Our Lens

The Hampshire Companies Announce Plans to Convert Big-Box Retail Building into State-of-the-Art Self-Storage Facility in Syracuse, N.Y.

Syracuse, N.Y.

The Hampshire Companies continues to expand its robust self-storage portfolio announcing the acquisition of a former Sam’s Club at 2649 Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse, N.Y. Hampshire along with investment partner, Circle Squared Alternative Investments, plan to convert the vacant 135,000-square-foot building into a state-of-the-art, institutional quality self-storage facility.  Construction is slated to begin later this summer.

Situated along one of Syracuse’s main thoroughfares, the vacant building at 2649 Erie Boulevard East had previously been occupied by a Sam’s Club wholesale store. Hampshire’s plans call for a unique adaptive reuse project to breathe new life into the existing building and create an 860-unit modern self-storage facility to be managed by CubeSmart. The building will be the first self-storage facility managed on behalf of Hampshire by CubeSmart.

With over 140,000 residents, Syracuse boasts the ideal population density and high barrier-to-entry that Hampshire seeks when searching for promising self-storage development and redevelopment markets. Utilizing their time-tested due diligence and site selection process, Hampshire recognized that the local market was largely comprised of older self-storage products with an undersupply of the institutional quality facilities, that Hampshire builds throughout the Northeast. Leveraging their experience and the expertise of one of the industry’s top self-storage management firms, the project will allow Hampshire to capitalize on an under-supplied marketplace and bring an in-demand, institutional quality self-storage facility to the residents and businesses of Syracuse.

“The ongoing decline of big box retailers across the nation has put many retail owners in a difficult spot as they are being left with vacant large retail properties that can be virtually impossible to lease up,” said James E. Hanson II, President & CEO of The Hampshire Companies. “This project stands out as an example of our team’s ability to see these types of properties through a different lens. Applying our decades of development and redevelopment experience, we are able to find alternative usages for vacant buildings like this to bring first-class, institutional quality self-storage assets to underserved markets across the Northeast.”

Having developed or repositioned 35 self-storage facilities with an aggregate value of over $438 million since 2012 alone, Hampshire has built an impressive portfolio of self-storage facilities along the eastern United States.  Hampshire continues to grow its self-storage footprint with 11 self-storage development projects currently underway aggregating $237 million of investment and is targeting another 11 additional projects with an aggregate value of $190 million in the pipeline.

“Although each city and market vary greatly, our process allows our team to consistently enter high barrier-to-entry markets to create value where others may miss it,” said Michael Legacki, Senior Acquisitions Manager for The Hampshire Companies. “Our Syracuse project is the latest example of this as we will leverage the benefits of an adaptive reuse project to efficiently convert the building and deliver a best in class asset to an underserved market.”


To stay connected with The Hampshire Companies and for updates on the latest transactions and news follow Hampshire on FacebookTwitter and LinkedIn.

About The Hampshire Companies
The Hampshire Companies is a full-service, private real estate firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. The Hampshire Companies is a vibrant, dynamic organization that combines creative vision and superior execution, thereby enabling it to create and enhance value in real estate investments. Additional information on The Hampshire Companies is available online at HampshireRE.com.

Media Contact:
Dan Johnson
R&J Strategic Communications 
908-895-0785
djohnson@randjsc.com