A developer has proposed an unusual mixed-use project in Sylmar: a self-storage complex with residential apartments.
The planned two-building, 200,000-square-foot project would include 27 residential units created atop 163,455 square feet of self-storage space.
“One of the challenges with this is it’s so rare to get a zoning to get multifamily and storage. Storage usually falls under industrial,” said Brett Henry, co-founder of Trojan Storage, which plans to develop the project.
The project’s combination format will be a first for the company, which usually operates traditional self-storage facilities in industrial zones.
“We typically build three-story, climate-controlled self-storage facilities,” Henry said.
The Sylmar site will become Trojan’s first mixed-use project in this capacity as a result of a good working synergy with the city.
“The zoning’s unique there,” Henry said. “It effectively offered a density bonus if you have two uses together.”
The project will be comprised of two parts: Building A will have self-storage units on the ground floor and second and third stories that will have 27 apartments plus one apartment for the manager; Building B will deliver four stories devoted only to self-storage.
On the ground floor of Building A, there will also be three commercial units, including an artist studio.
The complex will provide subterranean parking “because parking has been an issue in the neighborhood,” Henry said.
In total, there will be about 1,100 storage units. The average storage space is about 100 square feet.
Dual use?
Henry said the activity at the self-storage units will not be disruptive to residents living there. The office will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. The building itself will be available from 7 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m.
“We do not provide 24-hour access to our customers,” Henry said. “The storage users will drive around the back. There are two elevators to use with the multiple floors, another elevator in back. It’s at the opposite end of the building from the residences.”
Henry said that the storage usage will coincide smoothly with apartment life at the site.
“It’s not intensive. Our demands of use are 2 percent of what a warehouse will be,” Henry said. “No storage user will be able to enter our building and get into the apartment area. They have their own separate elevator. We really separated the two uses. There will be limited interaction between them.”
Henry predicted that half of the residents will be using the storage.
“It’s really a transitional use,” Henry said. “The demand for storage has gone up a lot especially with the pandemic, people working at home and needing that space to accommodate the hybrid experience.”
Designing the project is Jordan Architects.
“We have a long relationship with them now,” Henry said. “Bruce Jordan is a pioneer of self-storage architecture. He’s done all of our West Coast facilities.”
Henry said the San Clemente-based design firm is one of the few studios that could handle both multifamily and storage.
“They’ve got all of the experience needed to do something like this,” Henry said.
Future template?
Founded in 2007 and based in Torrance – but in the process of relocating to Marina del Rey – Trojan Storage has 32 self-storage locations, mostly on the West Coast from San Diego to Seattle. In North Los Angeles, Trojan Storage just opened a 165,000-square-foot storage facility in Glendale at 620 W. Elk Ave.
“We built one in Burbank about three years ago,” Henry said. “We’ve got one in Camarillo under construction and one in Calabasas.”
The Calabasas location, which will break ground in May, will cover 130,000 square feet with a basement.
Other locations include Arleta, Glendale and Sun Valley.
Beyond North LA, the company has a 191,000-square-foot facility coming to Commerce and a 200,000-square-foot site with 28,000-square-foot flex office use in Elk Grove, outside of Sacramento.
While Henry said the Sylmar project would be the first of its kind in the company’s portfolio, it may not be the last.
“We think this is a great way to bring more (residential) units while satisfying self-storage,” he explained. “We’ve been working on this for more than 18 months. This is an important project to us and something that could be replicated under the right zoning.”
So far, Trojan Storage has received positive feedback on the project, which is currently going through the entitlement process with the city of L.A. Henry anticipates a few tweaks to the design but nothing major. Once the project gets approved, it will take 15 months to build.
“We just think it’s such a great project that we want to see it all the way through,” Henry said. “Sylmar is such a great city. We know the storage will do very well and the apartments are very much needed.”