How To Assess and Plan for Renovations at Your Self-Storage Facility
As any facility owner knows, it’s essential not to take sales for granted. If left unattended for too long, a booming business could soon become a bust. We’ve listed the ways to determine if your self-storage facility needs renovations and how to plan for them so you can stay competitive, add value, and increase your return on investment.
Why make improvements at your self-storage facility?
It’s critical to continue to grow with the market around you. Otherwise, you might face an aging facility struggling to keep up with the changing times. Eager real estate investors could see this as an opportunity to gain more market share by building sleeker, safer, and more high-tech self-storage facilities that lure away tenants.
Improvements can benefit everyone. For example, upgrading the tenant experience with curb appeal, improved lighting, enhanced security, safer features, and convenient technology, like smart locks, can retain existing business, attract new customers, and boost your cash flow. And if you’re planning to sell your property in the future, you can justify a higher price with savvy renovations.
Here are the steps to assessing and preparing for self-storage renovations.
Step 1: Determine the need for self-storage renovations
Before you can make improvements, you’ll need to determine how well your facility functions and fits with the surrounding market.
Here’s a list of ways you can determine needs:
- Do inspections: Review existing features to determine how they work for your employees and tenants. Look at all aspects of your property, from landscaping to roll-up doors. Again, prevention is key to saving time and money.
- Shop competition: It’s important to know what other nearby self-storage properties are offering so that you don’t miss opportunities to grow your business. Observe all features, including the ones they’re not offering. Adding new improvements that others don’t have could give you the ability to increase rental rates and maximize profit.
- Identify your market: Check potential changes, such as new real estate developments planned for your area, that could impact the need for additional self-storage space in the future.
- Review occupancy: Low occupancy isn’t the only red flag. If your storage space is full, it might be a sign that your rates are not high enough and you’re missing the opportunity to get the maximum market value for your property.
Step 2: Consider the solutions available with self-storage renovation
For every problem, there’s a solution. However, choosing the best solution for your self-storage business is key to your return on investment. When weighing options, you’ll want to ensure that renovation projects are cost-effective and align with your short-term and long-term objectives.
Here are some specific needs and solutions to consider:
- Extra space? Relocatable storage units can be added quickly and come in various sizes and colors to match existing units. Utilizing additional square footage can increase your storage space and profits for minimal investment. Tenants might also appreciate the drive-up convenience of these units.
- Security upgrade? Give tenants peace of mind by ensuring your security methods are working correctly and are on trend with the nearby competition. For example, check that lighting, gates, cameras, and locks function as intended.
- More safety? If your unit doors are so old that they’re becoming a hazard, don’t wait for complaints or injuries. A proactive assessment and replacement will not only ward off future risks but can also save you money by reducing insurance costs.
- Better functionality? Review what your competition offers and determine if you’re falling behind on new automation features, like smart locks and smart keypads. These components increase convenience and give tenants customized access to the facility and their units.
Step 3: Make a plan for renovating your self-storage facility
Assessing your self-storage facility and planning for capital improvements can seem overwhelming. It’s a lot to consider, especially if you’re a first-time self-storage business owner. However, there are many options to weigh, so it’s best to have a comprehensive plan so you’re adding tangible value that makes the most sense for your needs.
If you’re unsure where to start, seek guidance from experts like the Janus International R3 team, who can help you throughout the process. A field technician and sales representatives will meet you on-site to assess and measure the square footage of your property. They’ll also estimate construction costs and a timeline for completion to determine feasibility and budgets.
