U-Haul buys former GM transmission plant, offers storage

U-Haul now owns and operates out of the former GM plant on the east side of Walker Road.

The moving company tells CBC in an email that it closed a deal on the property Nov. 20.

The name of the new store is U-Haul Moving & Storage of South Walkerville.

The property entails 15.76 acres and 378,000 square feet of indoor space, U-Haul said in an email to CBC.

U-Haul Company of Western Ontario president David Anstett said in the email that "the property is one of our adaptive reuse projects to meet our U-Haul corporate sustainability initiatives."

"We support infill development to help communities lower their carbon footprint. We try to save and repurpose existing building for our new store locations, particularly when the properties hold special significance in a community such as the GM factory," he wrote.

This store is currently offering truck and trailer rentals, towing equipment, moving supplies and boxes.

By summer 2016, the plan is to have 1,000 indoor, climate-controlled storage units available for rent at the location, according to Anstett.

In addition, there will be 100,000 square feet of indoor RV parking and storage, he wrote.

Anstett, whose wife's father worked at the GM plant, said there is a lot of need for storage in the Windsor market.

The company also hopes to offer propane as well at a full-service store, which would be used to accommodate the RV owners.

"The store is in the heart of the city. It's a good reuse of the old GM factory," Anstett said.

Three U-Haul employees currently work at the store. When renovations are completed, U-Haul expects to add a couple more.

U-Haul acquired another location, the U-Haul Moving and Storage of Forest Glade at 9082-9152 Tecumseh Rd., site of the former Wickes bumper plant, around the same time it bought the former GM plant.