Global Self Storage Inc., a publicly traded self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT), has launched a third-party management platform for the industry. Services will include staffing, budgeting, billing, collections, rate adjustments, digital marketing, maintenance and others. The company’s first contract is with a 134,318-square-foot facility in Edmond, Okla., which will be rebranded under the Global name, according to a press release.

"We look forward to providing a complete management solution with all the benefits of scale," said Mark Winmill, CEO of Global. "Our third-party management platform provides an additional revenue stream and helps expand our brand awareness, but also allows us to build a captive acquisition pipeline."

Global is marketing its management services to self-storage developers as well as single-property and small-portfolio owners. Officials expect the platform to help the company grow its operational portfolio in 2020, Winmill said.

Founded in 1983, Global Self Storage specializes in the acquisition, development, operation, ownership and redevelopment of storage facilities in the United States. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, it owns 11 properties in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Its total operating portfolio comprises more than 880,000 rentable square feet. The company changed its name from Self Storage Group Inc. in January 2016.

Source:
Yahoo Finance, Global Self Storage Signs First Property for New Third-Party Management Platform

E-SoftSys LLC has agreed to integrate its Self Storage Manager (SSM) software with Self-Storage Rent Optimizer (SSRO), a dynamic-pricing solution offered by revenue-management firm Prorize LLC. SSRO will integrate through the SSM application programming interface (API), which will allow Prorize to work seamlessly with SSM customers, according to a press release.

“We are excited about this collaboration with Prorize. Having a flexible API will allow our self-storage customers an easy daily integration between our software platforms,” said Kat Shenoy, president and CEO of E-SoftSys.

“We applaud Self Storage Manager for having a flexible API policy to serve the self-storage industry better,” added Ahmet Kuyumcu, founder and CEO of Prorize. “Our data collaboration will provide substantial benefit to the customers we share and allow us to grow our respective businesses in a synergistic way.”

E-SoftSys, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and ISO 9001:2008 certified company, provides software products for the self-storage industry, including cloud-based Self Storage Manager, e-CRM, Call Tracker Module, online reservations and rentals, and SSM Text/Voice Messenger. It also offers a business-intelligence and analytics interface.

Founded in 2006, Prorize offers dynamic-pricing solutions to help companies set prices and optimize revenue streams. Its services are used across multiple industries, including self-storage, airlines, apartments, gaming resorts, high-tech manufacturing, hospitality, media, online retailing and senior living.

Source:
PRWeb, Prorize Signs Data Interface Agreement with Self Storage Manager

The self-storage industry has evolved tremendously over the last 40 years. It’s gone from being strictly utilitarian to serving as an extension of people’s lives. Enter the age of “lifestyle storage.”

In the Beginning

When the self-storage concept became popular in the 1980s and 1990s, the prototype was long rows of single-story buildings with brightly colored roll-up doors. Facilities were typically built on cheap lots with little exposure. These were practical structures, often pre-engineered buildings or plain boxes, with little imagination. Architecturally, they were considered an eyesore, with planning departments steering projects into industrial locations to be out of sight and mind.

Climate control became popular during the 1990s, intended to protect tenants’ goods. For many years, there was a transition stage in which storage facilities were built as hybrids, offering both climate-controlled and traditional storage space. The architecture became slightly more upscale, attracting higher-end corporate and residential clients. Facilities started to meet ancillary and business needs, offering services such as records storage and wine storage. Comfort, security and convenience started to become important industry staples.

Nevertheless, planning departments still considered self-storage an industrial use and tried to isolate it to industrial and commercial zones. Developers became challenged to find appropriate locations that offered good visibility and convenience.

In the 21st Century

Self-storage has undergone tremendous change in the 2000s, in part triggered by a paradigm shift in housing. There’s been a wide return to urban living, with people desiring the opportunity to live, work and play in proximity.

The Great Recession had an impact, as many people were forced to live in smaller quarters to help stretch their paychecks. This prompted smaller, denser living environments for all generations. Materialistic yet aging Baby Boomers started downsizing, needing more long-term storage for their goods. Younger generations started moving into smaller, less expensive residences that allowed them to spend their money more on enjoyable experiences. Ironically, these experiences often require large toys, such as musical instruments, bicycles, kayaks, camping gear and jet skis, all of which require storage.

