the agricultural, commercial, residential and post-frame markets.

 

Southern Self Storage, which operates facilities in Georgia and Florida, has expanded its portfolio to include Arizona. The company recently acquired Store Safe Self Storage in Fountain Hills, Ariz., for approximately $6.2 million through its affiliate Southern Self Storage of Arizona LLC. The asset at 11860 N. Tower Drive was built on 2.6 acres in 1996. It comprises 48,580 square feet in 446 units.

Southern has added new service features including online rentals and reservations, as well as extended call-center hours, according to a press release from Colliers International Group Inc., the real estate services firm that brokered the deal.

“This marks Southern Storage’s first acquisition in the Arizona market,” said Tyler Bush, a Colliers associate in the company’s Phoenix office. “Store Safe represented an opportunity for the buyer to purchase a high-quality, well-performing storage property in an affluent submarket of Phoenix, with high barriers to entry and multiple value-add opportunities to pursue.”

Bush, along with Colliers National Self Storage Practice Group Directors Gary Cooper and Tom Gustafson in Cleveland, represented the seller and procured the buyer. Southern purchased the property from a “tenant-in-common investment” of RKO AZ 2008 LLC and Bahia Associates LLC, which are based in Southern California, the release stated.

Colliers International is a global real estate services firm with 15,000 professionals in 68 countries. The company offers a range of services to real estate investors, occupiers and owners including consultation and execution for property sales, leasing and finance. Other services include appraisal, valuation and tax consulting; custom research; facility, property and project management; and workplace solutions.

Southern Self Storage was launched by owners Peter Cowie and Robert McIntosh in Florida in 1985. The company operates seven facilities in Florida and one in Georgia. The business partners also operate three Northern Self-Storage facilities in the Ontario, Canada, market.

Progressive Investment Co. LLC (PIC), a real estate development firm that operates self-storage facilities under the Access Storage Now brand, has acquired Southgate Storage in Jasper, Ind., from Jasper Southgate Industries Inc. The property at 428 N. Truman Road comprises 25,000 square feet in 136 units. It’ll be rebranded under the Access name.

Access intends to expand service hours to seven days per week while also adding customer conveniences including online account management, billpay and rentals. An automated kiosk will be linked to the company’s other Jasper location on St. Charles Street, according to the source.

“We are pleased to add our 10th location to our portfolio of high-quality self-storage assets,” co-owner Chris Tretter said in a statement. “We thank Paul Nonte and the Jasper Southgate Industries board of directors for facilitating a smooth transaction. We look forward to providing exemplary service to customers using the Truman Road facility.”

PIC announced in March it would be expanding the Access portfolio to include locations in Brandenburg, Ky., and Ireland, Ind.

PIC is a development and leasing company. It owns and manages a variety of properties including commercial office buildings, manufacturing facilities, short-term storage and warehouse/distribution centers, according to its website.

Based in Ferdinand, Ind., and founded more than 25 years ago, Access Storage Now operates 10 self-storage facilities in Southern Indiana.

Real estate investment firm BBCB Investments LLC is seeking zoning approval to redevelop two adjacent properties in Brentwood, Tenn., to a mixed-use site that will include self-storage and an office complex. The proposal for the 4.2-acre site at 255 and 263 Wilson Pike Circle requires a zoning change on just one of the properties to allow self-storage, according to the source.

The plans include demolishing several structures that formerly operated as Bell Construction and Jim Johnson Landscaping Co. The four-story storage facility would feature 100,000 square feet of space. The three-story Bell Office Park would comprise 74,327 square feet of space, the source reported.

The city commission held an informational meeting last week to discuss the project. "After concerns about too much land being zoned to C-3, they submitted a revised application to limit the rezoning to [one] tract, which is about 2 acres," said Kirk Bednar, city manager.

The commission also expressed concern about traffic after reviewing a study of the site and surrounding area. It showed the project would lead to a "significant increase" in the delay for northbound traffic on Wilson Pike Circle, the source reported.

