By Alex Hassel, Storage.com
After working as a full-service commercial real estate company for the last 15 years, Houston-based NewQuest Properties is turning its attention now to the self storage industry. The company is launching a self storage development group to join the fast-growing industry. Its first two projects are set to break ground this fall.
“There is strong consumer demand that needs to be met, particularly in areas where we have existing retail centers,” says Ronnie Miranda, CCIM, SIOR, Director of Asset Management for the Houston-based firm.
Miranda and David Moyers, the company’s Leading Director, are heading the development team. NewQuest is planning simultaneous groundbreaking at Brazos Town Center in Southwest Houston and Windcliff Town Center in Northwest Houston.
The facilities are still being designed right now, but NewQuest says they will be best-in-class, multi-story, climate-controlled buildings, and will feature loading docks, freight elevators, 24-hour electronically-secure access, and on-site management. Each building will range from 70,000 to 80,000 square feet with 500 to 800 storage units. Each three to five-acre property will be gated.
“We are designing a self storage prototype to enhance the one-stop experience at our existing and future centers,” Miranda says. “By incorporating these facilities into our projects, we are completing the package in terms of community amenities.”
Brazos Town Center, a retail development by NewQuest, has more than 2 million square feet of traditional and service-oriented shops and restaurants at the junction of Southwest Freeway (Interstate 69) and FM 762. NewQuest’s Windcliff Town Center is a bit smaller and located at the crossroads of Jones and Cypress North Houston Roads near FM 1960, TX 249, and 290. Both of these projects are surrounded by single-family and multi-family developments with more building on the way.
“More and more developers are realizing the value and viability of self storage investment,” Miranda says. “There’s an unfilled demand that we intend to fill.”
NewQuest is targeting areas for self storage development close to homes, office, or shopping districts rather than industrial sites usually associated with those types of buildings.
“Self storage facilities and grocery stores share the same target development demographics,” Miranda explains. “We’re putting an innovative, new spin on self storage that will be available at select shopping centers in our portfolio, many of which are located in the strongest and most heavily-populated submarkets in the state.”
NewQuest has a portfolio exceeding $1.4 billion in assets that includes more than 50 retail centers throughout Texas. Combined with its own portfolio, NewQuest’s leased properties give the company more than 12 million square feet of retail space in the state.
Alex Hassel is News Reporter for Storage.com. If you’d like to pitch Alex a self storage industry news story, email alex.hassel@storage.com or call 402-779-7328.
