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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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State Takes Over StorageMart at Atlantic Yards Ahead of Vacate Deadline

 Moving trucks sit in a loading dock at StorageMart on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn where the state has taken over the management of the facility in the lead-up to a Dec. 18 deadline to vacate the building. The Atlantic Yards building project will be constructed on the site of the storage facility and six other properties seized in the area this fall.
Moving trucks sit in a loading dock at StorageMart on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn where the state has taken over the management of the facility in the lead-up to a Dec. 18 deadline to vacate the building. The Atlantic Yards building project will be constructed on the site of the storage facility and six other properties seized in the area this fall.
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DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The state has taken over operations of the StorageMart facility in the footprint of the Atlantic Yards project a month earlier than expected, officials said.

The StorageMart warehouse at 718-728 Atlantic Ave. was one of seven buildings seized in September by Empire State Development through eminent domain.

At the time of the transfer of ownership, the state told StorageMart staff they would have until Dec. 18 to make sure the belongings of their 900 customers were removed. A blog post and email sent to clients Tuesday night from StorageMart said the state would take over that process.

“As of November 19, 2014, StorageMart no longer owns, controls, or manages the building. Since we do not own or control the building, there is nothing further we can do for our former tenants,” the message read.

The company directed customers to a third party, Cornerstone Group Real Estate Services LLC, which will manage relocations at the facility, an ESD spokeswoman said.

"We are working with Reedmar Management Company to manage the property and storage operations and with Cornerstone Group to manage relocations," said Maria Michalos in an email. "We continue working with all of the affected occupants and individuals storing items."

Michalos said the Dec. 18 deadline to vacate the building still stands, despite the change in management.

StorageMart does not expect the transition to negatively affect the more than 300 tenants who still have property in the building, a representative from the company told DNAinfo Wednesday.

“In theory, nothing changes with how [customers] are using things,” said Tron Jordheim, director of marketing at StorageMart. "They still have access, it’s just that someone else is running the show."

As of Wednesday afternoon, business continued as usual at the facility, where two moving trucks idled in a loading dock and a StorageMart employee manned the desk  until the new managers come to pick up the keys, she said.

In addition to StorageMart, the state took ownership of three nearby residential buildings, 495, 493 and 491 Dean St., a vacant lot at 37 Sixth Ave. and two commercial buildings, 25 Sixth Ave. and 700 Atlantic Ave., according to court documents.

All seven of the properties will make way for the 22-acre Atlantic Yards project, renamed “Pacific Park” this summer, composed of a series of residential buildings, a public school and open space.