In downtown St. Paul, a California-based storage company that attempted without success to acquire the Allen Building on Sixth Street has made inroads elsewhere in Lowertown.

Global Storage Partners, of Carlsbad, Calif., purchased floors two through five of the Custom House Apartments, the luxury apartment building at 275 N. Sibley St. that sits attached to the Hyatt Hotel on Kellogg Boulevard. Half of the four floors had already been used as mini-storage by Acorn Storage, which has been replaced by new branding and a new facility manager — Extra Space Storage, which bills itself as the largest manager of self-storage facilities in the U.S.

Bernardo Simões, chief executive officer of Global Storage Partners, said in an email that the company will renovate two currently vacant floors on the second and fifth floors to create 41,000 square feet of additional self-storage, as well as new “Class A” common areas to serve businesses and residents throughout the building. Exeter Management still owns the residential portions of the 17-story art deco apartment building.

Simões said the expansion needs no variances and the company is looking to acquire more properties in the same market, as well as elsewhere throughout the country. As downtown St. Paul becomes increasingly residential, the demand for storage space has increased.

A sister business entity, Global Commercial Real Estate Services, or Global CRES, had planned last year to purchase the Allen Building, which is located across from CHS Field at 287 E. Sixth St., but was unable to get a variance from the city to convert 85% of the office space into commercial storage. The two companies are subsidiaries of Global Building, LLC.

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