Potential Storage Conversion

[Justin Frank]

I have the opportunity to be involved in a storage conversion of an existing grocery and was hoping I could get opinions/info from anyone who has performed or been involved in a storage conversion. Building has a wide open 44,000sq/ft floor plan, there is a large parking lot on the building front side for customers and/or for covered boat/rv storage, the purchase would also come with another 1acre of land that is currently occupied by a local business (the business renting the u-haul will be pushed off the land at the sale of the building) to rent u-haul. This extra acre could be used to continue renting trucks, or turned into covered parking if demand was there. The building sits on a high traffic road at 25,000+ cars per day, and also has a large billboard out front for advertising. The building owner is very flexible with terms of the deal which opens up a lot of possibility to make the deal work for both of us. Downfalls are the building is old and rehab will be costly, a conditional use permit will be needed prior to construction of self storage, and the building is located in Aberdeen, WA which has also been called scaberdeen due to a reputation of low income housing and drugs. Much of the town is showing improvements, however I am still nervous about being involved in an Aberdeen project. My very long winded post was all to ask for help from anyone who is familiar with the Aberdeen/Grays Harbor area. Would you consider investing or developing in Aberdeen, is anyone familiar with storage and its demands in Aberdeen? I have done self research and every unit i reached out to was 90% full or higher and these facilities are located outside of the city center. I am working with an individual in the Seattle area to help with feasibility however I have not wanted to invest the $5k for this study until I have done more of my own basic research and reached out to everyone on BP for opinions on the Aberdeen area. I understand there are many details I have left out so please feel free to ask questions so I can paint a clear picture of the project. With that being said, At this point I am just hoping someone could assist me with some Aberdeen info before i dive too deep in this project.