MONTAGUE — Elie Ghazal and Mitch Beiser were in the midst of building themselves sizable storage spaces where they could put, as Ghazal put it, some of their “toys” they love but that don’t have a place in their home when the thought occurred to them: Why not just build more and sell them to others with the same idea?
That’s what they’ve done with the Put n’ Store luxury storage condos on Industrial Park Drive in Montague Township. The Put n’ Store aims to be a deluxe version of the concept of a storage unit, with enough room to store cars, boats and more. Ghazal said he is even constructing a mezzanine level for his condo that will function as a deluxe “man cave.”
In an area where some residents, both new and old, are downsizing their homes but have possessions that can’t be stored in those new homes, Ghazal and Beiser believe it’s an idea worth exploring. Beiser in particular speaks from experience, having recently retired after selling the Night Light, Inc. company he founded just outside Chicago to his employees and moved into one of the new Tannery Bay houses on White Lake.
“We, like many of our friends. are of that age where, it’s not that we’re downsizing, but we’re moving,” Beiser said. “Where we had our families, we had basements, had an acre of land, had some space. All of a sudden we find ourselves in homes that don’t have basements and don’t have big garages.”
Ghazal and Beiser hosted an open house Saturday afternoon, and within hours had sold a handful of the 14 planned units, which go for $200,000, along with a monthly homeowners association fee that pays for maintenance, heat and air conditioning, plumbing, Internet access, closed-circuit security cameras and general upkeep.
“We’re local guys,” Ghazal said. “We live right here in the neighborhood. We’re not big-time investors. We’re just two guys who want to build these units, and we’re looking for like-minded people like us who are going to come here.”
Ghazal and Beiser proudly noted all the work to construct the units was done by local contractors. Beiser joked that apart from hoping to sell enough condos so he and Ghazal can essentially have theirs for free, they aren’t looking at this as a moneymaking venture.
“We did our homework, looking around, and guys are building (these units) and they’re selling them for a lot more than this now,” Beiser said. “We’re not developers. We’re just in it for ourselves to just kind of do something nice.”
The price tag underscores the luxury nature of the 1,500-square-foot storage spaces, which are 20 feet high, 30 feet wide and 50 feet deep - enough room, as demonstrated Saturday, to store all manner of things. Ghazal said one customer, a motorcycle enthusiast, plans to store his fleet of Ducati bikes in the condo.
The possibilities, Ghazal said, are almost limitless; due to zoning, owners can’t actually live in the condos, but just about any other use for the space is feasible. Ghazal will have his “man cave,” and Beiser will be able to store his Corvette and his woodworking tools - his father, he said, was a custom cabinet maker, and got him into it as a hobby too. The Ducati motorcycle enthusiast will have his fleet of bikes.
“We made them big enough to be flexible,” Ghazal said. “We have kind of a blank (slate) that you can do whatever you want inside, an open canvas.”
Ghazal and Beiser own the land, but Ghazal said the goal is not to take an active role in managing the place. With what he hopes is 12 condo owners like himself and Beiser, everyone, in theory, will team to keep their condos the way they want them.
“At the end of the day, I’m going to be an owner, but we kind of go away,” Ghazal said. “The association builds it and it becomes an association of 14 owners in here. We’re looking for like-minded people to be here with us.”
