The Hampshire Cos. recently completed a 94,600-square-foot, 656-unit CubeSmart facility at 900 State St. in Perth Amboy, one of four new self-storage projects in New Jersey and eight on the East Coast. — Courtesy: The Hampshire Cos.
By Joshua Burd
The Hampshire Cos. is touting the completion of eight new self-storage facilities spanning more than 800,000 square feet, including four projects in northern and central New Jersey.
In Elizabeth, the firm has completed an ambitious redevelopment to convert a former National Guard armory into a 100,200-square-foot, 760-unit Extra Space Storage complex at 1189 Magnolia Ave. The project included the preservation of the building’s historic façade and a retrofit of the interior, giving way to a January opening for the facility.
Hampshire later sold the building to United Hampshire US REIT, a real estate investment trust focused on self-storage and grocery-anchored retail.
Meantime, the Morristown-based firm has debuted a 102,344-square-foot, 807-unit Extra Space Storage in Belleville in tandem with Tulfra Real Estate. The site at 11 Franklin Ave. also features a Wawa as part of a 20-acre redevelopment project.
Hampshire also completed two recent ground-up development projects in its home state. Last month, the company opened a 94,600-square-foot, 656-unit CubeSmart facility at 900 State St. in Perth Amboy and a 120,524-square-foot, 903-unit Extra Space Storage property at 141 Route 206 in Hillsborough.
Additionally, the developer is marking the completion of four self-storage projects in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Florida, all of which were delivered in 2020.
“We take a strategic approach to self-storage development that’s backed by our decades of experience in the asset class,” said John Durso, head of development for The Hampshire Cos. “Leveraging our team’s tremendous experience, we identify dense, well-located markets throughout the eastern United States that are currently underserved by institutional-quality self-storage facilities and then execute development projects to fill this unmet need in those markets.
“Each of these eight projects demonstrates how our development platform can be replicated and deployed across a variety of market conditions including those as challenging as the COVID-19 environment to deliver best-in-class assets across the Northeast.”
The other newly completed projects include:
- An 83,908-square-foot, 675-unit Extra Space Storage facility at 3095 Southwest 39th Ave. in Miami
- A 110,524-square foot, 863-unit Extra Space Storage complex at 145 Corliss St. in Providence, Rhode Island, under a joint venture with Harrison Street
- A 109,310-square-foot, 882-unit CubeSmart property at the site of a former Sam’s Club at 2649 Erie Blvd. in Syracuse, New York
- A 100,000-square-foot, 760-unit CubeSmart facility at 351 North Frontage Road in New London, Connecticut, the company’s first project under the Hampshire Christie Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund
In a news release, Hampshire said it has repositioned or developed 42 self-storage facilities with an aggregate value of more than $608 million since 2012. The firm continues to target underserved, high-barrier-to-entry markets across the eastern United States, working under its strategic partnerships with Extra Space and CubeSmart.
Its development team has an additional four self-storage projects underway valued at a combined $80 million in investment, the news release said, as the firm touted its ability to move ahead despite the pandemic and the recent influx of supply to the market.
“Strategic site selection and comprehensive due diligence remain vital for successful execution in the current marketplace, especially as the marketplace has become more competitive over the past several years,” Durso said. “Our experience and understanding of the eastern United States’ self-storage market has enabled us to navigate the challenging economic conditions and successfully bring these eight ambitious self-storage projects to completion.”
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