Every year, Tallahassee becomes home for college students at three different schools. To accommodate the belongings of the city’s wide variety of students, a new self storage facility is being constructed on West Tennessee Street.
Lee Barwick of Pars Builders is excited about the new development. When choosing the location for the new storage facility, Pars Builders did research on the area’s demographics to see how well the storage facility would benefit the residents in that area.
“This will be a climate-controlled storage building where students can leave their stuff all year round. It’s a win-win situation with all the student housing near,” said Barwick.
It will be located on the same street as several student housing complexes and a U-Haul moving center, which will work in the interest of U-Haul, the students and the facility.
“This self storage building will have three floors and 589 climate-controlled units of different sizes, and is expected to be completed around August. We are also getting ready to build more in the Tallahassee area,” said Barwick.
With its close proximity to two apartment complexes, the construction of the facility has created subtle traffic and noise issues, but the result will eventually be beneficial to residents.
“Earlier in the construction efforts, a ditch was created over the holiday break that upset some residents… but was later resolved by our general manager. The workers also park their cars, creating congestion near the entryway to our gate,” said Asya Willis, an Alight West Tenn leasing agent.
However, Willis believes they do a good job of keeping quiet during quiet hours, as they usually leave the site around night time.
“Sometimes it can be noisy, but I’m usually on campus for the majority of the time that they are doing construction so it hasn’t really bothered me much,” said Tamren Smith, a resident at Alight West Tenn.
One of the biggest issues for college students is finding storage, with common complaints regarding the rates, availability and location.
Willis believes the new self storage business will make a huge impact in the following summer, due to students sub-leasing with its location just steps from home.
Whether on or off campus, self storage is critical for students moving in to start the school year. For out-of-state students, a storage facility will most likely be on their to-do list at some point in their college career. For those who can’t live without every element of their bedroom or every item in their closet, it’s important to have a game plan on how to keep it all in Tallahassee.
“It will definitely be beneficial to students because it is much closer to four popular student housing locations. It will be more practical for students planning to move into that area,” said Smith. “I had to have a storage unit about 20 minutes from my home before I moved into Alight West Tenn last year.”
For more information, contact Lee Barwick of Par Builders at 727- 532- 6111.