Once built, the office complex would generate 1,300 daily trips to the local roads, the study stated. Changing the traffic-signal timing at the intersection of Wilson Pike Circle and Church Street could help lessen traffic delays. However, a longer green light on Wilson Pike Circle would “negatively affect traffic flow on Church Street and the greater surrounding area,” making it unfeasible, according to planning department notes.

BBCB is hosting a meeting on July 27 with property owners from within 1,000 feet of the project to answer questions, the source reported. In addition, a public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 14. It’ll be followed by a second and final reading of the zoning change on Aug. 28.

Based in Owasso, Okla., BBCB specializes in residential remodeling and sales.

Janus International Group LLC, a manufacturer of self-storage roll-up doors and building components, announced key organizational changes to its estimating team. The company has created new roles to align business operations and core growth strategies, according to a press release.

Alan Campbell, a 25-year industry veteran with more than 10 years at the company, has been named senior director of estimating. He’ll lead the estimating efforts for the R3 (renovate, remodel or retrofit) and New Construction Divisions. Prior to joining Janus, Campbell was the inside sales manager for U.S. Door & Building Components in Orlando, Fla. His experience also includes project-management roles at Atlas Roll-Lite Door Corp.

Alex Fouquette has been named director of estimating for R3, reporting to Campbell and working closely with Troy Bix, who was recently appointed the R3 Division president. Fouquette’s expertise will strongly enhance the focus of the business unit and support key initiatives, the release stated. Prior to joining Janus in 2014, he spent seven years as senior director of facilities at self-storage real estate investment trust Public Storage Inc., where he oversaw more than 1,200 properties in the Eastern United States. His background also includes project- and construction-management roles.

Johnathan Sims has been appointed director of estimating for the New Construction Division. He’ll use his expertise to focus on new building projects. Prior to joining Janus, Sims spent seven years as a project manager and senior estimator for an Atlanta-based general contractor, where he focused on client retention and business development. His experience includes more than 12 years of project-management and construction-related roles.

Finally, Janus named Madison Curtis as manager of Arizona estimating, where he’ll support growth of the company’s office in Surprise, Ariz. Curtis joined the company in 2010 and moved into estimating in 2011. He has worked on renovation and retrofit projects for Public Storage and transitioned into new construction within the past two years.

“We are pleased to have placed in-house talent into key positions to support our new business units and focus on growth in these specific segments,” said David Curtis, CEO and president. “The structure of this team will allow us to maximize the value of these initiatives and the growth potential for our business. This change further enables the company to invest resources on our largest opportunities for growth.”

Headquartered in Temple, Ga., Janus has eight U.S. locations as well as manufacturing facilities in Europe and Mexico. The company is owned by Saw Mill Capital Partners LP, a New York-based private equity investment fund managed by Saw Mill Capital LLC.

 

Wheat II-Margate, an affiliate of private-equity firm Wheat Capital Management LLC, recently broke ground on a new self-storage facility in Margate, Fla. The company purchased the 2.6-acre site at 5400 N.W. 31st St. in January for $2.4 million. The four-story facility will be behind a Walgreens pharmacy and have frontage along Florida State Road 7, according to the source. Once complete, it’ll comprise 133,872 square feet of storage space.

The $11.3 million construction loan necessary for the project will be provided by ORIX RE Holdings LLC, a division of ORIX USA, a Dallas-based commercial real estate finance, asset management and investment firm. The builder is Kaufman Lynn Construction, a commercial construction company based in Boca Raton, Fla.

In addition to the Margate facility, Wheat Capital has two other self-storage projects underway. It’s developing a site at 2801 John P. Lyons Lane in Pembroke Park, Fla., and another at 2915 N.W. 36th St. in Miami-Dade County, Fla.

Founded in 2015 and based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Wheat Capital specializes in the acquisition and development of urban infill self-storage facilities. The firm often partners with self-storage real estate investment trusts CubeSmart and Extra Space Storage Inc., the source reported.

