Wave of New Projects Seeks to Give Residents More Space

The latest development trend in Ventura County’s eastern half has nothing to do with swank shopping centers or multiscreen movie theaters--rather, it’s all about storing other people’s odds and ends.

Self-storage centers soon may be popping up throughout Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks if several proposed projects pass muster with city officials.

In Thousand Oaks, planning commissioners have approved four storage facilities during the past year. Tonight, Simi Valley’s Planning Commission is scheduled to discuss plans to add 284 units to the existing Simi Lock Up storage center on Industrial Street, and two more proposed self-storage facilities are winding their way through the city’s planning department.

Behind this surge in commercial projects, backers say, lies a simple fact--both homeowners and businesses need space to store useful, but not necessarily essential, stuff.

Chet Belfield, whose real estate management company operates the 57,200-square-foot Simi Lock Up, said local storage centers saw their business increase after the Northridge earthquake damaged many area homes. Customers soon repaired their basements and garages but grew used to having extra room, he said.

“People have taken stuff out of their garages, and they find they like the extra space,” Belfield said. The expansion would add 40,720 square feet of storage space.

Other storage center developers say the boom is fueled by banks’ willingness to lend money to such projects. During the recession that ended several years ago, banks steered clear of such construction projects, and as a result, few storage centers were built.

“It’s not something new--the demand has always been there,” said Bruce Kaufman, a partner in Extra Space of Thousand Oaks. Last month, Extra Space received Planning Commission approval to build a 69,830-square-foot center at the corner of East Hillcrest and Duesenberg drives. “What you’re seeing right now is just the beginning of an appropriate development cycle,” he said.

Many of the new centers are designed with a kind of urban camouflage meant to look like anything but a storage facility. The Simi Lock Up expansion consists of two buildings--one nestled behind the other along Alpine Street--designed to resemble a two-story office building with a single-story retaining wall in front. The two-story building, built on what is now a parking lot, will have fake windows to further the illusion.

Former Simi Valley deputy planning director Wolf Ascher, who is now a consultant for Belfield’s company, said the completed center will be an asset to the neighborhood.

“From an aesthetic point of view, it will be a 100% improvement on that lot,” Ascher said.

So far, most of the projects have met with little opposition from neighbors. Last year, Westoaks Self Storage’s plan for a facility near the intersection of Townsgate and Lakefield roads in Thousand Oaks drew fire from an engineering firm that was considering erecting a new headquarters building next door. Representatives of Ronan Engineering said at the time that they had nothing against self-storage businesses, but did not want one next to their main office.

Thousand Oaks planning commissioners approved the 600-unit project anyway, and complimented its backers on the design.

Neighbors often see self-storage projects as a relatively benign form of development. The Westlake Hills Property Owners Assn. met with Kaufman before his project was approved, said member Kirsten Larsen. Association members appreciated the low volume of traffic and noise the project would create, she said.

“We actually thought it was a better project than shops with a lot of parking,” she said. “With this, everything’s inside. The trips are all just in and out.”