Self-Storage

[jimmyjack]

So, my laundromat sits on quite a bit of land. I'm looking into self-storage units. There seems to be a lot of (mis)information out there. Mainly sales reps trying to push their product. Is anyone in the self-storage industry here? Would love to see a few sites that will help me decide if self-storage would compliment the site that my laundromat sits on.

Thanks

[Duane]

First call around to all the other storage facilities in your area and see what their rent is and what they have available. If there are a lot of vacancies then the demand is low and a more storage may not be needed.

The nice thing about storage is that you can build as you need them.

Duane.

[STOUT]

I have 43 units that sits on the property. I have been 100 % full. Which I consider great considering others are at 75% full. This month I'm down at 90% full.
Right now the area is overbuilt in self storage units. Like Duane suggested call around first and see what local demand is doing. Your advantage like you said you have extra property that is currently unused. Also consider how is access to the property? Do you want to be climate controlled or not? Which would require utilities. Do you want an on sight manager? Etc.

[jimmyjack]

Did you guys contract it out to a local contractor or have a storage company come in and build?

[STOUT]

We purchased from the previous owner. The previous owner had a local private contractor build it.

[Duane]

There are seminars (put on by the manufacturers) that you can attend and really give you some great insight on the storage business. Trachte is one - www.trachte.com (http://www.trachte.com)

An afternoon at a seminar can save you a lot of money in the long run.

I looked into the storage business after opening up my mat (something else to do) since there was a high demand in my area since most were at 100% capacity. I checked with a buddy at the county office and found that 3 people had applied for building permits for storage units. Now most are at 50% full or less...... Over built and no one is making a good living at it.

Glad I did my due diligence.

Duane.

[jimmyjack]

Duane:

Those are exactly my sentiments. I have looked at trachte. Thanks for the heads up, guys. I just have a bunch of space on the existing property. I've inherited this laundromat from my family. It's been in operation for 15-20 years and was positioned alongside another business that was run by family as well that has now been dissolved. I'm thinking of using the existing building space 3-4k sq. footage to put several storefronts in.

Another thought would be to have a family dollar/dollar general type store come in and refurb the building (building needs some work, honestly) and take the remaining 3-4ksq. footage right along side the laundromat. It would honestly garner more foot traffic and perhaps make the place feel a little safer as the mat is unattended.

That's just the building space. There is still a good 3-5k in square footage that could be developed in total land (car wash, storage, new storefronts....etc.). However the building sits on the front side of the lot so there is dead space in the back portion of it.