Storage Shop USA, which operates 16 self-storage facilities in Wisconsin, received approval to build self-storage condominium units in Oak Creek, Wis. The Oak Creek Common Council agreed to a land-use change for the site at 331 and 401 E. Oak St. The units are expected to be available in the spring, according to the source.
The facility will be designed similarly to a residential subdivision but contain only detached garages. It will include 12 units in six buildings, half of which are already reserved, said Greg Thompson, the company’s founder. Each duplex will contain two 25-foot-by-50-foot units. The condos will be equipped with 100-amp service, heating, lights, bathroom plumbing, and hook-ups for phone, Internet and cable. Snow removal and yard maintenance can be purchased for a fee of $40 to $80, the source reported.
The facility is consistent with the type of development the city seeks for the area and will be a “nice upgrade,” Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi said. Still, some council members expressed their concern before the vote that the residential appearance of the property would be misleading and invite people to live in the units.
The complex won’t be a “high-use property,” and habitation hasn’t been a problem at his other facilities, Thompson said. More than half of condo owners are business owners or hobbyists who use the units for storage, he added.
Thompson declined to comment on the purchase price for the condos in the new development. The company’s website puts ownership costs at about $100,000 per unit, depending on the location, the source reported.
Storage Shop operates storage-condo properties in Fox Valley and Madison, Wis., and Milwaukee. It also has four developments underway in these regions.
