FRENCHTOWN TOWNSHIP – The former Kmart and adjacent Kmart Service Center buildings have been transformed into a self-storage center. Land parcels in the parking lot are for sale, and other businesses are expected to be built at the site.
On Thursday, a ribbon-cutting and grand opening event took place at National Storage, 1290 N. Monroe St. The business employs two and offers 782 rentable, climate-controlled storage units.
“We have over 70,000 square feet of rental,” Jacob Fuller, True Storage operations manager, said. “The former tire store is where the rents office is located, along with roughly 60 climate-controlled rental units. It’s a huge benefit to Frenchtown.”
Frenchtown’s National Storage is the first self-storage facility in Michigan for the New Hampshire-based True Storage. True Storage converts industrial property and former big box stores, like Kmart, Sears, Toys 'R Us and Circuit City. The company uses the existing structure, demolishes the interior and enhances the facade.
The Frenchtown location will be managed by Farmington Hills-based Pogoda Companies.
“They have a big pull in that market. We’re new to Michigan. It kind of made sense,” Fuller said.
Frenchtown's Kmart closed in 2017. In March 2021, the Frenchtown Township Board approved a rezoning of the property to commercial, which allowed True Storage to consider it for its business. True Storage bought the building in 2021.
Previous Coverage: Old Frenchtown Kmart to soon be storage facility
“The old site of Kmart has been an eyesore and an empty building for years. Frenchtown is pleased to welcome our newest business partner, National Storage, who has done a fantastic job of renovation,” said David Uhl, public safety and economic development director for Frenchtown Charter Township.
True Storage does not need the site's entire parking lot and plans to sell parcels for retail use.
“The parcels are listed with a local broker and are open to any businesses perusing them,” Fuller said. “Our hope is to revitalize the entire site and bring as much value to the community as possible.”
“Hopefully we can get a nice restaurant in there,” Uhl said.
True Storage began renovation of the two Kmart buildings in late 2022.
“The end of 2022 we really started going on it. The bulk of it was done this year,” Fuller said. "We gave it a clean footprint so that we could properly design and strategically place the units. We demoed; we configured the smaller of the two buildings. The roof was replaced. We added new (roof-top units). We added new lighting fixtures and cameras. All the flooring is replaced. We really went all in on this one. We put our own stamp on it."