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The communities of Leaside, Thorncliffe, Midtown, and Don Mills are dotted with high-rise clusters that house thousands of people. Providing safe and secure access to belongings, and serving as an extension of home storage space for these dense neighbourhood enclaves, a new three-story self-storage facility has opened at 145 Wicksteed Avenue in East York.
The SmartStop Self Storage location is the first completed ground-up project developed between Strategic Storage Trust IV (SST IV)—a real estate investment trust sponsored by an affiliate of SmartStop Self Storage REIT—and SmartCentres REIT. The building is also the first property in the Greater Toronto Area by SST IV.
“We are excited to announce the completion of our first joint venture development with SmartCentres at the Leaside location,” said H. Michael Schwartz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SST IV. “The combination of SmartCentres’ prime retail locations, our collective development expertise and the SmartStop Self Storage brand will serve as the template for a robust pipeline of future self storage projects in Canada between the two companies. The state-of-the-art facility is well positioned to leverage SmartStop Self Storage’s presence in the GTA to lease up over the coming months and years.”
The building contains 997 units and over 100,000 ft² of leasable climate-controlled self-storage space, with elevator access, drive-in loading areas, and state-of-the-art security commercial building alarm systems also included. Spaces can be rented online or by calling the service centre.
Located just southeast of Laird Drive and Eglinton Avenue East, the development stands next to the SmartCentres Leaside shopping centre. The land was previously owned by SmartCentres, one of the largest REITs in Canada, and owner of 3,500 acres of property positioned at key intersections across Canada. The company is embarking on a comprehensive $12.1 billion intensification program that will combine a mix of housing types and hotels, developed under the SmartLiving banner, with a range of office, retail, and storage space, developed under the SmartCentres banner. Projects announced so far include large multi-phase redevelopments in Pickering, Vaughan, and Barrie.
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