All the while, self-storage design has continued to improve, which has encouraged city planners to consider it a commercial use and allow it into more locations. Design elements include accentuated entrances, color, LED lighting, a rich mixture of building materials, and more windows. These nicely designed facilities are more accepted by municipalities, and developers capitalize on higher-visibility locations.

Modern storage projects often require a presentation to the local review board to ensure they’ll be an architecturally significant and contextually appropriate addition to the existing streetscape. Yet many planning departments have embraced this new building type and are allowing it into commercial, residential, mixed-use and transit-oriented zones. Today, facilities are often built on prominent vehicular arteries or corner lots in prime areas, close to dense residential developments.

Welcome, Lifestyle Storage

This new lifestyle storage is an integral component to urban, new-urban or infill settings. Millennials and Generation Z prefer edgier building design, more amenities and mixed-use developments for one-stop shopping. Convenience and visibility are important. These consumers want self-storage to be near where they live and work. For them, self-storage serves as an “extra closet” that’s an integral part of their routine.

This concept is neighborhood-friendly and designed around the character of a community. Similar to grocery stores, schools and restaurants, it’s important that self-storage be a “good neighbor” and become an integral part of the local infrastructure.

By design, lifestyle storage engages the community with visual activity and should integrate a mix of uses on the street level, such as retail, restaurants or office space. This allows structures to be pedestrian-friendly and provide more amenities and services. For example, self-storage might be partnered with Starbucks, FedEx, an Amazon drop-off station, lounge seating, Wi-Fi, music, community meeting space, and places for people to relax when they visit their storage unit.

Looking Ahead

In the future, self-storage will continue to be integrated with office, retail, hotel and residential uses within the same development or even the same building. For high-rise, mixed-use developments in dense urban areas, it’ll be incorporated into the building infrastructure.

As proven successful by Uber, Lyft and Airbnb, sharing will become important in self-storage. There will be more “share storage,” virtual storage and refrigerated storage.

Robotics will make self-storage more automated, allowing more usable space in less building area. Using a mobile app, tenants will be able to enjoy a local craft beer while their storage pod is robotically delivered to a receiving portal—or perhaps even their front door—within minutes. Customers will be able to spend less time collecting their toys and more time enjoying them.

Self-storage design and function will continue to change and grow, but this shift to a lifestyle use is likely to be long-lasting, as consumers and municipalities embrace the concept and welcome it into their neighborhoods.

Stephen Overcash is principal of design at Overcash Demmitt Architects (ODA), specializing in master planning, architecture and interior design. Based in Charlotte, N.C., ODA has provided architectural expertise in self-storage, office, hospitality, mixed-use and interior spaces for more than 35 years throughout the Eastern United States. Its designed more than 20 million square feet of self-storage. For more information, call 704.926.3369, e-mail [email protected]; visit https://oda.us.com. 

Security footage captured yesterday morning by Big Blue Squirrel Self Storage in Grays, England, shows a large truck that authorities say was carrying 39 dead bodies. The footage was recorded at 1:13 a.m., about 30 minutes before police found the truck on Eastern Avenue, around the corner from the storage facility. Investigators have arrested the truck driver, 25-year-old Mo Robinson from Northern Ireland, on suspicion of murder, according to a source. Officials appear to be approaching the incident as a human-smuggling operation gone wrong.

The closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage shows the tractor trailer (referred to by the British as a “lorry”) traveling past the storage location with its lights on, though the driver cannot be seen in the video. When paramedics arrived at the scene inside Waterglade Industrial Park, they found the bodies of 38 adults and one teenager in the truck container. The identities of the victims have not yet been released. Essex County police described the scene as an “absolute tragedy.”

The truck’s flatbed was registered in Bulgaria, while the tractor is from Northern Ireland. Essex police indicated the vehicle arrived into Purfleet on the River Thames from Zeebrugge, Belgium. The ship docked around 12:30 a.m. The vehicle and container left the port about 35 minutes later, investigators said.

The container appeared to be a refrigerated unit capable of reaching temperatures as low as -25 degrees Celsius, according to Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, who called the incident “absolutely horrendous.”

