HOLD Storage (featured in The Mover, May 2024) has announced that it has committed £19 million to opening a new store in Chiswick, the second of a planned portfolio of five in London by the end of 2025.
The site was acquired for £5.5 million and HOLD plans to invest a further £13.5 million to develop a ten-storey facility with 90,000 square feet of lettable space.
The store will also include 3,500 square feet of creative work space with studios for hire to the local creative community, providing flexible and affordable access to top quality facilities for recording or practicing music.
Based in an affluent area of West London, the Chiswick store will be conveniently located on the arterial A406, to help address the critical space shortage faced by London’s residents and businesses. The company is working with Hounslow Council to secure planning consent for the facility which will combine attractive sociodemographic catchment dynamics with purpose-built, high-quality real estate to generate premium yields, platform value and liquidity.
As a company committed to sustainability, HOLD is aiming to achieve an Outstanding rating for the Chiswick store from BREEAM, the global standard of sustainability, quality and value in buildings. In February, HOLD announced the opening of its debut store in Kings Cross and invested £3.2 million in the extension and refurbishment of the facility.
HOLD has secured an initial minimum commitment of £100m from City & Provincial Properties (CPP), a private, family-owned business, specialising in property, to secure its premium London portfolio. The company is also exploring options to secure an additional £100 million to fund its plans for a fully integrated self storage platform of more than 20 stores by 2030.
The company aims to disrupt the self storage market with cutting-edge technology and a highly personal on-site service to meet the expectations of the modern consumer. Technology plans include augmented reality, app-controlled unit access, electronic locks, facial recognition, and enhanced security measures underpinned by a technology stack with advanced AI and data capabilities.
Frederic de Ryckman de Betz, CEO of HOLD Storage, said: "Our first facility in Kings Cross has been very well received but we are not ones to rest on our laurels. Demand is only growing and customers deserve better than what is on offer at the moment. We want to turn Londoners’ frowns upside down by giving them all the safety and security they deserve, but with a flexible, creative and dynamic human element so they leave feeling liberated with smiles on their faces.”
Callum Kempe, Co-Founder and Property Director at HOLD Storage added: "I am looking forward to leading the development of our Chiswick site and working with Hounslow Council as we build a network that maps to the needs of Londoners in the north, south, east and west. With Kings Cross and Chiswick secured, we are working hard to secure sites in the south and east to finish the foundations of our platform. We want to be the largest independent provider of self storage in London within five years. This means moving fast and breaking things, namely the stranglehold of bigger, established players.”