By Alex Hassel, Storage.com
As crowded as it is in New York City, it’s no easy feat to build a brand new self storage facility. But Metro Self Storage recently announced that it’s done exactly that. The state-of-the-art storage development in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn at 2727 Knapp St. marks the fourth Metro Self Storage location in the city.
“This is a superb store in an exceptional location,” says Matt Nagel, Chairman of Metro Storage LLC, which owns the Metro Self Storage brand. “The addition of this property to our portfolio reflects our strategy of growth and expands the [brand] in the greater New York area.”
The new development was designed to specifically cater to the needs of the community around Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach. The four-story structure includes 1,357 climate-controlled storage units adding up to 80,000 rentable square feet. Features include several drive-up access points, four interior loading bays, state-of-the-art security, and elevators throughout the building. Unit sizes range from 5×5 to 10×30.
“We traveled a long road over five years to get to the point where we welcomed in our first tenants at the Knapp St. facility this month,” says Marty Gallagher, President and COO of Metro Storage LLC.
Building a new storage development in Brooklyn came with its challenges. Metro Storage LLC worked with nearby municipal groups and agencies to educate the city about how beneficial the new facility could be.
“Our biggest challenge was to modify a long-standing restrictive covenant over the land, which limited any development on the land to only a retail site with a marina component,” Gallagher explains. “This restriction resulted in this site being vacant for nearly 30 years.”
With the public waterway nearby, Metro Storage LLC worked through concerns from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with help from the local Community Board. It also dealt with other city departments in regard to design, permits, and construction oversight.
“We received fantastic support from the local residents, the Community Board #15, the 46th District Councilman, as well as ongoing encouragement from the City Planning Commission to stay the course and see the project through to completion,” says Gallagher. “In the end, Metro Self Storage has raised the bar on the quality of the self storage product offerings and customer service in the Sheepshead Bay/Gerritsen Beach neighborhoods and surrounding communities for years to come with this facility.”
Ownership of the new property is shared between Metro Storage LLC, Clark Investment Group, and Post Management. Metro Storage LLC is one of the top ten largest owners and operators in the self storage industry with more than 100 facilities in 12 states.
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.