“The Scania truck was registered in Varna under the name of a company owned by an Irish citizen,” a spokesperson for the Bulgarian foreign affairs ministry told the BBC. “Police said that it is highly unlikely that [the bodies found in the container] are Bulgarians.”

British media have described the incident as one of the largest murder investigations in U.K. history.

“It makes me a bit feel sick watching that footage knowing those people were on board,” Big Blue Squirrel Manager Sana Mirza told a source. “It’s shocking to know that someone drove past with a lorry load of bodies on there. We are shocked and disturbed by it because it’s happened on our doorstep. It isn’t just one person, it’s 39. All I have been thinking about is the last person who was alive on there and what they must have been thinking.”

Police have asked for witnesses and anyone with information about the truck’s route to come forward.

Sources:
BBC, Essex Lorry Deaths: 39 Bodies Found in Shipping Container
Mirror, Lorry Deaths: Final Journey of Truck Caught on CCTV Minutes Before Bodies Found

Go Store It, which operates 28 self-storage facilities in seven states, has named Ben Carr as its new president and chief investment officer (CIO). In this position, he’ll be responsible for overseeing the venture’s national investment and development activities as well as executing operating strategies for new and existing facilities.

Carr has more than 20 years of experience in the self-storage industry. Most recently, he was president of MCSS Development & Investment LLC, a joint venture between Rivergate Cos. and SJM Partners Inc. He previously launched and operated a self-storage investment fund and provided consulting services for private-equity groups interested in the storage industry. He also served as CIO for the California office of LifeStorage LP. For eight years, Carr was employed at CubeSmart, a self-storage real estate investment trust, as vice president of investments and controller. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master’s from Villanova University.

“We are thrilled to add someone of Ben Carr’s caliber at Go Store It as we look to continue to grow our platform,” said company founder Ryan Hanks. “Ben brings a tremendous amount of industry experience and will undoubtedly add tremendous value to the Go Store It platform.”

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Go Store It is a national investment sponsor that specializes in the acquisition, development and management of self-storage assets throughout the county. It owns more than 2 million square feet of storage and is an affiliate of Madison Capital Group LLC, a private investment and advisory firm based in Charlotte, N.C., and Charleston, S.C.

Katrina, Matthew, Michael and Sandy are more than just names. They were destructive hurricanes and storms that destroyed homes, lives, communities and businesses, and wreaked havoc on infrastructure that cost billions to repair. Chances are many of you were directly affected by one of these events or knew someone who was. The fact is we could all be impacted by climate change in the future.

As with so many global issues, there are many perspectives on this topic, and this article isn’t meant to change anyone’s thinking on the matter. But as the subject of extreme weather appears in news headlines daily, I thought it would be interesting to explore how it might relate directly our industry.

Customer Mobility and Migration

When operating self-storage in coastal and low-lying areas, hurricanes and floods are always a concern. It isn’t just the coastal areas at risk now, however. With the ever-increasing severity of weather and storms, the damage is reaching farther inland than ever before. In the last several years, many properties have become victims of flooding, hurricane, tornados and the like. Add to that the oppressive heat, no longer restricted to the Deep South but widespread throughout the nation.

Aggressive weather events have advantages and disadvantages for self-storage operators. On one hand, community displacement from natural disasters creates a need for storage. However, as areas like the South fall victim to tropical storms, hurricanes and flooding, migration into those regions have slowed and their ranking as a desirable destination diminished, according to a study from United Van Lines. This could mean a dwindling customer base for facilities there.

This restriction on human mobility is a very damaging effect of climate change for self-storage. Mobility is critical to success in our industry, but the sword cuts both ways. If customers aren’t moving, they aren’t renting as much storage. At the same time, it could also mean we have greater tenant retention. In any case, climate change and extreme weather events will cause human behavior and mobility to change.

Fixed Expenses

Expenses are another area where self-storage operators could be impacted as a result of changing weather. Typically, a facility’s fixed expenses such as insurance, property taxes and payroll are always among the larger costs, regardless of facility size or location. However, if the weather continues to be as severe and unpredictable as it has been in recent years, some of those expenditures could escalate even higher. It’s logical and probable, for example, that insurance policies and premiums could increase.

