Self storage still hot: Developer plans four-story facility south of DTLA

LA markets, a recent report found

Chip Brown with 1711 E 15th St (InSite, Redfin) Self Storage, LA
Chip Brown with 1711 E 15th St (InSite, Redfin)

Self-storage developer InSite wants to build a four-story facility in an industrial area south of Downtown Los Angeles.

InSite filed its project plans with the city planning department last month. The storage tower would occupy multiple addresses between East 15th Street and East Newton Streets, just north of the I-10 freeway. The area south of Downtown L.A. is decidedly industrial, a sector that’s been hot in recent years-––InSite wants to replace a tire repair shop and fruit canning and manufacturing facility.

The developer has its on eye another hot sector: Last month the website RentCafe released a report that found demand for storage units — which had been boosted significantly by the pandemic — was still booming throughout the country. That’s especially true in Los Angeles, the report found, which ranks among the country’s most undersupplied markets. More than 6.3 million square feet of new storage space is currently in the works in L.A., according to RentCafe, and the average monthly rental rate has ticked over $200, also among the nation’s highest.

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InSite, which develops self storage facilities around the country, has already completed nearly two dozen facilities, including in California, Florida, New Jersey and Washington state. The firm also has three L.A. projects in construction and eight Southern California projects in development, including facilities in Long Beach, North Hollywood and Glendale.

The four-story Newton Street facility would total nearly 142,000 square feet; the project is also seeking a height exemption to rise nearly 44 feet instead of the normally allowed 37 feet for self storage buildings in the zoning area.

Insite is based in Torrance and also has offices in San Francisco, Orlando and Newark. The firm also has a subsidiary, SecureSpace Self Storage, that operates its completed facilities.

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