[EXCLUSIVE] Carvana Eyeing Midtown Atlanta for Vending Machine

Plans were filed with the City of Atlanta earlier this summer to demolish two existing structures near 16th and Fowler Streets.   ToNeTo Atlanta has now confirmed that a self- storage facility and Carvana will open in their place. The property is located near Atlantic Station and within view of I-75/I-85. 

A Carvana Vending Machine

One of the structures, 166 16th Street, was recently home to Courageous Worship Church.  The church moved this past June to a new location, a former church at 6865 Factory Shoals Road in Austell near Six Flags.  The .95 acre property was previously owned by the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association.  

The second property, 1266 Techwood Drive, is about 1.18 acres with the combined parcel listed at about 2.25 acres.  

Fulton county property records indicate that in 2005 "Madison Midtown LLC" paid $285,000 for the Techwood site and $2.5 million for the 16th Street property in 2003. 

Launched in Phoenix, Arizona in 2012 with the backing of DriveTime, a traditional used-car retailer, Carvana was spun off in late 2014.  Carvana became a publicly traded company this past April when they debuted on the New York Stock Exchange under symbol CVNA.  

With the tagline "The new way to buy a car," Carvana is doing just that.  The company allows consumers to  purchase vehicles via their app or website in as little as ten minutes and either have them delivered or picked-up at designated Carvana facilities.  

There is already a Carvana pick-up point on West Marietta Street near Compound nightclub, about two miles from the upcoming facility.  

Real estate sources indicate that the new Carvana will likely replace the current location. 

ToNeTo Atlanta reached out to Carvana for comment on the planned Atlanta opening. Caitlin Wiig, Assistant Account Executive with Olson Engage, Carvana's public relations firm, declined to comment, saying:

"Thanks for your interest in Carvana! We’re unable to comment at this time, but we look forward to staying in touch!" 

Given the 16th Street site is visible from I-75/I-85, Carvana is likely to construct one of its eye-catching, multi-level, coin- operated "car vending machines" on the property, according to real estate sources familiar with the company's plans. 

The vending machine works like other vending machines except for the fact that you are getting A FULL SIZE CAR with an oversized coin. 

Carvana operates six other car-vending machines.  Their newest, in Raleigh, N.C., opened this past August. Others are in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee.  The five-story glass facility holds 18 cars.  

The self storage facility would open alongside the existing 14th Street Self Storage facility at the corner of Techwood and 14th Street.  In addition, on the other end of Atlantic Station, in the upcoming Fuqua Development project behind IKEA, Extra Space Storage is under construction with a new facility.  Also nearby, CubeSmart recently started construction on a self storage facility at 1484 Northside Drive, previously home to a Hertz equipment rental business. 

"Both new additions continue the transformation that has been taking place west of the connector for several years." said Nick Garzia, Director of Leasing - Southeast Hines Retail, which includes Atlantic Station.  "Carvana's innovative approach to selling automobiles fits the area's millennial vibe, and the need for a self-storage facility speaks to the tremendous growth of new housing options in the area. " Garzia continued.  

If all goes well, both projects should open sometime in second half of next year.  

Where did you purchase your last car? What do you think of the car vending machine?  Do you have a storage unit? 

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Space Shop Scores Space in Chamblee for Self Storage

Christmas may come early to the residents of Chamblee as ToNeTo Atlanta has uncovered plans for a new self-storage facility in the city!  Atlanta-based The Space Shop plans to construct a new, nearly 100,000 square foot climate- controlled self-storage facility on Clairmont Road at Bragg Street, just north of Dresden Drive.  

Started in 2014 and owned by Atlanta based Stein Investment Group, Space Shop currently has eight facilities open (seven in Georgia and one in South Carolina) with a ninth under construction at Lenox Road and Buford Highway in Buckhead.  

The new Chamblee facility is slated to be three stories, with a basement, and would replace three existing structures on Clairmont Road and Bragg Street.   The facility will assume the 3693 Clairmont Road address.  

It's worth noting that the new Space Shop Chamblee will be located directly across the street from an existing Public Storage and around the corner from an independent self storage facility on Dresden Drive.  Also worth mentioning is that the new facility would open just north of the new RaceTrac currently under construction at the corner of Dresden Drive and Clairmont Road. 

Space Shop describes themselves as different than others.

"Space Shop Self Storage is your local self storage company in Atlanta, Georgia. Our storage facility is locally owned and operated and focuses on outstanding customer service. We believe in the special touches that can make your storage experience outstanding. From warm cookies and coffee to superior customer service, our modern storage facility provides a one-of-a-kind storage experience."

Rendering of The Space Shop Chamblee

Space Shop celebrated the Grand Opening of their new Snellville location last month with a community yard sale at the property.  The Snellville Space Shop is located at 2350 Ronald Reagan Parkway, near Scenic Highway, in the converted former home AMF Snellville Lanes.  Strangely, the invitation to participate in the sale included the following verbiage "We are also looking for people to donate their time and supplies for the event, such as: Bounce, Food, Drinks, etc."  Knowing how profitable self-storage facilities are, it's amazing that the operators were looking for people to donate their time, goods and services to their opening.  

We noticed that the company's website provides links to their facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram pages.  It seemed unusual for a self-storage facility to maintain a presence on so many platforms.  The fact of the matter is: they don't. Their Facebook page was last updated January 5, 2017, they last tweeted January 16, 2015, and they shared an image on their Instagram account December 7th, 2014.  

As a rule of thumb, in any business, if you are going to create social media profiles, they should be maintained.

It's unclear when self-storage construction will slow, but an executive at Space Shop warned of least two headwinds facing his firm last year.  Earlier this year, in a post entitled "10 storage companies to watch in 2017," Cliff Hite, Vice President of operations for Space Shop, told SpareFoot Storage Beat that the biggest challenge(s) his firm faced in 2016 were rising construction costs and increasing new supply in overheated markets.  “Construction costs have elevated the overall cost of doing a new development to a point where conservative rental rate projections many times do not justify moving forward,” Hite said. Willingness to walk away from deals that are just “good” and waiting for ones that are “great” is critical to success.

Are you a Chamblee area resident or business owner in need of storage space?  Do you think the Chamblee area needs another self-storage facility?  What type of business would you like to see open in Chamblee?

Please share your thoughts below.

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