An employee conducting an annual facility audit discovered more than $30,000 in cash inside a vacant unit at an iStorage property in Forest Park, Ohio, on Sunday. Although the self-storage space was locked with a padlock, it wasn’t rented, so he cut the lock and looked inside, according to the source.

Upon finding the money, the employee notified police, who are now trying to determine who it belongs to and how it ended up on site. They also have questions about its legitimacy, said Forest Park Police Department Capt. Rich Jones.

“It's certainly a consideration for us is that this might be something else other than someone who’s afraid of using banks, those kinds of things. It’s peculiar that you would find a large sum of money in a storage unit that appears—at this point, anyway—to have been abandoned,” Jones said.

If no one can prove legal ownership of the money and it isn’t connected to a crime, it could be claimed by the finder or the storage company, the source reported.

The iStorage brand, with 65-plus properties across 12 states, is owned and operated by National Storage Affiliates Trust, a Maryland real estate investment trust specializing in self-storage.

Source:
Local 12, More Than $30,000 Found Stashed in Forest Park Storage Unit

Update 2/20/19 – In addition to the four self-storage facilities that were developed through its partnership with NYX, Bluebird plans to build six more properties in the GTA.

Four locations have already opened in Mississauga, Toronto and Woodbridge, and two more are slated for Mississauga and Toronto. Bluebird will also build four sites in Burlington, Vaughan and Whitby. The projects will be a mix of ground-up construction and conversions of existing buildings. They’ll be designed by Leonardo Romanese Architect Inc. and constructed by Maple Reinders.

“We believe there is tremendous runway available for Canadian self-storage development, especially and initially in the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe,” said Reade DeCurtins, managing principal of Bluebird.

In addition to developing new sites, Bluebird plans to acquire existing self-storage facilities as well as provide third-party management, a source reported.

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9/28/18 – Private-equity real estate investment firm NYX Capital Corp. has partnered with Bluebird Self Storage to develop properties in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The companies’ short-term plan is to build three to five storage facilities annually, beginning with a $40 million conversion project at 1450 Don Mills Road in Toronto and a 169,000-square-foot new development near Southdown Road in Mississauga, Ontario. All the projects affiliated with the partnership will be branded as Bluebird but managed by Life Storage Inc., a U.S.-based self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management firm, according to the source.

NYX has previously focused on residential and commercial development and investments, but believes self-storage is a “very underserved” market in Canada, with a low number of class-A facilities, said Max Vo, vice president of Investments for NYX.

“Self-storage has sort of been on our radar because the more that we’ve researched about it, it seems to be an asset class that purchases very good risk-adjusted returns from a development basis,” Vo told the source. “On a risk-adjusted basis, right now I feel that it exceeds many of the other traditional real estate investment classes.”

The Don Mills project will convert the former “National Post” newspaper building into three stories of self-storage. The partnership acquired the 159,000-square-foot building in June for $22 million. The developers plan to build onto what is now the parking lot to add another 50,000 square feet of storage space, according to the source. Construction is expected to be complete within two years.

The Mississauga facility will be built on an industrial site, where two buildings will be demolished to make room for the development, estimated at up to $24 million. That project is also expected to be complete in two years, the source reported.

Bluebird has a 20-year working history with Life Storage, which NYX found advantageous. “Even though the stores will be branded Bluebird, the backbone is really the Life Storage team,” Vo said.

Bluebird operates six self-storage facilities in Ontario. The company has six other storage projects under development in Canada that don’t involve NYX. It also develops self-storage for other companies, according to the source.

Based in Toronto, NYX specializes in commercial, industrial and residential real estate and development projects throughout Canada.

Based in Buffalo, Life Storage operates more than 700 self-storage facilities in 28 states under the Life Storage and Uncle Bob’s brands. Its portfolio of owned and managed facilities comprises more than 50 million square feet.

