An aging retail strip center on the doorstep of Waikiki will soon make way for a self-storage complex, becoming the newest planned addition for the rapidly expanding storage industry on O'ahu.

Kapiolani Shopping Plaza, on the makai-'ewa corner of McCully Street and Kapi'olani Boulevard, is slated to be demolished in about six months and replaced by six or seven stories of self storage developed by The Lock Up, an Illinois-based firm that recently bought the property.

The project may be the tail end of an expansion boom by self-storage developers in Hawai'i, which was labeled an underserved market several years ago and has since seen a gradual expansion turn into a more recent stampede by local and Mainland companies renting space to residents and businesses with storage needs.

"In the last year or so it was kind of like a gold rush," said Bob Soudan, a partner at Lock Up, which operates about 25 facilities on the Mainland. "I think it's largely over at this point. Between what exists and what's planned, I think (Hawai'i) is going to be saturated."

About six facilities are under construction from Kapolei to Hawai'i Kai. At least a few more are planned. Last weekend, a 105,000-square-foot facility called Akamai Self Storage opened in 'Ewa Beach.

The McCully project is Lock Up's third on O'ahu. The company entered the market last year when it bought land in Waipi'o, where it plans to finish construction on a more than 100,000-square-foot facility later this year.

Lock Up bought a second property in January in Pearl City where it expects to start construction soon and open a similar-sized storage complex early next year.

Other self-storage projects under construction include one on formerly vacant marina-front land in Hawai'i Kai, one on a former Diner's Drive-In property in Pawa'a, one on a former used-car lot on Wai'alae Avenue, one on undeveloped land in Kapolei and one on a long-vacant site in Kaka'ako.

Kapiolani Shopping Plaza houses about a dozen tenants, including Al Phillips the Cleaner Inc., Supercuts, an Indonesian restaurant and Rent-a-Center.

Other tenants at the site over the years have included pizza and ice cream parlors, pawn and photo shops, liquor and video stores and Everybody's Super Market.

The 34,644 square feet of land, which has a 150-foot building height limit, had been targeted for redevelopment more than a decade ago when Japan-based office building developer Tosei Shoji Co. bought it for $12 million in 1990.

A Texas partnership, Intco Properties LP, acquired the site in 1996 for $5.6 million, and about a year ago listed it for sale.

Joseph Leonardo, a local broker representing Intco, said the property drew a lot of interest that ranged from maintaining the retail center to redeveloping the site.

"There was a great deal of interest," he said. "I probably received 20-plus inquiries a week."

Lock Up closed a deal for $7.2 million, according to property records.

Soudan said the property was particularly appealing for self storage because it is within Honolulu's core of high-rise condominium living, where storage space is limited. "In high-rises, you just don't have any space for anything," he said.

The more than 100,000-square-foot building should start to rise in the fall and open next year.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.