A West Allis warehouse that sold for $1.6 million last spring was sold for $5.5 million last week, after being renovated into a self-storage building.
Wisconsin Storage Corp. purchased the 49,330-square-foot warehouse, located at 232 S. Curtis Road in West Allis, in April 2016. At the time, brokers Kurt Van Dyke and James Young with The Barry Co. said the buyers were planning to make significant renovations to the building.
“The buyer was the perfect user for this property because of its convenient Zoo Interchange location and freeway visibility,” Van Dyke said last year. “The development will be one of the nicest storage facilities in Milwaukee.”
The group has now sold the property to Vallhalla, New York-based Highland Development Ventures LLC, a real estate development firm that focuses on self-storage and student housing.
David Murray, of insurance agency David R. Murray & Associates in Brookfield, who was one of the investors in the Wisconsin Storage Corp. project, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Self-storage facilities often fetch high prices.
In April, Amerco Real Estate Co., the Phoenix, Arizona-based group that provides real estate development services for U-Haul, purchased a 30,000-square-foot building once used for manufacturing in Waukesha for $7.6 million.
A U-Haul affiliate also purchased the 395,000-square-foot former Harley-Davidson Inc. plant in Wauwatosa in 2015 for $5.25 million.
St. Paul Storage LLC purchased the 125,000-square-foot, seven-story warehouse building at 420 W. St. Paul Ave. in Milwaukee from Ace Industrial Properties in 2015 for $3 million.
“The sales are based on income,” Van Dyke said. “It is not dissimilar to when people take a warehouse and turn it into an apartment. They (the Wisconsin Storage Corp.) completely redeveloped the building, leased it and were able to sell it based on the income they have.”
