Bay Watch: A Look At Loading Bay Amenities

2020 Construction Facility of the Year: Metro Self Storage, Monmouth Junction, NJ

A recent Pew Research Study found over 70 percent of Americans said their community had faced some sort of severe weather event, including excess rain or snow and above or below average temperatures.  

Those events have an impact on the self-storage industry, as customers seek easy and more comfortable areas in which to unload and load their stored goods. “Covered and climate-controlled loading bays have already really taken off in areas which have had historically extreme weather, such as Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, and the Dakotas,” says Robert Kubicek, CEO and architect at RKAA Architects, Inc., in Phoenix, Ariz.  

“In the old days, when we were doing mostly single-story storage, everyone was just doing drive-up, where you drove up and unloaded at your unit,” says M. Anne Ballard, president of marketing, training, and developmental services at Universal Storage Group (USG) in Atlanta, Ga. “In the more tropical and northern climates, they then started building covered driveways.”  

As other areas continue to experience more extreme weather, most industry experts say expanding loading bays to include cover and sometimes climate-controlled loading areas will become more the norm.   

“Providing a convenient, covered loading bay gives you a leg up in the business,” says Ballard.  

2020 New Facility of the Year: SmarterSpace Storage–Life Storage, Gainesville, Florida

Retrofitting Loading Areas  

Drive-Up Covered 

Your facility may still be a single-story drive-up, but that doesn’t mean you can’t provide at least cover for your customers for loading. “You can definitely put a canopy up,” says Kubicek. “Depending on how big of an area you have, it’s very easy to do.” You can even take an empty bay and add AC in some cases, he adds. If you are dedicating an actual bay for loading and unloading, Kubicek says you will need to ensure your door is an easy automatic door with at least a keypad for entrance.  

Canopies can be added for between $10,000 to $30,000, according to Kubicek.  

“They can be attached to the building, or you can add them free standing between each building,” says Eric Blum, president of BMSGRP Self Storage Consultants in Coral Springs, Fla. 

Kubicek says most owners who add loading canopies put in a permanent structure, but there is also the option of adding a canvas canopy, which can last up to five years.  

Either permanent canopies or canvas canopies can also be added to loading dock style areas commonly found on conversion projects that were previously retail buildings.  

Porte Cochère 

Simply defined, a porte cochère is a roofed structure extending from the entrance of a building over an adjacent driveway or courtyard. These are most popular in the hotel industry, which builds them to allow guests to unload and load their baggage. In the self-storage industry, constructing a porte cochère allows owners to retrofit single-story facilities with hallways or those that interior bridges to other buildings, as well as multistory buildings. These areas can be left open or fully enclosed. “The key is making sure it is on level ground and it allows tenants to move in and out quickly,” says Kubicek.  

MSM Groundbreaking Development: 1-800-Self-Storage, Southfield, Michigan

New Loading Bays 

The majority of new Class-A self-storage facilities areas are multistory buildings that allow developers to maximize smaller pieces of land while putting in more units.  

When designing a multistory self-storage building, special consideration must be given to the loading bays.  

Kubicek says you must design a loading bay that will be convenient for your customers without impacting the surrounding neighbors. “You want to make sure your loading bay is faced away from nearby housing,” he says. “You want to make sure your facility is designed to be as quiet as possible to the surrounding neighborhood.”  

It’s important that your facility is designed with customer convenience in mind. “Look at the distance from the point of loading into their units on the first floor,” says Ballard. “Try to keep it at under 150 feet, if possible.”  

Another design tip from Ballard: Notch in the elevator no more than 30 to 40 foot inside the loading area. “It doesn’t look like a long distance to the customer if the area is open.” If the facility is designed properly, she says you will have limited move-outs for harder to rent units. “If a customer has a 10-by-30 climate-controlled unit right off the loading bay area, they will likely never move.”  

Per Kubicek, you’ll likely want to design at least two loading bays, depending on the number of units at your facility. “Some people even prefer having three bays,” he says. “It’s much easier for customers if facilities have more than 100,00 square feet.” Moreover, Kubicek suggests building bays at least 24 feet wide and 45 to 50 foot deep.    

Blum reminds developers to adhere to local fire codes, as well as standard safety practices. “The loading bay areas in multistory buildings are typically 10 to 12 feet high with sprinkler systems,” says Blum. “Some are 20 feet high. You want to have it high enough so emissions from vehicles don’t build up. You want to be keen on safety functions, as many things can happen when there are vehicles inside buildings.”  

Ballard adds that the loading bay should take up at least the first two floors of the building; USG designs theirs to be at least 30 feet wide.  

To make it extra convenient for customers, and if space allows, you can design a drive-thru loading bay with doors on both ends. Doors are typically automatic roll-up doors that may be controlled by an app on customers’ phones.  

Paulding Storage, Dallas, Georgia

Extra Appeal 

“Don’t skimp on your loading bay area,” advises Ballard. USG’s newly designed facilities include Nokē smart entry system that allows customers to unlock doors and gates from an app on their phone.  

Once inside, ensure your customers have plenty of dollies and carts. “The most important thing next to design is making sure you have plenty of carts for customers to use at the beginning and end of the month,” says Blum.  

It’s also a good idea to have an industrial-sized picnic table near the loading bay area to give customers a place to rest and organize. “Coffee bars are also appreciated, as well as managers handing out cold water,” says Ballard.  

She suggests that developers not think of the loading bay as space that cannot be maximized. “One thing we love about our loading bays is we also use them as event space year around,” says Ballard. “It’s a great way to market the facility and show off that special feature.” So far this year, their loading bays have hosted over 10,000 people at their special events.  

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Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell is a freelance journalist based in the Ozark Mountains.