Trojan Storage to unite homes and self-storage facility in Sylmar

Trojan Storage got a thumbs up to build a self-storage facility in Sylmar mated with 25 apartments above offices and art studios.

The El Segundo-based developer led by Bret Henry was approved to build the 193,000-square-foot complex at 13260 West Maclay Street, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. The project would involve bulldozing a 22-unit apartment complex.

Plans, filed in 2021, call for a 163,000-square-foot storage facility containing two buildings, plus an unspecified number of ground-floor offices and art studios at Maclay and Bromont Avenue.

The 25-unit complex will include one- and two-bedroom apartments to replace the demolished homes. The white, three-story building topped with a red roof will have gray exterior balconies and turquoise accents, according to a rendering.

The building will contain a lobby, recreation room and artist studios around a central courtyard.

The project, designed by San Clemente-based Jordan Architects, would wrap the apartments around a four-story storage building and a three-story building containing both storage and apartments. Parking lots and ground-floor garages would serve 78 cars.

The goal is to mask a stark storage facility with a residential community in the northeast San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

While this is the first time Trojan has attempted this strategy in Los Angeles, it will not be the last, according to Urbanize. The developer plans to build nine townhomes to mask a 220,000-square-foot storage facility at 7528 North Bellaire Avenue, in nearby Sun Valley.

The two projects join a growing trend of incorporating housing into unexpected retail development.

In Encino, Studio City-based TADG Real Estate Group has proposed building a 12-story apartment highrise above a Mercedes-Benz showroom at 16747 West Ventura Boulevard.

In Baldwin Hills, a local unit of New York-based Magnum Real Estate Group wants to build a six-story building with a Costco store and 800 apartments at 5035 West Coliseum Street in Baldwin Village.

Trojan Storage, founded in 2007 by USC business school graduate Henry, has 49 storage facilities in California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois and New Jersey, according to its website. It also operates under the BA Self Storage, Fort Self Storage and Safe Self Storage brands.

— Dana Bartholomew