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The Shoppes at Merrimac will be getting a self-storage facility this summer.
It will be in the the old Farm Fresh location.
The Adams Property Group submitted a special use permit application to convert the vacant grocery store, 455 Merrimac Trail, off Route 143 into 550 self-storage units.
The application was approved in August 2019 by the York County Board of Supervisors, Amy Parker, senior planner said.
The property is currently zoned for General Business and the company plans to use 91,650 square feet of floor area off the 7.4 acres parcel for the units.
The entire project costs roughly $6 million.
According to the application, the main building will be the old grocery store, approximately 63,000 square feet and includes a small leasing office in addition to the storage units.
Six detached storage buildings, no more than 9 feet, will be located in front of the building surrounded by a security fence and the rest of the shopping center, 17,020 square feet, will continue to be used for retail.
Other changes to the property include adding a “decorative brick wall up to 10 feet” along Merrimac Trail and approximately 12,280 square feet could be a future site for a restaurant with an outdoor patio.
Jake Coupland, head of development for the investment group based in Charleston, South Carolina, confirmed the company owns the building as well its plans to convert it into “climate controlled storage”.
“We’re excited to get going,” he said.
Coupland said construction started earlier this month.
The investment group previously submitted a Special Use Permit application in 2017 but it was denied by the Board of Supervisors, according to County of York Memorandum.
RELATED STORY: Proposed self-storage facility in former Farm Fresh gets Planning Commission approval
“In denying the application, Board members expressed a variety of concerns, including the potentially negative impacts on surrounding businesses, the loss of potentially valuable retail/commercial space in the Merrimac Trail/Second Street corridor, and comparatively low revenues generated by the proposed use,” the background information of the County of York Memorandum stated about the 2017 application.
Construction for the storage unit warehouse is expected to be complete June 1.
