Storage King Tells Columbia to Tuck-It-Away

The New York Sun profiles Nicholas Sprayregen, owner of Tuck-It-Away self-storage and a feisty opponent of the proposed Columbia expansion into Manhattanville. The author plays up how relentless and formidable Sprayregen may prove: sending e-mails at 4:45 a.m., reviewing thousands of government documents, willing to spend half a million dollars in protest thus far. Such energies, the article goes on to say, stem from motives both community-minded and personal:

The owner of 18 storage, residential, and commercial buildings around the New York metropolitan area, Mr. Sprayregen is hardly without self-interest. If Columbia moves forward with a revised expansion plan that does not use eminent domain, as Mr. Sprayregen is urging, the value of his five properties in the footprint will undoubtedly skyrocket, allowing for uses far more lucrative than storage.

Meanwhile, Columbia apparently just closed on two more properties on 131st Street, continuing a "buying spree" that picked up two weeks ago, according to the New York Observer.

New York Sun: Storage Mogul Is an Obstacle to Columbia's Expansion
New York Observer: Columbia University Buying Up a Storm