Update 8/1/17 – The Montgomery County Planning Board last week approved U-Haul’s request to build a $15 million climate-controlled facility in Amsterdam, N.Y. Raymond Kiefl was the only board member who voted against the project, according to the source.

During the July 27 presentation, several board members expressed their concerns about the effect the facility could have on traffic flow. Osterhout noted the New York State Department of Transportation reviewed the business’ traffic impact and found it to be insignificant. “This is not a big traffic-generator,” he said. “There’s no special turn lanes or anything else. There’s no special accommodations that need to be made.”

U-Haul operates 11 locations in Eastern New York, but none are similar to the one it plans to build in Amsterdam, said Russ Dumas, executive assistant of U-Haul New York, who participated in the presentation. “This will be a two-story building, [with one floor offering climate-controlled storage], for when you have valuables that you don’t want exposed to elements or temperature variations,” he said.

The facility will be just south of the Amsterdam Diner at 4790 Route 30. Once open, it’ll create 10 to 12 jobs, the source reported. In addition to self-storage, the property will offer truck and trailer rentals, hitch installation, U-Box portable-storage containers, and moving and packing supplies.

The project will next be reviewed by the Town of Amsterdam Planning Board.

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5/8/17 – Town officials received an update on May 3 for U-Haul’s proposed development in Amsterdam, N.Y. Osterhout provided a new sketch for the 68,000-square-foot facility and discussed its revised layout and design.

“U-Haul really took to heart the comments you had about the showroom being up front on Route 30, kind of flip-flopping the warehouse into the back of the building,” he said, adding official renderings were expected to be available shortly.

During the meeting, board members offered examples of structure aesthetics they found online and liked. Osterhout noted he would pass their suggestions to U-Haul’s designers before they finished the renderings.

Board member Anthony Verde also asked what U-Haul would do if the board didn’t provide design suggestions. “Most municipalities don’t have an architectural-review board, so it’s usually kind of a give and take,” Osterhout said. “The finances have to work out for the applicant. They can’t build a stone castle, so to speak; but certainly they understand you want the best-looking building they can deliver within whatever meets the economical pro forma of the project.”

Another discussion during the meeting focused wetlands and how the operator would protect them. Board member Peter Zabo asked how U-Haul would contain any oil or transmission leaks from vehicles stored on the property. Osterhout noted there are wetlands near the property, but no containment proposal existed. The RV- and boat-storage area would be fenced and feature lighting. 

U-Haul plans to request permits for curb and highway cutouts to the New York State Department of Transportation. In addition, it will work with local safety responders to ensure the site meets their requirements, Osterhout said.

A complete site-plan application is expected to be submitted to the board by May 22. “U-Haul’s intention is to try to build this year, so they will be actively moving that forward,” Osterhout said.

The project will require approval from the Montgomery County Planning Board as well as undergo a public hearing, the source reported.

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4/13/17 – Phoenix-based U-Haul International Inc., which operates more than 1,300 self-storage locations across North America, is aiming to build a truck-rental and self-storage facility on 7.32 acres along Route 30 in Amsterdam, N.Y. The project would comprise a two-story climate-controlled structure, four self-storage buildings, covered boat/RV storage, portable storage, a retail center selling moving and packing supplies, and trailer and truck rentals. It’s jointly proposed by U-Haul and property owner Route 30 Associates, according to the source.

The site is comprised of seven parcels north of Holland Circle Drive between Amsterdam Diner and Sievert’s Sports. U-Haul planner Jen Roldan and Brian Osterhout of Environmental Design Partnership LLP, an engineering firm representing Route 30 Associates, presented the site plan to the planning board last week.

Feedback from the board included a request to move a tractor-trailer pad to the rear of the layout to ensure the facility’s showroom would face Route 30. Planners were also concerned about the impact of potential traffic and emergency-vehicle access. Kathleen Tatara, an engineering consultant working with town officials, suggested U-Haul include turn radius in the site plan and submit it to the Fort Johnson Volunteer Fire Department for review, the source reported.

Roldan indicated U-Haul is willing to work with town requirements regarding design, landscaping and signage. “We like to keep our U-Haul facilities clean, but we also want them to be attractive and fit in within the neighborhood,” she told the board.

At the request of the board, Roldan agreed to provide artist renderings of the facility during a future meeting.

Established in 1945, U-Haul has more than 44 million square feet of storage space at its owned facilities throughout North America.