Source:
Real Estate News Exchange, NYX Capital Expands Into ‘Underserved’ Self-Storage Market
Daily Commercial News, Bluebird Storage Expansion Takes Flight in the GTA

The 2019 Inside Self-Storage World Expo may be at The Mirage Hotel & Casino, its new Las Vegas venue, April 1-4; but the platform for facility owners to learn cutting-edge strategies and improve their business acumen is no illusion. Whether you’re a new owner sailing the seas of self-storage for the first time or a weathered captain looking to expand your horizons, the industry’s largest conference and tradeshow will help you chart a course for success.

Charting a Course

By design, the event is geared to help those taking in views from the deck as well as those who wish to dive into deep water. Standard education sessions will be held on April 2 and 3, while immersive workshops are available on April 1 and 4. To take advantage of the full excursion, the All-Access Pass gets you into 42 seminars and eight workshops, in addition to several networking events and two days of product and service exhibits.

Of course, it’s impossible to be everywhere at once, so we highly recommended you bring as many crew members as possible to maximize the experience. The six education tracks are organized by theme—Building, Investing, Management, Marketing, Ownership and Technology—to help you determine where staff should be based on their skillsets and your business needs.

The sessions tailored for owners are focused on improving operation, maximizing revenue and protecting your investment. These include but are not limited to:

• Spending Money to Make Money: Reinvesting in Your Self-Storage Business
• From Data to Dollars: Revenue-Management Techniques for Self-Storage
• What’s Your M.O.? Writing Your Self-Storage Company Handbook
• What to Do When the Nightmare Comes True: Disaster Management in Self-Storage
• Empowering Your People: Creating a Gratifying Self-Storage Work Environment
• Performing Self-Storage Site Visits: How to Make Them Productive, Not Disruptive
• Get Pumped! Enhancing Self-Storage Facility Value Before You Sell
• A Self-Storage Automation Case Study: Costs, Implementation, Challenges and More
• Will Your Next Self-Storage Manager Be a Robot? An Overview of Industry Technology
• Smart-Connected Self-Storage Facilities: Business in the IoT Age

At four hours each, the expo workshops allow you to dive below the surface to the depths of legal risks and responsibility, operational excellence, and staffing concerns. Consider these offerings:

• Advanced Legal Workshop: It’s next to impossible to sail to your ultimate sandy-shore destination without understanding the rules of engagement. This workshop will help you navigate laws that impact self-storage to lessen liability risk and smooth the waters toward success.
• Ownership Excellence Workshop: From asset value to site auditing to portfolio expansion, this workshop will show you how to build a business that excels at customer service and generates maximum income. Justify your captain’s stripes by attending this informative session.
• Staffing Success Workshop: If your goal is to lay back on the beach sipping Mai Tais without a care in the world, you’d better have the right employees in the right positions. This workshop will walk you through the best practices of hiring, training and retaining talent to help you reach your business goals.

Pleasure Cruising

The best way to get your industry sea legs is to interact with those in the know. Take advantage of the show’s opportunities to learn about new products and services, discuss trending issues, and hobnob with other owners and colleagues—all in a fun, inviting atmosphere. You don’ t want to miss:

• The Expo Hall: The largest assembly of product and service providers in the industry has been expanded to not only bring a record number of vendors onto the floor but enhance your show experience. New twists include live product demonstrations and a dedicated Association Row. Exhibit hours have been expanded to nine total hours this year!
• Table Talks: Formerly known as Roundtable Discussions, these are a platform for engaging in informal conversations on a wide range of industry topics. Each talk will begin with a one- to three-minute presentation by the table host, followed by up to nine minutes of open dialogue and Q&A. Rotations occur every 10 minutes.
• Cocktail Reception: What better way to celebrate the industry and personal successes than clinking glasses with peers in a relaxed atmosphere? By popular demand, our cocktail reception is again a standalone event. Come enjoy an evening of music, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres while mingling with colleagues and new friends!

You need wind and momentum to sail into the sunset. Hoist your mast and point your bow toward a sea of success by attending the 2019 ISS World Expo. Learn more about the show’s owner-focused offerings at issworldexpo.com.

When married self-storage tenants call it quits, the facility operator often gets caught in the crossfire. It’s not uncommon for one of the duo to change the passcode or the lock on the unit, or even the payment method to block access to the other spouse. While you’re obligated to adhere to the wishes of the person who signed the rental agreement, these situations can be tricky.

