High-end $35 million storage suite development under construction in Muskegon County
Posted By: MLive on March 27, 2025. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
Construction is underway on high-end storage suites in the Dalton Township community. Suite Space MI has already built two buildings, each containing six, 1,500-square-foot storage units, on the 11-acre site at Whitehall Road and Agard Road, about 15 minutes north of Muskegon.
Brian Blask, owner of Turkey Tree LLC., says the storage suites are the biggest venture he and his son and business partner, Austin, have tackled. The two have built and managed buildings on the site. Blaski said $35 million project will include 25 buildings with approximately 150 storage units total. The units are able to be used for not only storage of large items, like boats, vehicles and RVs, but also for small business operation.
“It gives them an opportunity to have a place that’s appreciating – that they can own – and put all their toys into,” Blaski said. “It also gives the opportunity for any small business to actually go in affordably and be able to own their own unit.”
He and his son have been working to get the project going since 2018 and it was finally approved by township leaders last year.
Some changes to the property lines in the Planned Unit Development (PUD) were approved March 25 by the Dalton Township Planning Commission. A final vote on the amended PUD by the township board has not been scheduled. The suites are technically called storage condominiums, because the building type allows for individual sale of units within a building.
There are two model units where buyers can see the different amenity options they can choose from. The base model starts at $199,000 and comes:
- three-phase electric power
- city water and sewer connection
- overhead fans
- lighting
- heat
- RV power connection and waste dump
- insulated walls
- automated garage doors
- interior and exterior floor drains
- natural gas connection
- Wi-Fi controlled garage and entry doors
Each owner will have access to cameras overlooking the property outside their units. Add-ons include an upstairs mezzanine that can hold up to 2,500 pounds and is accessed by a stairwell and spray hook-ups to wash a car.
“It’s going to attract a lot of new business for local entrepreneurs and create job opportunities in the area from those businesses,” said Austin Blaski. “We can’t wait to see the impact unfold.”
Currently, there are six units spoken for and six available for sale. Brian Blaski said he has a list of 18 people interested in purchasing at least one unit. Most of the interested buyers are small business owners in the mechanical, plumbing, electrical, heating/cooling and building industries.
Some are “car guys” looking for a place to pull in their car, lift up and tinker.
Another person doesn’t have enough room and wants to use the space for storage and a “mancave,” Brian Blaski said.
“It’s kind of a little bit of everything right now,” Brian Blaski said.
The project did not come without its challenges.
“This was not easy, it was a lot of hoops,” Brian Blaski said. The COVID-19 pandemic and material costs were the first barrier. Now, they are dealing with tariffs, specifically the United States’ 25% tariff on imports from Canada. He said the garage doors they order from Canada are priced at “crazy money” right now. Construction on two more buildings and 12 more units, are scheduled to start by the end of April.
The plan is for the development to extend across the street and add an additional 150 storage suites, pending future township approval. Brian Blaski said the property was previously a Muskegon County Business Park and before that it housed Cordova Chemical. The developers worked with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to ensure nothing was built on contaminated ground.
In doing so, the concrete was “vapor barriered,” Brian Blaski said, so “nothing can come up through that cement.”
Eleven acres of trees and shrubs were removed before construction began. Brian Blaski said he initially left a natural forest barrier near a couple homes that butt up to the property. To his surprise, the residents requested the trees be cut down.
“We paid extra to go and take all that stuff down so they would be happy,” Brian Blaski said. “The neighbors have been great there.”
Besides those homes, the rest of the area is industrial. There will be some ornamental landscape elements as part of the new development.
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