Unfortunately, my company has gained firsthand experience in this matter, as Mother Nature chose to target some of the regions in which we conduct business. Our premiums will increase substantially because all companies go through International Catastrophe Insurance Managers LLC for wind and hail coverage. Therefore, detection is inevitable, and premiums will rise rather significantly.

Of course, rather than just take the hit, there’s always the option and best practice to shop around for insurance each year to ensure your policy is competitive. While I’m far from an expert in the insurance field, I caution you to thoroughly dissect your policy against competing ones to ensure you don’t trade better coverage for a lower premium.

Utilities

Another area that could be affected is utilities, specifically HVAC. Most storage operators have a paragraph in their lease titled “climate control.” It might state: “The climate-controlled spaces are heated and cooled depending on outside temperatures. The spaces do not provide constant internal temperature or humidity control.” The clause also states that an owner “is not liable for any growth of mold or mildew on the stored property” in the event of a mechanical failure, among other things.

While you may not be required to maintain a set temperature, you’re obligated to conduct good business practices and provide a certain level of customer service. That includes maintaining a cool building relative to outside conditions. With climate change, however, your buildings may not be able to withstand escalating temperatures. According to an article in the “Washington Post,” July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded. In fact, “Scientists found that the planet is headed for one of its hottest years, and the period from 2015 to 2019 is likely to go down as the warmest five-year period on record.”

Let’s examine a likely scenario. Let’s say your facility is mature and has a mixture of climate-controlled and traditional units. Based on the age of the facility and its phases, some of the HVAC units might still have a warranty, but others don’t. Now, the facility has been beaten down by heat. To complicate matters, when it was built, air handlers were placed with the mentality that 1 ton covers 1,000 square feet rather than 2,500 square feet. So, not only have your monthly utility costs been compounded, your repair and replacement costs could be as well.

As an operator who recently replaced several 4- and 5-ton HVAC units, I can tell you the cost is approximately $4,850 each. If this scenario comes true for you and you aren’t actively servicing, planning and escrowing funds for this type of inevitable expense, you’ll be hit hard.

Curb Appeal

Infrastructure should also be a concern in self-storage. Excessive heat, sun, heavy rain and wind can be damaging to asphalt, doors and building façades. These things aren’t only costly to repair, they can be an eyesore that detracts from your curb appeal.

In the last several years, I’ve overseen several facilities that have been significantly affected by hurricanes and flooding. In some instances, the timing couldn’t have been worse for the owners, as they had their sites up for sale. Witnessing the challenges and working with them to overcome the devastation was difficult. These situations drastically reduce an owner’s options as few investors, if any, have an appetite to purchase an asset with that much risk. All you can do is focus on the repairs, hope the community and market rebound, and pray that buyers have short-term memories.

If an area is prone to bad-weather events, it may cause the customer base to rethink whether they want to rebuild and live there again. There may be mass relocation. While that may benefit businesses in the new destination, it undoubtedly damages the town the people are leaving and, therefore, the self-storage facilities that operate there.

No matter where your business is located, you should be aware of how today’s extreme weather could affect it. Look for vulnerabilities and act when possible to mitigate your risks.

March Chase is vice president and director of operations for Southeast Management Co., which provides self-storage management and consulting services. He’s worked in all aspects of the industry, from facility management to district management to director of operations. He’s served as vice president for the South Carolina Self Storage Association as well as vice president and president for the North Carolina Self Storage Association. He’s also a self-storage owner and investor. For more information, call 804.436.2596; visit http://southeastmanagementcompany.com.

For self-storage operators who embrace the more macabre side of Halloween and like to spike their imaginations when it comes to inexplicable creeks and bumps heard in the night, horror-fiction novel “Self Storage” might be the perfect treat. Authored by Jay Bonansinga, this 213-page psychological thriller centers on Johnny Fitzgerald, a lonely, divorced graphic illustrator with a major heroin habit. When Johnny accidentally gets trapped inside a deserted self-storage facility with his 6-year-old son, he’s forced to face demons both real and imagined.

