East 7th St LLC, a company affiliated with real estate developer Proffitt Dixon Partners, intends to build a seven-story self-storage facility in the Uptown area of Charlotte, N.C. The climate-controlled structure will be built on a 1-acre site at 969 E. 7th St., and comprise 90,725 net rentable square feet in more than 1,080 units. The project will also include about 2,150 square feet of commercial space. Expected to open in early 2019, the facility will be managed by CubeSmart, a self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management firm.

The developer acquired the land in December from Trinity Episcopal School for about $2.5 million, according to the source.

“Uptown Charlotte is undergoing tremendous growth, and we are excited to develop a state-of-the-art self-storage facility that will serve as an amenity to all surrounding residents and business users,” William Andrews, a partner with East 7th St and a principal with Proffitt Dixon, said in a press release issued by HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP). HFF is the commercial real estate and capital-markets services firm that secured construction financing on behalf of the developer.

A spike in self-storage development across the city has coincided with multi-family housing growth, a source reported. Charlotte officials also recently made it easier for developers to build multi-story self-storage facilities in the urban core. The 7th Street site is near apartments and the convergence of three major thoroughfares, including Interstate 277.

“Upon completion, this will be the largest self-storage property inside Uptown Charlotte’s 277 Loop,” said Brent Bowman, senior director at HFF. “The project’s convenient location and accessibility will be attractive to the increasing number of renters gravitating toward Uptown.”

Proffitt Dixon previously built an apartment building in Uptown and has another multi-family project under construction two blocks away on the former site of the Charlotte Actor’s Theatre, the source reported. The company specializes in luxury apartment communities in the Southeast. It has an active development pipeline in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to the company website.

HFF and its affiliate, HFF Securities LP, are owned by HFF Inc. The firm operates out of 22 offices nationwide and specializes in advisory services, commercial-loan servicing, debt and equity placement, and investment and loan sales.

Liberty Investment Properties Inc., which develops and operates commercial real estate, has opened a new self-storage facility in downtown St. Petersburg, Fla., in partnership with lender Osprey Capital as well as some private investors. The four-story structure comprises 92,000 square feet in about 600 units. It includes a 230-foot covered drive-through bay to help protect customers from the Florida climate, according to a press release. The facility is managed by Extra Space Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management firm.

"There seems to be no slowing down in downtown St. Pete. Growth keeps moving outward in every direction with walkability being a key draw for residents and businesses," said Adam Mikkelson, president of Liberty. "There was a real need to develop a storage facility with easy access and close proximity to the expanding community, with Millennials and businesses being key target customers."

The facility is adjacent to the new headquarters for the St. Petersburg Police Department, which is under construction. Several other developments are either underway or planned for the area. "The swath of land around the new St. Pete police department is ripe for revitalization, and we look forward to seeing more successful projects come out of the ground," Mikkelson said.

An event celebrating the opening of the storage facility is planned for the spring.

Based in Tampa, Fla., Osprey Capital is a direct and private lender and investment group. Its founder and principals have financed more than $10 billion in commercial real estate transactions.

Based in Orlando, Fla., Liberty focuses on income-producing assets and related equity and debt investments on behalf of individual and institutional investors. The company was founded by husband and wife Mike and Melissa Mikkelson, who built their first self-storage facility in 1988. It has diversified to offer a range of investment, asset-management and development ventures in the self-storage and hospitality industries. It’s storage portfolio includes 11 facilities in the Southeast, with several new developments planned for 2018.

Ocean Storage/Bay Storage, which operates self-storage facilities in North Carolina and Virginia, has opened a new location in Norfolk, Va. The multi-story property at 801 W. Little Creek Road comprises more than 66,000 square feet of storage space in 497 units. The property offers climate control, covered loading bays, and a retail store that sells moving and packing supplies. It also contains executive offices for lease, with a shared conference room for customer use. Tenants have access to online billpay and reservations, and the management team will accept deliveries on their behalf.

