JLL Capital Markets announced the sale of 3131 Kennedy Boulevard, a self-storage conversion opportunity in North Bergen.
JLL represented the seller, Madison International Realty, in the sale of the 1.07-acre development site to the Safely Store platform.
The property features a vacant 73,398-square-foot two-story building that previously operated as a movie theater. Built in 1999 with a steel frame and concrete masonry unit construction, the 57-foot-tall structure will be converted into a four-story, 103,000 NRSF climate-controlled self-storage facility.
The building sits in shell condition with large open spaces and high ceilings that are well-suited for self-storage conversion.
The JLL Investment Sales and Advisory team was led by Senior Managing Directors Jose Cruz, Managing Directors Nicholas Stefans and Jason Lundy, and Senior Analyst Luke Ceccoli.
Located within the C-2 Highway Commercial Zone with Residential Mixed-Use Overlay zoning, the property allows wholesale business, storage, distribution and warehousing as conditional uses. The site includes 346 parking spaces originally required for the theater operation.
The property commands exceptional visibility and frontage along Interstate 495, which carries 140,210 vehicles per day, and Kennedy Boulevard, with 31,155 vehicles per day.
“This represents a unique opportunity to convert a strategically located theater building into a best-in-class self-storage facility in an irreplaceable location with exceptional market fundamentals,” said Cruz.
“The combination of prime highway visibility along heavily traveled Interstate 495, proximity to Manhattan via the Lincoln Tunnel and a significantly undersupplied market with strong demographic drivers creates compelling investment potential.”
The location provides direct access to major transportation networks, including Route 3, the New Jersey Turnpike and Routes 1 and 9.
The site sits 1.5 miles from the Lincoln Tunnel connecting to Manhattan, 1 mile from Weehawken and Union City and 2.5 miles from Hoboken.
Within a 3-mile radius, the property serves a population exceeding 603,000 residents with an average household income of $161,184.
The market demonstrates strong self-storage fundamentals with 72% renter-occupied housing units, more than 132,000 multifamily dwellings and a current supply of just 2.79 square feet of self-storage per capita, well below the national average of 6.1 square feet per capita.