Bonansinga is best known for writing the official “The Walking Dead” novel series. “Self Storage” mixes the brutal surrealism of Chuck Palahniuk’s “Fight Club” with the dark fantasy of Clive Barker. The tale is “a surreal nightmare that is part ‘The Shining,’ part ‘Naked Lunch,’ part ‘Lost Weekend,’ and part photo album of my own life,” according to Bonansinga, who’s also called it the most personal book he’s ever written.

Visit the ISS Store, if you dare, for full details on this hardcover, chilling tome!

Manhattan Mini Storage, which operates 17 self-storage facilities throughout New York City, is hosting a community Halloween party on Oct. 25 at its facility at 5030 Broadway. The event, 3-6 p.m., will feature trick-or-treating, face-painting, costumed characters, prizes, music and more. It’s open to children 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult, according to the source.

The party is co-sponsored by Manhattan Mini’s parent company, Edison Properties, and two of its divisions, Edison ParkFast and WorkSpace Offices. Additional sponsors include Adapt Community Network, Blick Art Materials, City University of New York, “Manhattan Times,” Mount Sinai Urgent Care and Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance. Invited guests include Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, New York State Assembly Member Carmen de la Rosa, U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat, New York State Senator Robert Jackson, New York City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez and members of Manhattan Community Board 12.

Founded in 1978, Manhattan Mini offers traditional self-storage, a shuttle service, a moving concierge and valet storage. It also accepts packages on behalf of its customers.

Edison’s additional properties include executive offices and pre-built suites, The Hippodrome office building, and The Ludlow, a luxury residential high-rise on the Lower East Side.

Source:
Patch, Neighborhood Halloween Party Hosted by Manhattan Mini Storage

A natural-gas leak at Northwest Self Storage in Vancouver, Wash., led to an evacuation of the building last week. The incident at 2410 S.E. 164th Ave. was caused after someone drove into a gas meter, according to Joe Hudson, a spokesperson for the Vancouver Fire Department.

Two fire engines and a battalion chief were dispatched to the facility just after 11 a.m. on Oct. 18. When they discovered the leak, a hazardous-material team was called in to assess the problem. They detected concerning levels of gas in the air that required an evacuation, Hudson said. The southbound lanes on 164th Avenue were also shut down for several hours.

The hazmat team spent nearly three hours ensuring the building was property ventilated, allowing the gas levels to drop. No one was injured.

Northwest Self Storage is family-owned and -operated. Founded by Kevin Howard more than 30 years ago, the company owns three facilities in Idaho, 72 in Oregon and 17 in Washington.

Source:
The Columbian, Gas Leak Prompts Evacuation at East Vancouver Storage Facility

Self-storage rental rates in Houston have increased 2.3 percent thus far this year, after declining more than 10 percent in the last two years. The uptick has coincided with a slowdown in facility development, reducing the amount of new rental space coming online. Developers have added 1.3 million square feet of storage this year, a steep decline from around 3.8 million square feet in 2018, according to the source.

“Construction has definitely veered off. It is slowing down, and yet it’s healthy,” said Dave Knobler, first vice president of Marcus & Millichap (M&M), a commercial real estate investment services firm with offices throughout Canada and the United States. “For the greater good of the storage operators, a slowdown in development is probably a good thing by exercising a little caution.”

The drop in new construction is in stark contrast to the previous two years, in which developers added a total of 6.7 million square feet into the market. Houston began this year with 68.4 million square feet of rentable storage, approximately 9.5 square feet per capita.

The shift in market dynamics has made Houston a hot real estate market, with property buyers outnumbering sellers. Knobler is on pace to finish the year with $75 million in self-storage transactional volume, he told the source.

Outlook for the Houston self-storage market is positive, buoyed by steady employment growth and new residents. Approximately 110,000 jobs are expected to be added by year-end, while population growth is on pace to top 60,000 people for the second consecutive year, according to the source.

“The good news for the Texas self-storage industry is that we’re still adding jobs and people,” said Steve Mellon, managing director of the national self-storage team for JLL Capital Markets, a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. “So, in my opinion, we should see rents turn the corner in a year or 18 months as more jobs create more housing, which creates more demand for storage.”

Source:
Bisnow, Brief Pause In Construction Helps Houston Self-Storage Stay Healthy