The company will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening on April 26. The 10:30 a.m. event will include property tours as well as refreshments and raffles for free storage. Members of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce will attend.

Locally owned Ocean Storage/Bay Storage now operates seven total facilities in Cape Charles, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Yorktown, Va.; and Shallotte, N.C. The properties are managed by Storage Asset Management Inc., a self-storage management and consulting firm based in York, Pa.

Lumpkin Development has purchased a defunct shopping mall in Birmingham, Ala., with the intent to convert it to mixed-use property that will include self-storage inside a former Sears store. The company acquired the 65-acre Century Plaza on Crestwood Boulevard for $3 million from Howard Hughes Corp., according to the source.

Despite being vacant for nine years, the Sears store is still structurally sound, according to Eddie Lumpkin, owner of Lumpkin Development. The company plans to lease the remaining property, with rates beginning at $5 per square foot.

Built in 1975, the shopping center closed in 2009. In addition to the Sears, it once included anchor stores such as JCPenney, Loveman's and Rich’s. When it closed, fewer than 40 stores were still open. Other uses considered for the site over the years have included apartments, a church, private school, a Costco and a federal prison, the source reported.

Last summer, Lumpkin Development faced opposition in its quest to build a five-story self-storage facility on a former McDonald’s site in Birmingham. The variance request for shorter setbacks on the property was denied, as was an appeal for a reduction of the landscape buffer between the property and the residential neighborhood behind it.

Based in Pelham, Ala., Lumpkin Development owns more than 2 million square feet of commercial space in Atlanta and Central Alabama.

If you don’t think online reviews of your self-storage facilities matter, think again. What others say about your business is one of the most important factors potential customers consider when making a purchase decision. In fact, 97 percent of consumers read reviews of local businesses before they decide to buy.

What does that mean for you? It means you need to be proactive in managing your digital reputation if you want to get—and stay—ahead.

Why Reputation Matters

In today’s mobile-first world, consumers can find everything they want to know about your storage business with the click of a button, especially if they’re using Google. Google reviews show up on search engine results pages and may appear next to your listing in Google Maps and Google Search.

According to Social Media Today, 88 percent of people trust online reviews written by other consumers as much as they would the recommendation of a friend. If you have strong reviews, that’s great news. If you don’t have strong reviews, or are lacking reviews, a reputation strategy is something you need to master, and fast.

Create a Strategy

You can’t always control what others are saying about your business online, but you can engage in the conversation. That’s why having a reputation strategy is so important. To get started, you must identify your top review sources. By doing so, you can work to optimize your reviews on these sites to ensure the first impression potential customers have of your self-storage facility is positive.

Google My Business, Yelp and Facebook are the most popular—and trusted—review sites among consumers. To improve your reputation, determine how many new reviews you need to stay competitive, and then increase the number of positive reviews on each site. Tapping into your existing customer base is one of the best ways to attract leads. By encouraging happy tenants to post on popular review sites, you’re more likely to attract new customers.

The process of soliciting feedback should be proactive and ongoing. You can measure the success of this strategy by tracking the number of new reviews monthly.

Respond to Posts

There’s more to managing your online reputation than just soliciting reviews. You also need to respond to them, whether they’re positive or negative. In the 2017 “Consumer Review Survey” by marketing firm BrightLocal, 30 percent of respondents indicated that responding to reviews is key when judging local businesses, and 68 percent of customers will leave if they feel a company is indifferent to them.

Don’t know how to respond to a review? Follow this advice:

• Thank the reviewer for his feedback.
• If the review is negative, acknowledge it in a professional and appreciative tone, and then offer a solution where appropriate.
• If a solution is offered, outline the timeline for when the reviewer can expect resolution to his complaint.
• In extreme cases, take the response offline and contact the reviewer directly to continue a solutions-based conversation in person.

