A new mixed-use development is coming to Sylmar with a surprising twist: the 193,000-square-foot complex will include 25 apartment units and a large storage facility side by side under one roof.
El Segundo-based developer and operator of Trojan Storage is planning to build the complex at the intersection of Maclay Street and Bromont Avenue, featuring 163,000 square feet of self-storage in one half, and a 25-unit housing complex with one- and two-bedroom apartments in the other half, plus some art studio space.
“Anything that we can do as Angelenos to help build more housing on the footprints that are already available, as opposed to going into the mountainside of our equestrian communities, it’s well worth it because the main cure for homelessness is homes,” said Kurt Cabrera-Miller, president of the Sylmar Neighborhood Council, who said this area in Los Angeles is zoned for residential use.
Proposed in 2021, the development at 13260 Maclay St. was designed by San Clemente-based Jordan Architects. The complex will include a four-story storage building and a three-story apartment units side by side, 89 parking spaces including 43 spaces for residents and 464 dedicated to customers of the self-storage facility, offices and art studio space.
Cabrera-Miller said he hoped the complex would be built with concrete rather than wood, so if a fire breaks out at the storage space, “there’s a barrier between that and the living space.”
Nancy Hoffman Vanyek, the CEO of the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce, said self-storage space has become popular in recent years as people downsize and look for space to keep their extra furniture and other belongings.
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“The project is creating the open space, a community within the community,” Hoffman Vanyek said, pointing to the mixed-use approach that offers offices and space for art studios, which she said helps create a walkable community. “They replaced 22 apartments with commercial space and you’re replacing it with more units,” she added. “So you’re creating more housing with this project.”
During the pandemic, self-storage businesses experienced skyrocketing demand from customers leaving their homes and relocating to other cities. The average monthly expense for a 10’x10’ storage unit in Los Angeles is $210, according to a recent report from Yardi Matrix, a company that provides data on housing and storage properties in the U.S.
Los Angeles has 94 self-storage facilities with nearly 8,229 storage units. All of them combined provide 6,557,892 square feet of storage space, according to the same report.
Trojan Storage is moving forward with another dual usage development, a 170,000-square-foot property in Sun Valley, combining rental storage space with nine townhomes.
