Los Angeles' development boom has hit Compton. Westport Properties has acquired a land site in the market to develop a self-storage facility. In addition to the development of the self-storage facility, the developer is also making a significant investment in the community by building a pocket park and an adjacent sports field for little league. Construction on the 1,390-unit self-storage facility will being next year, and the property will deliver in 2019.
“There is a lot of different product types that are able and willing to pay high prices for properties. It was very difficult to find a site that worked for us,” Charles Byerly, president and CEO of Westport Properties, tells GlobeSt.com. “There is a lot of competition in Compton, as well as the surrounding markets. This market is becoming very difficult to get into.”
With the competition in the market, the infrastructure investment helped to gain community support for the development. The investment includes Parmalee Pocket Park with new landscaping, pedestrian pathways and seating and a donation to the Compton Little League team. “We like to get involved in the community. It is a good partnership, and it helped alleviate some concerns about what self-storage facilities bring to a community,” says Byerly. Historically some of those have been negative, and we like to bring a positive up-front spin. We want people to know that we are there as part of the community. In this case, we asked what we could do to help out the community, and these were the things that the city suggested that would bring community awareness and pride to the immediate area. We were happy to do that.”
Westport's interest in the Compton submarket is fueled by population growth. This is its first developer's first project in the market. “We look at where there is population, and the population in Compton is growing and has been growing. Compton is a supply-constrained market, and we thought this was a good long-term opportunity to go into a market that has some good deferred buildings,” says Byerly. This was an opportunity to put a state-of-the-art, brand new structure there that the community can use. We thought this was a good opportunity for both the city and for us, and I think they felt that way.”
While the infrastructure investment helped garner community support, Westport was able to win the land site from competing investors simply by paying the highest price. “It comes down to price and terms,” adds Byerly. “We were willing to push the needle on this site, and we were willing to provide the seller with some certainties to get it done.”
Although this project hasn't broken ground yet, Westport is open to other opportunities in the Compton area. “We would entertain other opportunities for sure,” says Byerly. “It is a difficult market to penetrate, but we are continuing to look for opportunities in this market and surrounding markets.”
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Kelsi Maree Borland