The most important thing to remember when responding to online reviews is to make sure all your customers feel supported, even the unhappy ones. While reputation management does take time, it can be especially rewarding for self-storage facilities looking to increase occupancy. Having a strategy in place ensures your attractiveness to new customers and maintains relationships with existing tenants.

Ashleigh Hinrichs is the marketing campaign manager at G5, which provides Digital Experience Management software and marketing services to the self-storage industry. The company’s offerings include responsive-design websites, search engine marketing, social media, reputation management, lead tracking and management, analytics, and client-performance management. For more information, call 800.656.8183; visit www.getg5.com.

Public Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust, has reportedly agreed to buy a historical property in Huntington Beach, Calif., with the intent to develop a storage facility. Republic Services Inc., a waste-disposal and trash-pickup provider, is selling Historic Wintersburg, a 4.5-acre plot off Warner Avenue and Nichols Lane that houses six structures dating as far back as 1910. The land and buildings are revered by local residents and Japanese-Americans who believe the site is historically significant, according to the source.

The transaction is controversial because Republic Services was previously working with the Historic Wintersburg Preservation Task Force to protect the site. The company indicated in May 2016 that it wasn’t seeking any deals for the property that would destroy the buildings, the source reported.

Redevelopment could require a zoning change, which would need approval from the city council. The council previously rescinded a zoning change to commercial and industrial use after the Ocean View School District won lawsuits against property owner Rainbow Environmental Services (now part of Republic Services) and the city. Public Storage would need an easement from the school district, which shares a property line with Wintersburg. As part of its settlement agreement, the district also is supposed to have first right of refusal on purchasing the land, according to the source.

“We have been working with Republic the last three years. They had confirmed to us and our city council liaisons that they were willing to work with us and our national partners on the purchase of the property for historic preservation and public park use,” Mary Urashima, a representative of the preservation task force, wrote in a statement. “To see a national treasure historic site and its cultural resources destroyed for self-storage is a very sad statement to those whose history is represented at Historic Wintersburg.”

The site dates back to the late 1800s as an agricultural community, which became an enclave for Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans who settled in Huntington Beach at the turn of the 20th century. Among the settlers was the Furutas Family, which sold goldfish raised on the grounds. The family was one of the few to maintain control of their property after the California Alien Land Law of 1913 prohibited Japanese-born residents from owning land, the source reported. Family members returned to the site after being held in an internment camp in Arizona during World War II.

Community leaders have pressed to designate the site a heritage park. Urashima would like the six structures refurbished and made available for community meetings, a museum, student field trips and other uses.

Councilmember Jill Hardy is among those who favor preserving the site. “The idea they would choose storage over a park setting, when financially it would make no difference, is really surprising,” Hardy told the source. Since Republic Services announced its plan to sell, the city council has been inundated with e-mails mostly supporting the site’s preservation, she said.

Some 700 residents signed a petition against commercial development on the property after it was acquired by Rainbow in 2004. The site was listed as one of “America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” in 2014 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which also named it a “national treasure” in 2015.

Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in 2,358 self-storage facilities in 38 states, with approximately 156 million net rentable square feet. Operating under the Shurgard brand name, the company also has 220 facilities in seven European countries, with approximately 12 million net rentable square feet.

SpareFoot, an online marketplace for self-storage consumers, is one of three technology-based companies to earn pay-equity certification from SameWorks, an Austin-based company that provides software tools for businesses to uncover and resolve diversity and pay issues. Certification is achieved by undergoing a pay-equity audit and either correcting any issues or providing justification for pay differences, such as experience, performance or tenure. Companies must also adhere to hiring and promotion best practices to ensure pay equity over time, according to a press release.

In addition to the SameWorks audit, there’s third-party oversight to ensure companies have met all criteria and standards, and protect against false claims, the release stated. SameWorks guidelines are based on U.S. equal-pay laws to ensure fair compensation based on work performed, regardless of age, gender, race and other factors.

