How to Develop a Self Storage Facility - Second Step

I know I said step one was finding the property and making sure its zoning is appropriate but it's probably step 1A.  Step 1B (pretty much simultaneous with the property selection) is determining what kind of storage you're going to choose.  You can go with one story, multi-story, temperature controlled, lean-to, outdoor storage, large units, small units, etc.

We chose to go with large units that businesses could store their stuff in.  I had a construction company of my own and couldn't find anything on the cheaper side of the spectrum to keep my stuff covered.  I literally looked for 3.5 years and found nothing under $3500/month.  Most businesses in their infant stage don't need office space and fancy stuff, they just want somewhere to put their junk and make a small repair from time to time.

Side note: Originally we wanted to build individual garages on the property and sell them as part of an association.  We waited for 8 months to get a response from the County that this isn't possible due to a technicality in the ordinance.  The ordinance read something to the effect: Buildings must be broken up by partitions or walls.  In my mind I could then build a 4'x4' partition around the service door of the garage and then sell both units to the same buyer, it would be considered self-storage.  I think this could be a fight I could win but decided not to pursue this.  I liked the idea of building 1 building at a time and getting paid for it as soon as it was done, but in the end, you only make your money once.  So I wasn't too upset (other than wasting 8 months) that I had to build self-storage rentals.  I figure I'll eventually get the equity I built into the property when/if I sell.  So it's always still there and I basically get a return on that money each month. Moral of the story, know your zoning prior to jumping in.  I always knew that my backup plan was an acceptable option so I was okay pushing forward.

So we built larger units, 25'x50' an 50'x50' with 16' ceilings and 12'x14' overhead doors.  Each unit has a service door for access too.  Each unit has electrical and 2 buildings will have heaters for temperature sensitive items.  Painters particularly like these, by the way.

The zoning stipulated that businesses can't transact at our location.  Actually, it's more building code than it is zoning, but they go hand in hand.  So as long as they store things (they are allowed to make small repairs), they are okay.  Bathrooms must be on site however.  We've always wanted our tenants as well as our employees/grounds keepers to have a bathroom onsite so that was in the plan.  Let me tell you, that was a lot more expensive that it needed to be.  That's a topic for another blog post, however.

Anyhow, I think you need to consider what your uses are primarily going to be before/during your site selection process.  You have to think who your units are going to be for.  If you're in downtown metropolis, then small units will probably be fine.  If you're in a mid-sized city, you'll probably want more 10x25 units, for larger toys and larger houses getting moved.  If you're planning on having businesses store their things, you'll need large doors and large units.  Maybe you're in a boating town so 10' wide units are a waste.  You get the picture.

To summarize, construction, use, and location should all be considered together.  We chose large units, large doors, power, and large driving lanes (60' between buildings) to provide a convenient home for business storage.  We knew that some renters would want heated but we also knew that few would pay the premium for that.  We completed our heated units in the month of May.  If I were to do it over again (I am), I would build more unheated to be done in May and then build the heated building to be done closer to October when heated units (we are in Minnesota after all) are in more demand.  We sat on a pretty empty building most of the year and then October came and the heated units were in huge demand.  So if you are offering a mix of heated and unheated, learn from me, have you unheated finished in spring and your heated units finished in fall.