What might make The Waterfront Vancouver even more attractive to new residents? More storage.
Now Kirkland Development is working on plans for a nearby 2,000-unit self-storage facility. The facility would be called Kirkland Premier Storage, according to concept renderings included in a pre-application packet submitted to the city of Vancouver.
The project would be on a 0.77-acre site at 900 W. Seventh St., in an area visible from the waterfront but separated by a railroad spur line into the Port of Vancouver.
Just west of The Columbian, the site was for decades home to The Crossing, a restaurant made up primarily of old railroad dining cars.
Today it is home to a smaller building that Kirkland Development has used as a construction office while building its Kirkland Tower and Hotel Indigo project at the waterfront. The existing building will be demolished to make way for the storage project.
The proposed project would be divided into two phases, with Phase 1 along the southern side of the site. It would be seven stories tall and contain approximately 118,000 square feet of floor space.
Phase 2, on the northern portion of the site, would also be seven stories tall and would add about 200,000 square feet of space. Concept renderings show the two finished phases as a single contiguous structure.
Together, the two phases would offer approximately 2,000 storage units of various sizes, plus an 800-square-foot office on the ground floor and a small lot for vehicle parking and loading. The packet states that both halves of the building would have a maximum height of 75 feet.
In keeping with proximity to the waterfront, the project appears to be aiming for a more upscale design than the typical self-storage facility. The packet describes several elements intended to provide “a high standard for building form and appearance” such as extra windows, more landscaping and the inclusion of “interest-creating features” in the entrance.
The pre-application packet was submitted in mid-April by engineering firm Otak on behalf of Kirkland Development. A pre-application conference with the city has been scheduled for 11 a.m. May 21.
The storage facility adds another use category to the waterfront district’s expanding lineup of projects. The first round of development included two restaurant buildings, two apartment buildings with ground floor retail space and an office tower.
The various Kirkland projects will add condominiums, hotel and storage uses, and waterfront lead developer Gramor Development has announced plans for a commercial parking garage. There’s also a senior housing facility in the works from The Springs Living.
The city of Vancouver had imposed a temporary moratorium on construction of new self-storage facilities in late 2018, but the restriction was lifted last year after the city implemented a new set of zoning standards to govern the facilities.
