Manhattan Mini Storage is converting the former CMX Cinema at 400 E 62nd St. on New York’s Upper East Side into a six-story, 65,000-square-foot self storage facility with 1,200 climate-controlled units.
The expansion will add to the existing Manhattan Mini Storage facility at 420 E 62 nd St., which totals about 157,693 square feet and hosts 5,097 units. The expansion project, which is under development and due online in 2024, will feature two industrial-grade elevators and fully enclosed loading bays for customer convenience. Post-expansion, the site will be the company’s largest self storage property by about 20,000 square feet.
Weyen Burnam, global director of real estate at StorageMart, the parent company of Manhattan Mini Storage, noted in a prepared statement that upcycling unused or vacant buildings into self storage has a very low impact on the environment. The company plans to operate the property with high energy efficient practices, including reducing energy consumption through LED lighting and high efficiency HVAC systems, according to Burnam. Manhattan Mini Storage will be using green building practices and sustainable construction solutions during the redevelopment, according to the remarks.
StorageMart, the world’s largest privately-owned self storage provider with locations across the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, acquired Manhattan Mini Storage’s entire 18-property portfolio from Edison Properties for more than $3 billion in November 2021. The transaction expanded StorageMart’s New York footprint at the time by nearly 2.3 million rentable square feet. Edison Properties had built Manhattan Mini Storage, New York City’s first and oldest self storage company, up over 40 years before the sale to StorageMart.
Alex Burnam, global director of acquisitions at StorageMart and Manhattan Mini Storage, said in prepared remarks that the expansion provides an opportunity for growth in one of the most coveted neighborhoods where self storage is otherwise difficult to construct. The company is seeking to expand its storage capacity in the Lenox Hill neighborhood and Upper East Side as it grows its Manhattan presence.
Growing Portfolio
Manhattan Mini Storage is the largest provider of self storage solutions in Manhattan with 16 locations.
Founded by the Burnam family in 1999 and headquartered in Columbia, Mo., StorageMart has been continuing to expand around the U.S. in recent months. Their most recently announced acquisition was the purchase of Storage Space, a 93,085-square-foot asset in Carmel, Ind., with 774 units. Completed in five phases between 1971 and 1983, the self storage property near Indianapolis comprises 11 three-story buildings with units ranging from 25 to 400 square feet, along with 39 outdoor vehicle storage spaces. The 4.4.-acre property will be rebranded as StorageMart.
In November, StorageMart acquired Friendly Self Storage in Gypsum, Colo. The facility, which will transition to StorageMart management and branding, includes 61,250 total net rentable square feet including 545 storage units and multiple parking spaces. The company plans to expand the property.
A month earlier, StorageMart expanded its Florida presence with the acquisition of two Tropical Self Storage properties in Stuart, Fla., totaling more than 100,000 square feet. According to Martin County records, Aultman Mobile Home Communities sold the two assets for $18 million. The properties have a total of 972 units that range in size from 25 to 300 square feet. Also in October, the company purchased two properties from AAAA Self Storage company in Virginia Beach, Va. The acquisition added 316,304 total net rentable square feet including 1,860 storage units and 14 parking spaces. All the new additions were rebranded as StorageMart sites.
