Nearly 9 acres of vacant land in Urbandale has been acquired by a national self-storage and moving company that plans on building two facilities on the property.

Amerco Real Estate Co., a subsidiary of U-Haul Holding Co., paid just over $3 million for parcels at 11001 Meredith Drive and 4880 and 4890 N.W. Urbandale Drive, Polk County real estate records show. The Phoenix, Ariz.-based company provides real estate and development services to U-Haul. The properties were acquired from Urbandale DMD LLC.

U-Haul plans on building a three-story self-storage and retail facility on the Meredith Drive parcel, information provided by the city of Urbandale shows. A one-story building with parking for U-Haul’s truck and trailer rentals is planned on the Urbandale Drive parcels.

The development “will allow U-Haul to better serve the storage needs of the community and activate a property that is currently vacant and under-utilized,” Amerco Real Estate wrote in a letter to the city of Urbandale.

The Urbandale City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission have approved changing Planned Unit Development Master Plan Standards on two of the parcels acquired by Amerco.
The changes allow the development of mini storage facilities.

The three-story building, which will be climate controlled, will house interior self-storage units and a retail showroom that will also sell packing supplies. The building would have a 39,038-square-foot footprint and gross square footage of 117,114. Between 10 and 15 full- and part-time workers will be employed by what is called the U-Haul Store, information provided by the city shows.

The one-story, 17,650-square-foot building will house U-Haul’s self-storage program called U-Box, which offers customers portable moving containers. Trucks and trailers will also be available on the site for rental.

The transactions were recorded Jan. 22 and Jan. 23.

In other transactions:

Nick and Joyce Volz paid the John and Anita Brendeland Family Farm Corp. $2.6 million for about 150 acres of farmland near Elkhart, records show. The land is about one-fourth of a mile north of Northeast 150th Avenue and east of Ankeny Boulevard/U.S. Highway 69. The transaction was recorded Jan. 22.

7C’s LLC, based in Clive, paid Sun Angels LLC $1.6 million for property at 12107 Stratford Drive in Clive, records show. The 1.6-acre parcel includes an 8,113-square-foot office building constructed in 2006. The property is valued at $1.5 million. The transaction was recorded Jan. 24.

Dain Jorgenson and Sheila Vonstein paid the Katherine Waller Revocable Trust $1.1 million for property at 8024 Tiburon Place in Johnston, records show. The property includes a two-story, 4,606-square-foot house built in 1996. The transaction was recorded Jan. 25.

Brookside Capital Partners LLC, based in West Des Moines, paid Brookside Apartments Inc. $2.1 million for property at 317 S.E. Jacob St. in Grimes, records show. The 4.2-acre parcel includes 10 one-story buildings, each with four apartment units. The buildings were constructed in the late 1970s. The property is valued at $2.3 million. The transaction was recorded Jan. 25.

Windsor Capital Partners LLC, based in West Des Moines, paid Windsor Chateau Apartments LLC $2.5 million for property at 1250 73rd St. in Windsor Heights, records show. The 2.1-acre parcel includes three, three-story buildings, each with 12 units in them. The property also includes garages and surface parking. The property is valued at $2.7 million. The transaction was recorded Jan. 25.

Dallas County
MSE Properties LLC, located in Dallas Center, paid Jack and Cynthia Hawker and Brett Molsberry $1.2 million for farm land in Dallas County, records show. The land is roughly located near the intersection of Northwest 46th Street and R Avenue. The transaction was recorded Jan. 24.