By: Andrea Batchelor—
U-Haul acquired the vacant 86,250-square-foot warehouse on Aug. 2. U-Haul Moving & Storage of Morningside has opened a temporary showroom and is currently offering truck and trailer sharing, towing equipment, moving supplies and U-Box portable moving and storage containers.
“This deteriorating building had been sitting empty for three years,” said Anthony Jones, U-Haul Company of Central Indiana president. “People were using it as a dump site, so there were old tires and furniture everywhere. U-Haul is excited to take this neglected property and turn it into an attractive moving and self-storage facility.”
Adaptive reuse of the property will render approximately 40,000 square feet of self-storage units with high-tech security features. A variety of affordable units will be available when completed, including indoor climate-controlled rooms and outdoor drive-up units. Propane and professional hitch installation will also be offered on the 9.89-acre lot in the near future.
“Mayor (Dennis) Tyler is happy to have us in there, bringing this building up to 2017 standards,” Jones noted. “It is important to U-Haul that we renovate these large existing buildings rather than start anew. We want to make sure we do things in a sustainable manner.”
Acquisition of the Muncie facility was driven by U-Haul Company’s Corporate Sustainability initiatives: U-Haul supports infill developments to help local communities lower their carbon footprint. Our adaptive reuse of existing buildings reduces the amount of energy and resources required for new-construction materials and helps cities reduce their unwanted inventory of unused buildings.
U-Haul will look to hire locally to promote job growth within the Muncie community. Jones expects to maintain a staff of 10 or more Team Members when the facility is fully operational. U-Haul always encourages local contractors to bid on construction work.
Contact U-Haul Moving & Storage of Morningside at (765) 212-3314 or stop by to see the progress on the facility. Hours of operation are 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday and Saturday; 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Reserve equipment at uhaul.com or contact Reservations at 1-800-GO-UHAUL.
To learn more about U-Haul in the news and in your community, visit myuhaulstory.com.
About U-Haul
Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 21,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul customers’ patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to more than 150,000 trucks, 112,000 trailers and 40,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers more than 581,000 rooms and more than 51 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S.
