The old Ace Hardware building at 1701 E. Center St., Warsaw, will become a self-storage facility. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.
The old Ace Hardware building at 1701 E. Center St., Warsaw, will become a self-storage facility. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.
After more than three years of sitting vacant, the former Ace Hardware building at 1701 E. Center St., Warsaw, has been purchased and will become state-of-the-art self-storage facilities.

On Thursday, Swyft Group, 501 Argonne Road, Warsaw, announced on its Facebook page what was happening with the Ace Hardware building.

In the video that’s less than 2 minutes long, Dean Avey, Swyft Group, says they’ve received a “ton of questions” from businesses, news outlets and individuals asking what was going on with the building.

He states Swyft Group is a property management company located in northern Indiana.

“One of the things that we’re passionate about is finding properties that are either vacant or haven’t been used very much over the past few years and how do we repurpose them,” he states.

The Ace Hardware property is one of Swyft Group’s most recent projects.

“So we’ve seen a ton of growth in Warsaw. A ton of residential growth as people are moving here. Workers moving here for local jobs, but not a lot of storage options for those moving here,” he states. “So, we’re excited to announce that’s going to be the new purpose for the old Ace Hardware building.”

The self-storage facility will be climate-controlled, “super convenient, super well lit and using some of the best technologies in the industry,” he says. It will have keyless and contactless entry for customers who want to get into the facility without talking to anyone. Customers will be able to use their smartphone to get in.

“We think it’s going to be a great addition to our community. Excited about the work our teams are doing. We work with a lot of contractors. We have some talented companies here in Warsaw. Hope to showcase what they’re doing,” he states.

In July 2018, Ace Hardware owner Jim Maze announced that he and his wife, Bambi, were retiring and the business was closing. The roots of the business stretched back to 1869.