Businesses have been lining up for a space in Bermuda's latest self storage facility at Mill Reach Properties in Pembroke, according to its developers New Venture Holdings.

Federal Express will be launching its new centralised base on the ground floor, Island Self Storage Ltd. — the Island's first comprehensive self storage solution will occupy the first floor, and its parent company New Venture Holdings Ltd.'s head office will be located on an upper level of the four floor building when it opens in April 2010, with another company in negotiations to lease space.

But Don Mackenzie, chairman of New Venture Holdings, who has been working in the project with his five-man team consisting of chief financial officer Wyatt Sellyeh, consultant Donald Cox and daughter Anna Mackenzie, said there is still 10,000 square feet of office space available to rent out of the total 61,000 square feet in the mixed use facility comprising 75 percent warehouse and 25 percent offices.

Mr. Mackenzie, who has been working on the self storage part of the project with business consultant Glen Smith, president of Island Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd., said tenants will be able to customise their own fit outs, with vans and trucks having access to the conveyer belt in the Federal Express delivery room.

The storage facility will house 297 storage units of different sizes ranging from 5ft x 5ft to 20ft x 30ft, with 20 specially designed wine storage units also on offer, he said.

"Residential customers can store winter and personal items and furniture and businesses can store documents," he said.

"We are going to offer a turn-key service where we pick up items from people's homes and businesses and put them in their lockers in the facility."

Mr. Mackenzie said his company, which owns a number of businesses on the Island and overseas, including HWP, a stake in Air Care and operations in China and South Africa, has already compiled a list of customers, but planned to run a marketing drive later this month to generate more interest.

He admitted the project had been a learning curve in terms of New Venture Holdings developing its first building, but added that so far it was on time and to budget, while it enabled the company to put something back into the local economy and create a new start-up in the form on Island Self Storage.

"We have always been invested in Bermuda and we thought it was important to continue to do so — we know the economy has been slowing down and we don't know about what will happen next year, but we think it is important to put money back into the economy," he said.

"When you are doing a building you only get one shot at it and if you get it wrong there is no going back."

With another self-storage facility called Bermuda Public Storage being built on Elliott Street, Mr. Mackenzie reckons Bermuda could be ripe for such a niche market, but does not view competition as a bad thing.

"When I bring a new business to Bermuda the best situation is that there is take up for everyone — I think that if everybody does their job than they will succeed because there is capacity in the market and it is also good to learn from each other's experiences," he said.

The key features of the building, which is built on a 0.8-acre site and is now 50 percent complete, with a roof enclosure planned by Christmas and fit outs in January, include one of Bermuda's first fully climate controlled facilities, featuring dehumidification for the self storage floor to protect precious items and reduce mould, emergency power with a 450 kilowatt generator as back-up.

Additionally there will be 16 foot high ceilings, 47 car parking and 42 bike spaces, as well as security systems and lighting, and 24/7 access.

The annual rental rates cost between $28 and $40 per square foot depending on floor and type of space.

For more information contact Donald Cox on 298-0195.