West Coast Self-Storage Group, with help from its financial partner, Catalyst Storage Investors LLC, has demolished and rebuilt its facility in Beaverton, Ore. Three years in the planning, the redevelopment included the acquisition of adjacent land, the modification of existing easements, rezoning and entitlements, according to Steve Tangney, vice president of real estate for West Coast. “The result was worth the wait,” he said in a press release.

“This is a reconstruction and expansion of our older facility, and it represents our continued commitment to quality and improvement of our product with a higher level of service and amenities,” Tangey said.

The new building at 9540 S.W. 125th Ave. comprises 51,680 rentable square feet of storage space in 546 climate-controlled and drive-up units. Property amenities include high-tech security, two covered loading/unloading areas, and a retail store that sells moving and packing supplies.

The property was designed by architecture firm Mildren Design Group P.C. Construction was done by SEA CON LLC, an Issaquah Wash.-based general contractor and construction-management firm.

West Coast Self-Storage Group is a self-storage acquisition, development and property-management company headquartered in Mill Creek, Wash. It has 38 managed and owned locations, including 27 in Washington, five in Oregon, and six in California.

Based in Woodinville, Wash., Catalyst is comprised of former Shurgard executives Chuck Barbo, Harrell Beck and Dave Grant. The firm specializes in self-storage investment through acquisitions and development.

 

Public Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT), plans to raze one of its Nashville, Tenn., locations and replace it with a six-story, 242,000-square-foot facility. Demolition of the existing structure at 800 Fifth Ave. S. in the Lafayette neighborhood near SoBro is scheduled to begin within two months. The REIT already has site-plan approval for the 1.21-acre replacement project and expects the new facility to open in February 2019, according to the source.

Nashville, including the popular SoBro vicinity, has seen an uptick in storage development in recent months. The metro area has 65 new-construction, expansion or renovation projects in various stages of development, according to STR Inc., a data and information-services company. In addition to the Public Storage site, there’s a six-story project under construction on Third Avenue by self-storage developer The Natchez Group.

Developers have considered the Public Storage property “the elephant in the room for everyone that's looked at building storage in SoBro," Taylor Preston, principal at The Natchez Group, told the source. Upon completion, the facility is expected to be the largest self-storage location in Nashville, outpacing a 143,000-square-foot Citadel Self Storage facility under development from Andover Management Group at Fesslers Lane and Interstate 40, the source reported.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Little Diversified Architectural Consulting is the architect on the Public Storage project.

Based in Glendale, Calif., the REIT has interests in 2,354 self-storage facilities in 38 states, with approximately 155 million net rentable square feet. Operating under the Shurgard brand name, the company also has 220 facilities in seven European countries, with approximately 12 million net rentable square feet.

Randy Smith, chairman and co-founder of STR Inc., a global supplier of data and information services for the health-club, hotel and self-storage industries, will be inducted into the U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders by the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) on Nov. 15. Smith and Marriott International Inc. CEO Arne Sorenson will be honored during a dinner ceremony as part of the USTA’s fall board meeting at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.

Smith founded STR in 1985 with his late wife, Carolyn, to provide hotel census and benchmarking data to the U.S. hotel industry. Its reporting has been credited with “establishing market-trend transparency and attracting investment capital to the [hotel] sector,” according to the source. The STR database includes nearly 58,000 hotels and 7.8 million rooms in 180 countries.

"Randy created a data-research company that has been the industry standard for measuring the health of the hotel economy over the past three-plus decades, and advanced the industry through active participation in various associations," Roger Dow, president and CEO of USTA, said in a press release.

STR launched a self-storage database in 2015 designed to offer development and performance reporting. A reporting page on its website allows industry professionals to share information about new self-storage developments in the United States including expected completion dates. It currently includes data from 25 of the largest self-storage markets in the nation, according to the website.

"I'm not sure I can truly articulate the pride I feel for the STR family," Smith said in a released statement. "I continue to marvel at the growth of our company and its role in the travel industry. This recognition is a testament to the work of many employees, partners and clients, and I am grateful to Roger and the leadership at the USTA for selecting me for this great honor. It will be incredibly humbling to be recognized alongside Arne with so many of the travel industry's leaders in attendance."

STR’s information is used to provide aggregated market segment data, competitive benchmarking, construction pipeline reports and industry forecasts in the sectors served by the company.