LifeStorage’s Facility in Chicago Earns 2010 Facility of the Year Award

LifeStorage of South Loop (State & 24th) has just been named 2010 Facility of the Year (Conversion Category) by Mini-Storage Messenger, the leading international self-storage trade magazine published by MiniCo Insurance Agency, LLC.

A full-length article profiling the State Street facility ran this week in the December 2010 issue of Mini-Storage Messenger.

"It is an honor to be chosen as Facility of the Year by MiniCo," said Christopher C. Barry, principal for LifeStorage Centers, LLC. "Their publication is the industry leader in self-storage, and we are very gratified that they recognized the extensive and detailed work we put into creating the beautiful LifeStorage facility on State Street."

The store was chosen by MiniCo in the Facility of the Year Conversion category to honor the extensive renovations that LifeStorage completed on the building prior to its opening in 2009. The historic building was originally constructed in 1911 and has undergone multiple owners and renovations over the past century.

"We knew the building had potential when we purchased it," said LifeStorage principal Jean L. Jodoin, "but we also knew that there would be a great deal of structural and architectural work involved in the renovations. The building had been abandoned for many years, and so it needed a lot of attention."

The facility resides in a regentrifying area of Chicago's South Loop. Where drug dealers once ruled the streets, smaller businesses and shop owners have begun to open for business, attracting middle-class apartment dwellers -- many of whom need storage. With the help of architect David Wytmar of Groundwork, LTD, Barry and Jodoin created a plan that would honor the vintage charm of the original building, yet modernize it into the 21st-century self-storage brand that LifeStorage has created across the Chicago area.

"This was the right building at the right time," said Barry. "The neighborhood was turning around, and we were excited to be a part of that transformation." Today, the State Street store, located at 2361 South State Street is one of LifeStorage's busiest storage facilities in Chicago.

Source: http://www.lifestorage.net