Business

Mini-storage units being built off of 36th Street

Drivers of the 36th Street just off of Highway 16 will notice ground work being performed beside the giant Tacoma Screw fulfillment center. A mini-storage facility will soon emerge on the 10-acre site.

Heavy equipment is at work along 36th Street creating the ground for a mini-storage facility. Ed Friedrich / Gig Harbor Now

The complex will feature eight buildings of various sizes, totaling about 106,000 square feet. Heated units will range from 5 feet square to 20 by 30 feet. There also will be 50-foot-deep recreational vehicle spaces walled on three sides.

“There’s a shortage of storage units in the Gig Harbor submarket,” said Jeff Hogan, principal at Gig Harbor Capital Investors.

Permitting with Pierce County has been under way for four years. Hogan is hoping to open in six months, barring supply chain issues.

A two-way turn lane will be striped and lighting installed near the entrance off of 36th Street. Ed Friedrich / Gig Harbor Now

A traffic impact analysis conducted in August 2019 projected the facility would generate 47 more trips during the morning peak hour and 51 more at the evening peak. About 20 percent would be trucks, or nine in the morning peak and 10 in the evening.

Drivers will enter the facility from 36th Street. Developers will pay Pierce County to re-stripe the road there to include a two-way turn lane, and will install lighting in the area, according to permits.

Four of the 10 acres will remain undeveloped, Hogan said.