The Highland Park, Ill., City Council approved a redevelopment ordinance on Monday that will allow Simply Self Storage (SSS) to build a three-story facility on the site of a historic train station. The developer had planned to demolish the former Briergate Station, which served the Skokie Valley route of the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, but a local preservation group is trying to have the structure relocated before final project approvals are in place.

Though SSS owns the railway station at 1495 and 1505 Old Deerfield Road and has been working with city planners on the self-storage project since last October, the company wasn’t aware of the building’s historical significance until Monday’s meeting, SSS Vice President Brandon Dickens told the council. The new facility is intended to complement another nearby facility the company owns, according to a source.

Kyle Verbeke of the North Shore Line Preservation Association discussed the building at the meeting, informing officials that the Briergate Station is the only one remaining of nine identical buildings that served the electric railway. The 91-year-old, Spanish-revival building served the line from 1926 to 1963. The other eight stations were demolished during the 1960s because they were directly under power lines, a source reported. Two other stations that served the North Shore line also still stand. Briergate isn’t designated a local landmark, nor is it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The council’s 7-0 ruling includes a provision that doesn’t allow the structure to be demolished until all project plans are complete and approved by the city. Dickens indicated construction wouldn’t begin for up to six months and that SSS would try to work with the preservation group to move forward with the relocation.

"We want to work with the new owners of the building and not interfere with their plans for development," Verbeke said during the meeting. "As of right now, we are waiting to speak to them so we can get our fundraiser started."

The preservation group hopes to raise enough money to relocate the building and preserve it as a museum.

Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., SSS was founded in 2003. The company owns or manages more than 230 self-storage facilities in the United States and Puerto Rico comprising more than 18 million square feet.

ShareLet, a Christchurch, New Zealand-based startup, has launched a peer-to-peer marketplace for self-storage services in the region. Similar to other shared-economy networks, the company provides an online platform where people in need of storage can find local hosts willing to rent available space.

Hosts can rent space as small as a cupboard to as large as a commercial barn. Hosts and those seeking storage can currently connect through the ShareLet website for free, though founder Leo Adriano intends to add a small fee once the service has enough profiles, he told the source.

Once connected, interested parties make their own rental agreements. Guidelines are available through the ShareLet website including “current commercial rates,” the source reported.

"The self-storage industry is booming on a global basis, but building or adapting premises come with high costs that are passed on,” Adriano said. "I thought there would be many people or businesses and organizations New Zealand-wide that could benefit from ShareLet to optimize any available space and earn some money, or alternatively to reduce costs.”

Adriano has 30 years of experience in construction, design and project management. He launched ShareLet at the Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus business center with support from the Ministry of Awesome, a Christchurch group that assists startups and is funded through the city and behind grants, according to the source.

By Jesse Balaity

Self-storage operators know their facilities can be good neighbors, especially when they transition from being gated fortresses and invite community engagement as anchors of mixed-use projects. While mixing commercial, residential and retail adds complexity, it can also solve planning and economic challenges.

Planning and Economics

Sketch out a bustling urban streetscape in your mind. What do you see? Restaurants spilling onto sidewalks, apartment buildings with balconies, a pocket park with children playing, or a self-storage facility? Self-storage professionals might see the latter, but for the rest of the world, storage occupies the same realm as parking garages and utilities structures. They’re all necessary elements for a city to function, but they don’t contribute to the vitality of urban life.

A desire for activated streetscapes pervades urban zoning regulations, often with specific requirements for human-occupied interior spaces visible from the public way. This may be for a specified building depth, at the ground level or for several levels above.

For example, the new urbanist code that governs my neighborhood in downtown Sarasota, Fla., requires 20 feet of habitable space as a liner building around any non-occupied structure, like parking. Such configurations can be ideal for self-storage, as the habitable building area close to the street is also the highest revenue-producing space for retail, office, restaurant or even residential use. Greater human activity on a utilitarian site also enhances security (or the perception of security).

