Stellar Business
Park Storage
Sector
Self-Storage
Location
Chandler, AZ
Year Completed
2025
Kelly Ferguson
Landscape Architecture
Young Design Group
This 4.4-acre site posed a unique challenge due to proximity to a private airfield. Directly in the landing approach flight path, less than half of the site could be developed with vertical construction. Additionally, with a maximum allowable building height of thirty-four feet and two stories, these site restrictions severely limited use of the property. FAA restrictions limited height of any object within the determined flight path to three feet above grade, eliminating most development options for this site. Wentworth Property Co. presented the RBA Team with this unique site and an idea; let’s bury over half of the building. With the proposed climate-controlled self-storage use, daylight for every level is less of a concern. A two-level basement is a common square footage solution with this use, but on this site, most of this basement would not have building above it.
A green-roof structure was developed to cover the extended basement, creating a subterranean structure and maximizing use of the site. This green roof consists of multiple protective layers and ridges in the middle to shed water. Two covered loading areas were strategically located at either end of the two-story portion to provide customer access without interfering in the airport’s flight path. At the rental office, the steel shade trellis angles to mimic the flight path of incoming aircraft. Overall, innovative thinking and solutions combined with a dedicated construction team led to a 146,000 square foot Class A facility that’s a cut above, ironically because most of it is built below.
