CONTRIBUTED BY
RED WIDDOW
COMMUNICATIONS
OPELIKA —
Latch-iT Self Storage recently completed a multi-million-dollar investment in the Opelika industrial park on Marvyn Parkway to fully renovate a 57,000-square-foot storage facility built in the late 1980s. Later this year, an additional 48,000 square feet of temperature-controlled storage units will be added to the property, making this one of the largest self-storage facilities in the Opelika area.
To make the facility safer and more secure for tenants, Latch-iT installed gated access, LED floodlights every 30 feet and more than 20 security cameras that span the property. The renovation also transformed the exterior of the facility with the addition of new standing-seam roofing and new Janus International roll-up doors equipped with Nokē Storage Smart Entry technology.
Nokē Storage Smart Entry grants tenants Bluetooth access to both the Latch-iT facility and their unit. Via smartphone app, tenants can also share a digital key with family members, roommates or employees delivering packages. It also enables online payments so tenants can avoid trips to an office with checks or cash.
Floyd Hubbell, the founder and CEO of Latch-iT Self Storage, said this innovative technology provides convenience along with an additional layer of security to Latch-iT’s customers.
“With the Nokē system, there is no fear of losing a physical key or entrusting it to other people,” Hubbell said. “Your phone is your key, and you can set limitations such as time or duration of access to the digital keys you share.”
Hubbell, a Mississippi native, spent over two decades in the tech industry in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Kansas City, Los Angeles and Seattle before entering the self-storage industry in 2005 by renovating a vacant warehouse into a storage facility. Over the next 15 years, Hubbell acquired and renovated 16 more facilities in college towns throughout the South under the brand Your Extra Closet.
Hubbell said Latch-iT brings together his technology background and self-storage expertise to modernize an old-fashioned industry and provide a seamless experience for customers.
“Opelika is a forward-thinking community that cultivates new technology,” Hubbell said. “In a way that no one else in the storage industry is doing, Latch-iT fits into this market by bringing new technology to make storage easier and safer.”
Latch-iT Self Storage offers both drive-up and temperature-controlled units. The facility is located south of Interstate 85 and north of the Wyndham Gates development, one block from the Amazon warehouse under construction in 2022-23. To view the location and availability, visit www.latch-it.net/.
