Roem and InSite combine apartments and self-storage in San Jose

Joint venture would build 136 units and a self-storage facility on school grounds

InSite Property Group's Chip Brown, Roem's Robert Emami, rendering of 5670 Camden Avenue, San Jose (Insite Property Group, Twitter, Getty)
InSite Property Group's Chip Brown, Roem's Robert Emami, rendering of 5670 Camden Avenue, San Jose (Insite Property Group, Twitter, Getty)

Roem and InSite Property Group aim to build 136 affordable apartments and a self-storage facility in South San Jose.

The Santa Clara-based Roem teamed up with InSite, a national self-storage developer based in Redondo Beach, to file early plans to build the apartments and storage complex at 5670 Camden Avenue, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The developers propose at least two apartment buildings and three self-storage buildings on 10.7 acres near Camden Avenue and Blossom Hill Road. The location features three schools next to the project site: Delight Montessori School San Jose, Beacon School and Cinnabar School.

The property is owned by John F. Font Ph.D. Associates and Beacon School.

Preliminary plans call for two, three-story apartment buildings in an L-shaped layout around a landscaped courtyard, according to a rendering. It’s not clear whether all 136 apartments would be contained in two buildings.

A self-storage complex would include an L-shaped building of three stories flanked by two single-story buildings with self-storage bays, according to a rendering.

Roem and InSite would request the city modify its general plan for the development.

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The developers also plan to subdivide the single parcel to create three new parcels – one each for the school complex, the housing and the self-storage center, project plans show.

The affordable apartments and self-storage complex would be built in a neighborhood of single-family homes and apartment buildings, with several local shopping centers nearby, according to the Mercury News. Westfield Oakridge Mall, Almaden Plaza and Princeton Plaza Mall are a few miles away.

In September, developers Roem and the Foundation for Affordable Housing sold a 118-unit affordable senior housing complex in East San Jose for $41 million.

In May, Roem Development, a unit of Roem Corp., won approval to build a six-story, 125-unit affordable housing complex in Belmont, to replace a mid-century motel.

In October, a state judge ordered Insite Property Group to halt construction of a 152,700-square-foot self-storage facility by the Los Angeles River in North Long Beach following a challenge by environmental groups.

InSite received $140 million in construction financing in March 2021 to build 40 self-storage facilities containing 5 million square feet nationwide, with an expanding credit line up to $215 million, according to ISS. Its SecureSpace brand operates 12 self-storage facilities in six states.

— Dana Bartholomew

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