In a recent thread on Self-Storage Talk, the industry’s largest online community, a member is dealing with a couple who’s no longer on speaking terms. It’s taken some wrangling to transfer the rental contract from one person to the other, and now one spouse is causing more problems. Read the details and share what you would do in this scenario, or get advice for handling your own tenant soap opera!

Whether you’re interested in buying or selling a self-storage asset, you need to pay attention to the overall real estate market. An improper valuation can mean the difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars to your bottom line.

The real estate cycle can be split into four stages: recession, recovery, expansion and oversupply. Let’s review each and how it can affect your options to buy or sell property.

Recession

During the most recent recession, we faced rising capitalization (cap) rates, unwilling lenders and strict loans, lower property valuations, and debt that was higher than the value of the asset. Because this, it was difficult for self-storage owners to sell their facilities; and properties that were sold were done so under financial duress. When a buyer could find a favorable asset to purchase, there were often roadblocks during the lending process that either killed the deal or made it more difficult to complete.

Recovery

Next, we entered a recovery period, during which the U.S. Federal Reserve reduced interest rates to record lows, which led to a rise in self-storage property values. Cap rates hit all-time highs of 8 percent to 12 percent. Lenders were competing for business again, and buyers started flooding the market looking for their next acquisition.

Expansion

Around 2016, the market hit the expansion phase. This was marked by low but still increasing interest rates, which will likely continue until we enter the next phase. Sellers have been reaping the rewards over the past few years because more buyers have entered the market and lenders were more than willing to underwrite deals again. According to the Self-Storage Association, facility valuations hit their peak between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017. Then we had private-equity firms jumping into the market, as they appeared to fall in love with the returns of storage properties.

Oversupply

As the self-storage industry grows, more properties pop up all over the country and existing facilities continue to expand. The market is now trending into the oversupply phase, which is likely to continue through 2022. As markets become saturated with under-utilized space, there will be less new construction, as it just won’t make sense. Things will come to a head. We can already see certain markets being affected by rising cap rates and declining occupancies.

As more competition appears, the harder it’ll be to increase net operating income (NOI), and facilities will have trouble keeping those high valuations. The Federal Reserve is also increasing its funds, as it raised rates three times in 2018 and plans another four increases for this year. As interest rates go up, certain self-storage properties will become less attractive to buyers, and the market will slow along with fewer lenders willing to underwrite the deals that are out there.

Let’s look at an actual example and see how a single property will be valued differently based on market changes over time. Last year, this facility was valued at nearly $800,000 less than it was two years earlier, during the peak. It’ll likely lose another $300,000 in value this year if the market follows this path.

A Small Window

Self-storage property sellers need to pay attention to the market. The savvy ones will see there’s just a small window of time to receive the maximum value for their asset, whether it’s a single- or multi-site portfolio. That’s why they’re selling their now.

Then you have the smart buyer who’s been waiting for this to happen. Investors who overpaid during 2014 and 2017 are starting to sell because they just couldn’t improve the NOI enough to make a profit during the rising interest rates of that phase. Some are even in bank foreclosures and have distressed properties, which will in turn affect overall market valuations.

To maximize the value of your asset over the next 18 to 24 months, do the following:

• Implement rate increases and review existing tenant rates.
• Consider methods to increase tenant-insurance penetration, with a goal of 70 percent.
• Find missing revenue by adding administration and late fees, if you haven’t already done so.
• Take advantage of customers’ dependence on the Internet by offering online reservations and rentals, implementing digital marketing strategies such as search engine optimization, and exploring social media advertising.
• Look at your existing expenses and see where you can make cuts. Maybe you can automate some processes, negotiate better rates with your current vendors, or get quotes from competing vendors, and so on.

Making these changes today will help maximize your business’ overall value when it comes time to sell.

