ocated on the western edge of Montreal, Kirkland is one of Quebec’s most desirable communities to call home, offering a blend of residential neighborhoods, major retail corridors, corporate campuses, and convenient highway access. To top it off, the new Montreal REM light rail system is reshaping the area’s transportation network. In short, Kirkland checked all the boxes for self-storage development and Pandora Self-Storage was ready to plant its flag.

Pandora Self-Storage was founded by Robert Vineberg in partnership with Broccolini, one of Canada’s largest privately owned builders, developers, and investment managers, through the newly created Self-Storage Fund. Broccolini serves as the fund’s asset manager, while Pandora acts as development manager and property and operations manager.

To date, Vineberg has developed more than 1.6 million square feet of self-storage and managed more than $1 billion in real estate transactions. However, he’d spent the past decade focused on industrial, commercial, data centers, and other real estate asset classes. To mark his return to the industry, he wanted an ambitious project.

The land he was eyeing sat along the TransCanada Highway, one of the busiest roadways in the country, which would make the facility hard to miss. Pandora lives by the motto “See the Walmart, smell the McDonald’s,” and Vineberg could certainly see the retail: Walmart, Staples, Winners, a grocer, and the largest Canadian Tire in Quebec were all within throwing distance.

The architectural scope of the project would also ensure Pandora itself caught people’s attention; spread across five stories, the Class-A property would encompass 150,000 square feet with 112,500 square feet of net rentable space. It would feature more than 1,000 drive-up, dock-level, and interior storage units, as well as a coworking component with 15 offices and three boardrooms.

But finding the right parcel was just the beginning.

Opened May 8, 2025, Pandora Self-Storage is the first self-storage development ever permitted in the town of Kirkland. However, that distinction did not come easily. Kirkland had historically opposed self-storage development and did not permit the use within its borders. Obtaining entitlement ultimately stretched beyond two years and, by Vineberg’s own account, became a lesson in patience and persistence. He compares the process to raising children. “The days are long, you’re the only one who seems to have a sense of urgency, and sometimes it feels like you’re negotiating against a brick wall.”

Pandora eventually secured a first zoning change that allowed self-storage, but the square footage was less than half of what the company hoped to build. That opened the door only slightly. To gain additional density, Pandora focused on education as much as design. The team worked to ensure municipal officials understood the self-storage business model, in particular the Pandora approach and how it serves businesses and residents. The inclusion of coworking space and a commitment to greenspace also helped reinforce community benefits. That eased concerns and laid the groundwork for a second zoning change, which ultimately allowed the project to be built as it stands today.

Even with approvals in place, Pandora knew that a standard building would never fit in with the city’s surroundings. “It was evident that we had to come up with something amazing that would satisfy the town, ourselves, and most importantly, the people of the community,” says Vineberg.

Working with GKC Architecture & Design, the team created a bespoke design that aimed to be highly visible, functional, attractive, and future-ready all at once. The result is a facility wrapped in contemporary, custom-fabricated, copper-colored panels and curtain wall glazing; as the light shifts throughout the day, the façade plays with shadow and reflection, giving it the appearance of a modern commercial building rather than a conventional storage facility.

Pandora also designed the building with future adaptability in mind. The property could easily be converted to another type of commercial space, with basement and ground levels that can potentially be turned into parking. The site could even accommodate a future parking ramp without major structural or architectural modifications.

“Realistically, that sort of conversion will probably never happen, but designing it this way also results in a better building with more height and a feeling of openness,” says Vineberg. “Many purpose-built storage facilities can feel cramped. This approach creates a more comfortable environment. It also makes financing easier. Banks and investors prefer buildings that have a second life because it provides an exit option if needed.”

The Kirkland facility was carefully laid out for ease of access as well. Two separate high-security gates at either end of the site create a unidirectional traffic pattern and the entire property is access controlled with restrictions by floor, improving both security and efficiency. Its loading docks are set at 24 inches high, making them workable for most personal vehicles while also allowing trucks to line up flush or ramp down as needed. A large ramp provides grade-level access while ensuring full handicap accessibility.

Inside, customers have access to two high-speed, high-capacity KONE elevators in a large loading zone equipped with complimentary carts, jiggers, and washrooms. The coworking component adds another layer of service for small and medium-sized businesses, tying back to Pandora’s broader vision of supporting local entrepreneurs “one door at a time.”

That same attention to detail extended to the building’s structure and systems. The superstructure is primarily cast-in-place concrete, which created a cleaner project that did not require the use of cement fire spray systems normally required for projects constructed out of steel. Electrical conduits were embedded within the slabs, creating clean ceilings and reducing surface-mounted elements. Because the site is in a seismic zone, the use of concrete enabled the team to minimize intrusive structural bracing that can interfere with storage unit layouts.

The top floor uses steel, reducing weight on the foundations and helping with rooftop water retention requirements, an important consideration in the region. Meanwhile, the fully electric facility features high-efficiency VRF climate-control systems, humidity control, heating, DLC Premium motion-activated lighting, and a reflective TPO roof membrane. The property is Zero Carbon Design Certified, and Pandora says its investment in green technology is expected to generate nearly $40,000 in annual operational savings, in addition to utility rebates and improved financing terms through a green loan.

Even the ground beneath the building posed challenges. The soil lacked the bearing capacity to support a project of this size, requiring piles. The building also includes a basement level that features the same design considerations as the upper floors. Pandora designed an expansive French-drain network tied into redundant pumps and a permanent standby generator to ensure the building remains dry at the desired humidity levels.

The team was determined to stay on schedule, but Mother Nature did everything in her power to push things off track. During excavation, Montreal was hit by what Pandora describes as the largest rainstorm on record, with more than six inches falling in less than an hour. The deluge flooded the city and filled the project’s 30,000-square-foot excavation pit, costing the team several days while the site was drained. Winter construction in Quebec brought another round of complications. “The construction team had to heat the site, curing concrete in a controlled manner,” recalls Vineberg. “And then there were all the other challenges that come from working with cold, frozen hands.”

Despite it all, construction began in May 2024 and the facility opened a year later. The property is already more than 25 percent leased by units, ahead of underwritten absorption estimates.

Building from the ground-up presented several advantages. “One advantage of starting from scratch is that our leadership team could take their collective experience of successes and failures and apply them to our platform,” says Vineberg. “There were no legacy systems or procedures we were forced to live with.”

That philosophy extends to both operations and marketing. Pandora emphasizes employee training, professional development, and a collaborative culture, while its marketing strategy combines digital best practices, social media, community involvement, and advertising with a little tongue-in-cheek humor. “You should see the ideas that never make it through,” Vineberg says with a laugh.

With a prominent location, a distinctive design, strong sustainability credentials, and a carefully considered customer experience, Pandora Self-Storage has made an ambitious debut in Kirkland. More than just the company’s flagship, the facility represents a new chapter for self-storage in a market that once refused to allow it at all.