Now envision a suburban lifestyle center. What do you see this time? A shaded plaza with restaurants and retail shops, a movie theater, a specialty grocery store, maybe a department store anchoring each end? But wait, are department stores still a thing, or is that the shell of a shuttered Sears in your sketch? Perhaps that big box is better suited for self-storage.

Suburban zoning often relegates self-storage to commercial or industrial districts, but may allow it as a conditional use or part of a planned-unit development (PUD). PUDs can provide developers with the freedom to include self-storage in a master plan with other land uses, even if the surrounding zoning excludes it.

There are several arguments for this. First, developers must profit from all parcels in a PUD, so it’s in their best interest to consider compatibility and provide adequate buffers in the master plan. Second, a PUD will include design standards that are often more restrictive than those of the prevailing land-development code. This ensures all industrial, commercial and residential buildings complement the overall community design, often interpreted in vernacular architectural styles. Finally, a goal of PUDs is to reduce traffic by fulfilling residents’ needs onsite. This justifies the inclusion of any reasonable use within the master plan.

Even where zoning allows for dedicated self-storage, a mixed-use development can maximize a site’s economic potential. As efficient and profitable as storage facilities are, there are other uses that generate even more revenue per square foot of building area.

At one extreme, consider a storage facility in Manhattan, where small, ground-floor retail spaces can lease for more than $1,000 per square foot. Self-storage only makes economic sense deeper into the building, on upper floors, or in areas with less exposure and natural light.

Or consider a large site in a growing suburban neighborhood with excess building area potential once the self-storage pro forma is satisfied. Suburban sites often designate excess space for RV storage or future expansion, but savvy investors will analyze the marketplace and meet additional demand with other uses for a shorter-term return on investment. This can be as simple as an outparcel restaurant pad, or as insightful as an apartment component that provides built-in customers for self-storage.

Challenges

Mixed-use projects can be spread across a parcel or combined within a single structure. Each configuration has its own challenges.

With mixed-use sites, the self-storage circulation paths often overlap other uses, making it impractical to implement site access controls. This, in turn, limits the use of exterior-access units. Overlapped circulation also increases the risk of large trucks interfering with retail traffic, pedestrians and occupied outdoor areas such as sidewalk dining and plazas. Finally, there’s the cost of meeting design criteria. Design compatibility often requires more windows, increased façade articulation and higher quality finishes compared to freestanding facilities.

The design for Forum at Greenbriar, a mixed-use project in Jacksonville, Fla., demonstrates one solution to these challenges. The project combines Atlantic Self-Storage as a freestanding anchor, two retail buildings, a restaurant outparcel, and a mixed-use retail and office building in a cohesive lifestyle-center setting. The buildings share a common architectural language, landscape palette and hardscape design. Self-storage traffic shares site access with other uses; however, within the site, one retail building creates a physical barrier to the storage traffic and blocks views to the loading zones.

A mixed-use building has all the same challenges as the mixed-use site and more. The efficient structural system, often on a 10-by-10-foot grid or with bearing walls spaced 10 feet apart, doesn’t work for other uses. When self-storage occupies space above other uses, there must be a longer span structural system or a hybrid system with more columns on upper levels and transfer beams to fewer columns on the ground level. Building design must consider separated loading zones and pedestrian entrances, security measures for any shared internal circulation, and fire separation between uses.

Beyond the technical issues, we find the biggest challenge with mixed-use self-storage is designing for multiple identities. The storage facility is the building anchor and, as such, must have a strong outward presence. Often this requires bright colors like CubeSmart’s tanager red or Extra Space Storage’s wasabi green. Retail, office or residential tenants shouldn’t feel like occupants. They must have their own complementary but separate identities. Building massing must also prevent the appearance of a self-storage monolith sitting atop other tenant spaces or make the smaller spaces feel like an afterthought.

