Customer Spotlight: Climate Storage – Knoxville, TN
Climate Storage has grown substantially since it began back in 1999. Going from one facility, that all started when owner, Ed Drummond, needed to clear out his overflowing garage, to seven self-storage facilities across the southeast today.
Four of those facilities were sold to other operators in 2013. In this blog, we’ll highlight just how Climate Storage got started, building based on local demand, and partnering with a building provider that offers custom solutions.
Challenge: Finding a Self-Storage Unit to Free Up Garage Space
21 years ago, Ed and his wife were on a mission to find a self-storage facility to store her ever-growing collection of valuables. As a result of his wife’s collecting heart, the couple’s garage was filled to the brim with her beloved treasures. Inevitably, they ran out of space and were in the market to rent a self-storage unit to provide these items a new home, with room to grow.
As his wife began to search and get estimates from nearby storage facilities, she returned with no luck. Little did they know, the news she would bring home that day would be the spark of a lucrative new career.
Solution: If You Build It (Right), They Will Come
With no vacancies and high rental rates in the area, Ed saw the opportunity to not only clean out his garage, but to also make money by providing for the storage demand in the area. That’s when Climate Storage was born.
There’s no doubt the self-storage industry has proven to be a very profitable business but a lot hinges on finding the right partnerships.
“The decision to use BETCO for my facilities is built on the relationships that I’ve made over the years and the partnership that is established. The trust for them to get the job done with my requests in mind makes for a great team. With each step in the process handled by one company, there isn’t a need to string along other vendors until the project is complete. BETCO handles each step and that simplifies the project.”
– Ed Drummond, Owner, Climate Storage
After finding success with their first self-storage facility, Climate Storage has since developed, owned and operated 7 additional facilities. Here, we’ll take a closer look at two of their multi-story facilities, both located in Knoxville, TN.
The continued growth in the Knoxville area has led to an increase in demand for storage space and many homeowners are taking advantage of self-storage as they go through various stages of their lives. As a result, self-storage, especially climate controlled storage, has seen significant growth as residential areas boom. With land costs rising and limited availability, multi-story storage buildings were the best solution for accommodating the growth at these two facilities.
The first is known as Pellissippi, which is a 3-story climate controlled storage facility with drive-up storage units totaling 100,900 sq. ft. and 740 units. The second facility is Middlebrook and while it doesn’t have drive-up units, it is a 4-story climate controlled storage facility with 102,000 sq. ft. and 738 units.
Although these facilities are different in many ways, they both had the same game plan: postponing the top floor development to allow ample time to adjust the unit mix for future growth. Once all of the units on the other floors were occupied, BETCO was called back in to complete the top floors.
Since the exterior of the buildings had already been completed, getting the materials to the top floor made it a little more challenging. Each piece of building material had to be carried by hand. The project also required a different course of action to keep the structure secure. The wall partitions weren’t fully built out since the unit mix had not previously been determined and as a result, a plan was needed to support the top floor of the building. Mini-partitions were able to take place of the large ones and were installed permanently to later be extended once the structural design was in place.
Multi-story storage buildings have many unique advantages. With the ability to provide more rentable, climate controlled, square footage on a smaller tract of land, and easily expand to meet customer demand, self-storage owners and developers across the globe are choosing to build up.
Why partner with BETCO for your next self-storage build?
Being a total solutions provider, backed with decades of experience, BETCO supports each customer’s unique vision for their facility… because after all, every project is different and requires more than a “one size fits all” approach.
Since 1984, self-storage developers across the world have turned to BETCO to create custom self-storage buildings of every shape and size. While other self-storage building providers offer piecemeal products and services, BETCO’s craftsman buildings are skillfully designed and artfully constructed from the slab up to meet any demand. From small, single story buildings to large, multistory facilities, BETCO has a solution and will do whatever it takes to finish the job.
Want To learn more on how you can enter the self-storage industry and the benefits of partnering with BETCO?
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