Spring Brings Thoughts of Facility Renewal

I won't wax poetical about the revitalizing power of spring, but you have to admit people generally feel invigorated this time of year. I see my neighbors diving into their landscaping, cleaning out garages, and dumping boatloads of junk on their curbs. At the office, file cabinets and cubicles are being emptied and organized, and the break room has gotten a few new perks. I've been itching with spring-clean fever myself, not just in regard to my physical spaces, but virtual ones as well. I've been tossing old e-mail, digital photos and files, clearing out the clutter on my hard drives and memory keys.

Self-storage owners and managers are feeling the vibe, too, assessing the damage done to their properties during winter months and contemplating ways to freshen curb appeal. It's a good time to think about renovation work, before the busy summer season hits. Some projects may be small and simple: tidying the office, planting flowers and shrubs, painting the restroom. Others require a bit more planning and effort: washing unit doors, sealing pavement, cleaning gutters and downspouts. And then there are those extensive projects that require a time and budget commitment, such as an office remodel, door replacement, unit-mix modification or expansion.

In the end, any improvements you choose to make must be weighed against the time, energy and cost involved. Will the change fall positively to the bottom line? Today, ISS announced the addition of a new, free webinar to its series that will help you assess the value of facility changes. On June 8, we'll be hosting a webinar titled "Renovating Your Self-Storage Facility: Measuring the True Impact on Occupancy, Revenue and Budget," presented by Jim Ponti, central-region sales manager for Janus International, and Chip Cordes, co-founder of Summit Construction Management Group.

This one-hour event will provide facility operators with information to help them decide on site upgrades. Facility appearance still factors strongly in a self-storage customer's decision to rent. Sometimes the perfect alternative to lowering rents in a competitive market is to increase facility value, whether in actuality or merely in the eyes of the prospect.

Webinar attendees are going to get tips for improving curb appeal without increasing the facility budget, step-by-step instructions for replacing older doors, and suggestions for reworking a site's unit mix. They'll hear a lender's and an appraiser's perspective on the value of facility renovation, as well as ways in which renovation can help an operator avoid worker's-compensation claims and injuries. To learn more about the event and register, visit www.insideselfstorage.com/webinars.

In the meantime, read about and see photos of some of the remodeling projects undertaken by fellow managers and owners in these threads on Self-Storage talk, the ISS online community:

• MAJOR Office Rehab
• Office make over
• Refurbishing/Facility Facelifts

Enjoy the holiday weekend. And while you're soaking up the gorgeous weather that will grace most states, give thought to those inspiring spring projects. They just might be the ticket to more rentals this season and in the year ahead.