Storage facility planned for vacant lot

A rendering of the Life Storage facility planned for Bren Mar Drive.

A large storage building is planned for a 6-acre vacant lot at 6375 Bren Mar Drive on the edge of Mason District next to the Alexandria border.

Northpoint Realty Partners is proposing a four-story, 184,000-square foot Life Storage facility, land use attorney David Gill told the Mason District Land Use Committee May 22. Life Storage operates about 700 self-storage facilities across the United States.

The site is currently a meadow.

The building would have 1,200 climate-controlled units, ranging in size from 8 by 10 feet to 10 by 30 feet. The largest units could be used for cars or small boats, Gill says.

The property is near a Department of Homeland Security training facility and a business park. There aren’t any homes nearby. Life Storage would be staffed 9 a.m.-6 p.m., but people leasing storage space would have 24/7 access via a security code. The Fairfax County Planning Commission will consider the project July 19.

The property is adjacent to the future Spa Forest project on General Green Way. The process for attaining permits from the Health Department for that project is taking longer than normal, because of the planned spa pools, Gill says. Construction is expected to start in three or four months.