March 3, 2017 – Storage Zone is a self-storage company with 20 locations in Northeast Ohio. The vast majority are free-standing buildings on the fringes of major metropolitan areas. One of the challenges for Storage Zone is finding new locations in middle to high income communities. Zoning in those areas often prevents their “use” from operating. Contrary to these restrictions, there is a need for self-storage and the units in comparable markets generally have high occupancy rates.
One such high-end market is Rocky River. Finding a site to build a self-storage in this municipality has never seemed possible…until October of 2016. The City of Rocky River told Wald & Fisher, the owner of Rockport Shopping Center, that it would consider self-storage for a conditional use as a part of the center’s redevelopment. The city considered it a viable solution for anchor space that has been empty for many years. Jim Becker contacted Storage Zone immediately. They were excited about the opportunity to break into the market and made a deal with Wald & Fisher in record time. Storage Zone presented rough plans and elevations to Rocky River in mid-December and the city approved their application.
If all goes well, Storage Zone will open in the second quarter of 2017.