Self-storage boom is coming to Fox Chase

Fox Chase may see a new self-storage facility at 7801-7845 Oxford Ave., with renderings showing a building of six stories and over 181,000 square feet in size.

But the property owner, Bala Cynwyd-based BG Capital, says the plans on the City of Philadelphia’s website will be almost halved in the face of neighborhood pushback.

The project needs several variances from the Zoning Board of Adjustment to move forward. BG Capital is willing to substantially reduce the size of its proposal to persuade Fox Chase Civic Association to not oppose the project at the hearing Feb. 26.

BG Capital does not plan to develop the site itself but wants to get the zoning and other regulatory permissions in place and then sell the pre-programmed land to a company with more experience in self-storage.

“We acquired this land and identified through market analysis that it is best suited for self storage,” said Tyler Huffman, vice president of capital markets with BG Capital. “But we aren’t the ones best suited to be able to execute the build and operation of it.”

The self-storage industry has boomed in recent years as consumer spending on goods spiked during the pandemic, and younger households have struggled to purchase single-family homes.

At least 24 self-storage facilities have opened in the city since 2020, including five in 2024. There is 7.2 million square feet of self-storage space in Philadelphia.

Some analysts told The Inquirer last year that Northeast Philadelphia was oversaturated with self-storage units and that the next frontiers for the industry would be University City, Northwest, and South Philadelphia.

But Huffman says that BG Capital believes the neighborhood is still ripe for more self-storage capacity.

“Maybe there was an oversupply at one time, but we think that there’s still a huge demand for self storage within this area,” Huffman said. “There’s just a lot of residential housing in the Northeast.”

Kate Friend of the Fox Chase Civic Association says this project will make four self-storage facilities in or adjacent to her community.

“They’re building all these apartments, but they’re not large,” Friend said. “People may be living in those apartments for a very long time, so they’re going to need a place for their stuff. That’s why you have the storage units going in.”

Friend said that the original design for the building, seen above, would have created a wall dividing the east and west halves of Fox Chase. The civic group’s principal objection to the project has been lowered, so they are willing to not oppose it.

Although residents aren’t necessarily excited about more self-storage, it could be worse, Friend says. At a neighborhood meeting where BG Capital presented plans, the company said other uses for the site could include a distribution center or a parking lot for tractor trailers. The property is zoned for light industrial use.

“Compared to everything that he could put in there, maybe this is the lesser of the evils,” said Friend.