Yevgeni Kaniayev is a brokerage advisor for Investment Real Estate LLC (IRE), where he’s responsible for self-storage listings, sales, buyer representation, due diligence, financial analysis and feasibility studies. IRE brokers the sale of self-storage facilities in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states. For more information, call 703.223.6387; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.irellc.com.

If you’ve been having less than stellar success with your self-storage business advertising, now’s a great time to freshen your marketing plan. Here are three ideas to ensure you’re on track to reach your goals this year.

1. Start Tracking What You’re Already Doing

If you’re a spreadsheet nerd, then you’re probably already nailing this. If not, get organized and start tracking all your marketing spending as well as its return on investment (ROI).

What gets measured, gets managed. If you’re working with a small budget, it’s even more important to track every dollar, lead and new customer coming in through your various marketing channels. If business is low overall, don’t paint with a wide brush. Rather, try to find out exactly what marketing sources are down and dig into the different elements to see where you can make better decisions.

If you aren’t already, one of the biggest things you should start tracking is customer lifetime value (CLV). This tells you the value of each tenant based on how long he rents from you and the price of his unit. For example, if he pays $100 per month and rents for a year, his CLV would be $1,200. CLV is extremely important because as it increases, so does your overall marketing ROI. You want to spend your marketing dollars on leads with the highest potential CLV and avoid filling your units with tenants who rent at a low rate—like a $1 move-in special—for a short time.

2. Focus on Customer Reviews

It seems like online reviews just keep growing in their marketing power, and they’re just as important as ever in 2019. Never underestimate the power of online word-of-mouth on Google, Facebook and Yelp. During your busy season when you have many new rentals, focus on getting as many high-scoring reviews as possible. Then, during the slow winter season, focus on asking current tenants to for reviews, responding to negative ones and managing old review scores.

Bringing in more reviews is simple. Believe it or not, all you have to do is ask. Tenants feel most motivated to leave a review when they have a memorable experience (good or bad). It’s harder to get one when they just had a mediocre experience. Your busy rental season is a great time to turn up your customer-service skills to 10 and ensure your facility is putting its best foot forward every day.

When responding to negative reviews, always be professional and polite, not defensive.

Since storage facilities are bought, sold and rebranded so often, it’s possible your facility has some old reviews that stem from a past owner or manager. Reach out to these reviewers and let them know your business is now under new management and explain the ways in which you’ve improved upon the issue they had.

Make sure you ask tenants to leave reviews, and include a link at the bottom of every e-mail your customers receive. Online reviews are a free and extremely powerful marketing tool for your self-storage business, so make the most of them. Ask every customer and strive to make every new rental a five-star experience.

3. Try a Little Paid Marketing

In most cases, if you want to truly fill your storage facility without sacrificing CLV, you’ll need to reach a segment of customers who require more work. Reaching these sought-after prospects often necessitates the use of paid marketing tools such as self-storage aggregators and pay-per-click (PPC) ads as a way to supplement your more organic, foundational drivers. Your competitors aren’t just waiting for tenants to contact them, they’re targeting them with paid ads!

Get comfortable with the idea of aggregators and PPC. To rent your hard-to-fill units at a premium rate, try targeting specific search terms on Google AdWords or getting listed on an aggregator site. Paid search tools like AdWords are some of the most cost-effective ways for storage operators to attract new tenants.

Test and Be Smart

Assemble a plan to test some new marketing options, understanding that part of the value of paid marketing is learning what doesn’t work for your business. You might spend $500 on an advertising channel that doesn’t drive rentals, and that’s OK. If you measure it properly, at least you’ll know the channel doesn’t work for you. Just make sure that when you try something, you put in enough time, money and effort to truly test its potential.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to effectively market your storage business; you just have to be smart about it! There’s nothing wrong with spending money on advertising. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to bring in high-paying tenants and fill premium-priced units. Just remember that some of the most powerful marketing tools—online reviews, word-of-mouth and customer referrals—are totally free. By tracking every ad dollar you spend and keeping tabs on every click, phone call, lead or customer your business gets from your various marketing sources, you’ll be able to prevent wasted spending and maximize your marketing ROI.

