The latest addition in Chattanooga's version of the hit series Storage Wars has opened in Red Bank with a 250-unit complex joining a number of new or planned facilities in or near downtown.
Win Pratt, president of Pratt Home Builders, said the 34,270 square feet of self storage his company developed at 1730 Dayton Blvd. helps meet the need of nearby residents.
"We did market research which determined that would be a good location for that type business," he said about the new site called Scenic City Self Storage.
Pratt said the units, for which he declined to give a development cost, were based on the number of households within four to five miles.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/7/16. Win Pratt stands in his company's showroom off of Dayton Boulevard on April 7, 2016. "Between the apartments in North Chattanooga and Red Bank and downtown housing opening, there are lots of residences," he said.
He said about 12 units have been rented since the location opened Sept. 1. Absolute Storage Management is managing the units.
Pratt noted that competitors are bringing their units online as well.
Less than a mile away on Dayton Boulevard, the former Great Value Inn near the Stringer's Ridge Tunnel is pegged to hold 600 self-storage units in a $6.3 million project that's also to include a commercial center.
John Mitchum, a real estate broker in Chattanooga for ReMax Renaissance Realtors, said multi-family housing is "a hot ticket item." There are a lot of rooftops on the North Shore, North Chattanooga, and Hill City and more are going up, Mitchum said.
"People who live in apartments need somewhere to store their stuff," he said.
Also, just minutes from downtown, a former shopping center on Mountain Creek Road that held a Food Lion store has been converted into self-storage space in a nearly $6 million project. A venture between Ziff Properties of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., and Reliant Self Storage redeveloped the Mountain Creek Road center, said Christian Chamblee, Ziff's chief operating officer and director of acquisitions.
The center was expanded to hold 81,728 square feet of self storage with 718 units.
In addition, Signal Mountain Self Storage nearby, at Mountain Creek and W roads, announced plans to expand by 200 units and 19,580 square feet, increasing the site to 600 units, according to the company.
Additionally, Main Street Climate Storage opened at 1420 Carter St. near Finley Stadium in the conversion of a vacant warehouse. That 27,000-square-foot facility offers a variety of unit types and sizes for customers.
Another self-storage project calls for a four-story, 17,000-square-foot facility just off South Broad Street near downtown.
Pratt Home Builders earlier had built its new Chattanooga area headquarters adjacent to Scenic City Self Storage. The company's president said the new self storage units take up the remainder of its Dayton Boulevard footprint.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.