“In many cities, top talent is hard to come by. Companies are looking for an edge. Pay equity is table-stakes in the minds of many sought-after employees,” said Crystal Hansen, CEO of SameWorks. “We’re helping to make this process simple, transparent and affordable, so that all companies can do the right thing.”

“In the past, we have had an employee analyze anonymous data to ensure fair pay,” added Chuck Gordon, CEO of SpareFoot. “When the opportunity arose to work with SameWorks, we were excited. We want our employees to know they are valued and feel comfortable that they are being paid fairly, so they can focus on doing great work.”

In addition to SpareFoot, data.world and Square Root also received certification.

SpareFoot.com helps consumers find and reserve self-storage units, with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability and exclusive deals. With a network of more than 12,000 storage facilities ranging from mom-and-pop operations to real estate investment trusts, the company reaches prospective storage renters though partnerships with brands including SelfStorage.com and Penske Truck Rental.

The Centralia, Mo., Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a zoning request last week that will allow a former lumber site to be converted to self-storage. Rob and Sara Paben plan to repurpose the LaCrosse Lumber property at 212 W. Singleton St., according to the source.

The project was backed by the city planning and zoning commission, and the alderman voted without commenting during the Jan. 22 meeting. They also approved the couple’s conditional-use permit. No one from the public spoke on the topic, the source reported.

Last year, U-Haul International Inc. tackled a similar project when it converted a lumber yard in Harlingen, Texas, to self-storage. The company purchased the former ProBuild Holdings LLC building at 1218 Ed Carey Drive for $1.5 million.

 

Self-storage is as trendy as ever in many international markets, and all the momentum is going in one direction—up!

As I work in international sales for a U.S. building-components supplier and focus a good bit on Latin America, I’m often asked, “How is self-storage over there?” The simple answer is: It’s big. And I’m not referring to the number of facilities. (According to the Louisiana Self Storage Association, there are more storage facilities in that state, with its population of 4.6 million, than in all of Latin America, which has a population of 625 million.) Rather, it’s big in the sense that the segment is following the trend of most urban developments in large global cities—storage facilities are going vertical. 

Why Storage Makes Sense

In the case of Latin America, where populations are much more concentrated in the capital cities, self-storage is a logical choice for investment. For example, Colombia has around 47 million people, more than 8 million of whom live in Bogotá. That’s more than 17 percent of the population living in a single city. Space is very limited, so opening a storage facility in the capital makes perfect sense.

International capitals aren’t only dense in population, they tend to be home to most of the upper-middle class. The average income can be nearly double that of the national norm. Obviously, the cost of living has to be considered; however, there are more people with disposable income in these cities who can afford “luxuries” such as renting a storage unit.  

Land Scarcity and Accessibility

The most important contributing factor to the multi-story building trend in Latin America is land scarcity. As cities grow, the amount of available land decreases. This not only drives up land prices but forces developments to grow up instead of out to become viable investments. Urban sprawl is a truly American concept and not one international communities are willing to adopt for myriad reasons.

Accessibility is also a factor. First, wealth tends to be concentrated in centralized pockets of these larger cities. When you add the fact that traffic jams in the large cities can keep you in the car for hours, even just to go a few miles across town, you see how location is critical. When an owner has a nice parcel he’s ready to develop, he must do everything he can to maximize the space and get the most out of his land. Building multiple stories is the sensible solution.

In most markets outside of North America, self-storage is still in its infancy. While some people compare what we’re seeing abroad to the U.S. self-storage market in the 1980s, it’s difficult to predict what the future holds for the international sector. Large multi-story complexes aren’t the answer for everyone, but those thinking of the future of the industry shouldn’t just look around for opportunities … They should look up!  

Pete Frayser is vice president of international sales for Janus International Group LLC, a manufacturer of self-storage roll-up doors and building components. Headquartered in Temple, Ga., the company has eight U.S. locations as well as manufacturing facilities in Mexico and the United Kingdom. For more information, call 770.562.2850; visit www.janusintl.com.