Jana Haecherl is a member of the marketing team for SiteLink, SpareFoot and storEDGE. A graduate of South Dakota State University with a master’s in mass communication, she enjoys bringing technology, Web marketing, and industry news and tips to self-storage owners and managers. For more information, call 913.954.4110; visit www.storedge.com.

Extra Space Asia (ESA), a privately owned business that operates self-storage facilities across the Asian continent, has received a 2019 “Favourite Self-Storage Brand” award from Superbrands Worldwide, a global media communications and publishing firm with a presence in 85 countries. ESA is the first storage brand to receive the award for two consecutive years, according to a press release.

“The secret to our success has always been our attention to customer service,” said ESA CEO Kenneth Worsdale. “Customer service goes beyond a friendly smile and greeting. True customer service, for us, is understanding every self-storage need, and doing all it takes to satisfy that demand through quality product offerings and exemplary service.”

Winners are chosen by a council of brand experts. Companies that achieve status can use the Superbrands Awards Seal on their advertising materials and product packaging, according to the Superbrands website.

Founded by advertising executive Marcel Knobil in London in 1995, Superbrands also provides a database of case studies, e-books and an online video-creation service for its clients.

ESA opened its first self-storage location in Singapore in 2007 and now operates more than 36 facilities across Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, with plans to venture into Thailand. Its portfolio comprises more than 1.5 million square feet of storage space.

Sources:
Digital Journal, Extra Space Asia Takes First Place in the Superbrands Awards for Two Consecutive Years
Superbrands Worldwide, Website

Members of the Texas Self Storage Association (TSSA) raised $203,000 last year for the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Galveston, Texas. A group of association representatives presented a check to the hospital board in January. The group included association executive director Ginny Sutton and fundraising chairs David and Doug Hunt. To date, TSSA members have raised $1.4 million for the hospitals, according to an association newsletter.

TSSA raises money by hosting silent and live auctions and a charity poker tournament during its annual fall conference. A significant portion of the funds comes from individual members.

Each year, TSSA members and staff tour the hospitals. During their most recent visit, they learned how 3D technology is helping to rehabilitate juvenile burn victims, the newsletter stated.

Established in 1986, the TSSA is dedicated to enhancing the quality of the self-storage industry in Texas. It provides opportunities for members to increase their knowledge of the business through education, research, discussion and exchange of information.

Shriners includes 22 hospitals in Canada, Mexico and the United States, providing advanced care for children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate.

 

StorageMart, which operates more than 200 self-storage properties across Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, has predicted a downturn for the Kansas City, Mo., self-storage market during the next one to three years. Though the area has brought investors healthy returns during the last decade, it’s been impacted by a “surplus of hot money” in the last two years that threatens to oversupply the region, according to a report authored by Alex Burnam, senior acquisitions analyst.

Rising income, low unemployment and an abundance of recently closed retail properties targeted for self-storage conversion are all market factors that have driven recent growth. “With new facilities continually beginning development, developers run the risk of killing the historically profitable market by oversupplying the area,” Burnam wrote.

There are 152 “institutional-quality” storage properties operating in the Kansas City metro area, comprising about 9.9 million net rentable square feet. The development pipeline includes 29 new projects set to come online this year and next. Those developments are expected to add another 2.95 million rentable square feet, an increase of 29.8 percent, according to the report.

An abundance of supply coupled with rising wages and property taxes will all cut into self-storage profitability, according to Burnam. “Significant surges of new supply competing with existing product hurt any property sector, and with wages and property taxes growing, owners are realizing smaller margins than anticipated and recorded in prior years,” he said. “If [developers] want to be profitable in the long run, they will plan for longer lease-up periods, stagnant/negative rent growth, and lower stabilized occupancy rates.”

Founded in 1999 and based in Columbia, Mo., StorageMart is privately owned and operated by the Burnam Family, which has been in the storage industry for three generations. Its portfolio consists of more than 16 million square feet of storage. It serves more than 75,000 self-storage customers, and operates in Chinese, English, Punjabi, Quebecois French and Spanish.

Source:
PRWeb, Dark Times Ahead for Kansas City’s Self-Storage Industry