Residents have been asking about storage solutions for quite awhile. Now, a local resident is making it happen. Entrepreneur and Issaquah Highlands resident Bob Gregg plans to break ground on the new Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage building next month.

Located next to the Park & Ride, it will open in March 2011. Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage will offer convenient, safe storage close to home. The facility will feature 500 storage units, including 800 square feet of acclimatized space for wine storage. Bob also hopes to lease street-level retail space for other uses.

Residents have identified the need for extra storage for items such as bikes and kayaks, legal documents, home furnishings, antiques, home renovation and automotive tools, business inventory and equipment, patio furniture and seasonal decorations. Self-storage will also meet the needs for special items that require a climate-controlled environment.

At Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage, customers will load and unload in a covered area inside the ground level of the building. They will drive into the covered area to park and then load everything into the elevator. However, Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage won’t have garage-style storage for cars, boats and RVs.

The top of the Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage building will be taller than the surrounding buildings, including the adjacent Park & Ride. When neighboring construction projects such as the cinema and YWCA are completed, the building profile will blend well with the adjacent buildings.

Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage will feature many LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) design elements. There are no existing LEED standards for buildings of its kind, so Bob and his architects have adapted guidelines from other commercial buildings to integrate energy saving features. The building is also designed to look and feel like other buildings in Issaquah Highlands, from exterior paint colors to canopies that minimize heat gain.

Over the years, it has been a planning challenge for Port Blakely to meet resident needs for self-storage in Issaquah Highlands. This is because typical self-storage projects are laid out horizontally and require much more land space. The Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage addresses both of these issues by going vertical.  Vertical density is also more fitting with our urban village town center.

Locating self-storage in the lot adjacent to the Park & Ride also makes sense. Typical retail stores found the self-storage lot configuration to be challenging due to its size and lack of access to onsite parking. The Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage required a smaller footprint and minimal parking requirements.

As discussed at February’s Town Hall, businesses such as Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage will meet the everyday needs that residents have expressed. The close-to-home services, including the grocery store and energy station, will shorten car trips – therefore reducing energy consumption and pollution – while freeing up valuable personal time.

Information on how to reserve a space in Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage will be available from Bob and his team at Gregg Consulting Group later this year.