Here Comes Wauwatosa Self Storage
Former data center changes function and name, though actually located in Milwaukee.
5151 W. State St. Photo from Founders 3.
A new self-storage facility is expected to open in the Miller Valley this summer.
An investment group purchased the former MGIC data center at 5151 W. State St. and will convert the 90,284-square-foot building into… Wauwatosa Self Storage.
Despite the suburban name, the property is located in the city of Milwaukee amid a string of industrial properties. Perhaps the name anticipates where the company thinks most customers will come from. Sited just west of Molson Coors‘s historic Miller brewery, the redeveloped building is anticipated to serve city and suburban customers alike and will include a drive-through central aisle designed for vehicle storage.
A press release from Founders 3, which brokered the sale, notes that the climate-controlled self-storage facility will include 444 units totaling 63,500 net rentable square feet. Unit sizes will range from 50 square feet to 300 square feet with more than two dozen configurations.
“The facility will be attended by an onsite manager and will incorporate high resolution cameras throughout. Every effort will be made to prioritize security, convenience and aesthetic appeal,” says the press release.
The redevelopment is being led by Steve Rolfe of Midland Commercial Development Corp., William Wirth of Luft Consulting and Jordan Nelson of Nelson Development.
MGIC, starting in the 1980s, used the building for document storage and then pivoted to a data center as its primary trade, mortgage insurance, became increasingly digital.
The company sold the facility to an investment fund affiliated with David Winograd, LCM Funds State Street LLC, in 2023 for $2.3 million. The redevelopment announcement from Founders 3 says the property was just sold for $3.25 million. A parking lot, 5109 W. State St., is included in the development, but located on an adjacent parcel.
Founders 3 industrial specialists Brett Deter and Scott Revolinski brokered the deal.
The Board of Zoning Appeals granted approval to use the building for self storage in September 2024, but required that the development team take special care to protect the building, located on a floodplain, from incursions from the nearby Menomonee River. A nearby Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District project aims to better handle flooding along the river.
Thrive Architects, according to permit records, is leading the self-storage facility design.
The building was constructed in 1949, according to city assessment records. An eastern expansion was built in the 1960s. The building’s southeast corner is rounded on account of a long-since-removed rail spur that served a property across W. State Street.
It was originally occupied by Morley-Murphy Company, a distributor of home appliances and industrial generators, until being sold to MGIC in 1986.
MacArthur Co., a building materials distributor, initially leased approximately 35,000 square feet at the southwest corner of the building. An occupancy permit was issued in December, but the self-storage facility plans show the short-lived tenant being replaced.
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