For our Pompano Beach, Fla., project, which will be professionally managed by CubeSmart, we exaggerated the height of the ground-floor retail façade to appear as half of the building height, even though retail occupies one-fifth of the actual height. This avoids the sense of the self-storage crushing the retail spaces. The added height also lets us place retail signage higher on the wall for better visibility.

To test the viability of the design, we theoretically removed the upper self-storage levels and then assessed whether the ground floor could stand on its own as a desirable retail center. We put ourselves in the shoes of a prospective tenant, asking whether we would lease a space here. Does anything about the storage facility detract from the retail experience, and what makes it more attractive than nearby shopping centers? This is where design really matters, as leasing agents will inevitably need to overcome preconceived notions about self-storage sites.

For Pompano Beach, we proposed a bold design language, turning a utilitarian building type into a beacon. We exceeded the standards of competing retail properties with a generous pedestrian plaza, enhanced landscaping, and a unique mixture of materials and textures. The façade layering also helps with the retailers’ identity, achieving a subtle distinction between being under CubeSmart and being in front of CubeSmart.

The Future

We see several development trends that will continue in the coming decade. The shift from suburban sprawl to walkable communities, downsizing Baby Boomers, downtown residential projects spreading from major cities to smaller urban centers, and the proliferation of form-based design codes are just a few. For each of these trends, mixed-use projects give self-storage facilities the potential to be the best possible neighbors.

Jesse Balaity is a design consultant and owner of Balaity Property Enhancement, an architecture and project-management firm. He’s also a frequent collaborator with Patrick M. Pillot, Architect, in Sarasota, Fla., where he’s contributed to the design of more than 30 self-storage facilities. He frequently assists storage clients through the conceptual design and approvals processes, helping navigate through design regulations and neighborhood compatibility concerns. For more information, call 941.961.9079; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.balaity.com.

Access Self Storage, which operates more than 50 facilities in the United Kingdom, has received permission to build a three-story facility in Bristol, England, on a site that housed an iconic art-deco building for 80 years. Though the former Cruickshanks Mercedes Garage closed a decade ago and was demolished last year, 150 residents had formally opposed the project, according to the source. The council voted unanimously in favor of the plan, with one abstention.

The Access project is expected to be part of a mixed-use plan that includes seven new homes at the intersection of Brunel Way and Winterstoke Road. The self-storage structure will include a tower in homage to the old 1930s tower on the Cruickshanks building that once served as a city landmark, the source reported.

Residents opposed to the plan have called the storage facility “monstrous” and complained there isn’t a need for additional self-storage in the area. Once the number of complaints exceeded 100, Access amended its site plan to move the storage building further away from homes at nearby Bower Ashton Terrace.

“The developers' revised plans do nothing to address Bristol’s housing crisis or the fact that this monstrous warehouse build will hem in and overshadow local residents,” resident Nicola Mcgerty told the source. “It’s commercial profit over residents’ happiness and Bristol’s needs. We have two other storage units within half a mile of this site.”

Consulting company BS3 Planning Group has also criticized the project. “This is the first building many will see on their approach to Bristol, and to replace a landmark art-deco car showroom with a large metal shed shows a lack of respect to the local built environment,” the group said in a statement. “Whilst replicating the tower on site is welcome, it is very much paying lip service to the historic tenor of the site.”

Karin Smyth, who represents Bristol in parliament, also endorsed the opposition, according to the source.

Bristol planners, however, recommended the proposal, concluding it was in line with the local area. “The proposed development would regenerate a prominent site at the gateway to an important industry and warehousing area within south Bristol,” planning officer Tom Watson told the source. “The application is recommended for approval.”

A proposal similar to the Access project, including a row of homes opposite Bower Ashton Terrace, was approved nine years ago, but the development was never built, the source reported.

Founded more than 20 years ago, Access Self Storage facilities offer virtual office services, parking, document management and mailboxes in addition to self-storage. The company’s properties are concentrated in Greater London.