The death of the shopping mall meets self-storage development

Al Harris
January 19, 2018

Goodbye Macy’s, hello self-storage.

Long considered anchors of the shopping mall, many department stores are undergoing a long, painful death. That has left mall owners scrambling to find suitable tenants to fill the large empty footprints left behind. Enter self-storage.

While retail property overall has been hitting the skids, the self-storage industry as been ascendant  and development of new properties last year hit an all-time high.

Now those two trends, the death of the shopping mall and the rise of the self-storage industry, have converged. Self-storage developer DealPoint Merrill has purchased the vacant Macy’s department store at Richmond Town Square, a mall in Richmond Heights, OH.

Property records show that the property was purchased for $1.15 million, according to Crain’s.

“The Macy’s building is a notable addition to our climate-controlled self-storage portfolio and an excellent fit for our co-investment and redevelopment projects throughout the United States,” said David Frank, CEO of DealPoint Merrill.

DealPoint Merrill will develop the former Macy’s store in Richmond Heights, OH into self-storage.

DealPoint plans to redevelop the 162,190 square foot store into a CubeSmart self-storage facility. They also plan to offer 30,000 square feet of retail space and two restaurant sites on the 9-acre parcel. The company obtained the variance it needed for the project in November of 2017.

Macy’s shut down their store in 2015, and the mall’s two remaining anchors JC Penney and Sears closed their doors last year. The mall, located in suburban Cleveland, was built in 1966.

According to a press release from DealPoint the project will “undertake major interior construction and beautification of the surrounding Mall property.”

Work is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2018. Cleveland.com previously reported that DealPoint plans to spend about $8 million on construction.

Sign up for the Storage Beat newsletter

Never miss a story! Sign up for our weekly newsletter featuring the latest storage industry news and interviews with movers and shakers:



About the SpareFoot Storage Beat

The SpareFoot Storage Beat is your go-to source for news, features and analysis about the self-storage industry. Self-storage categories covered by The SpareFoot Storage Beat include public companies, private companies, industry trends, real estate development, facility acquisitions, hirings and promotions.

Send us a tip






Recent posts