Alternative use for self storage building

[Rfreeman]

Hey guys I know this might not be the right area to post this considering there is section dedicated to self storage but I think there are more looks here vs. there; so hopefully this wont' get deleted by the forces that be lol

Anyway I have 18 self storage units at one site that get no use whatsoever. I have owned the location for 2 years now and I think I have leased a total of 5 units of which 3 of those units I inherited and were already leased when I purchased the location. Bottom line the wash and these units are not in the best of area, great location for a wash as it is pretty busy location but not the right $ocioeconomic demographics for self storage if you know what I mean. I use one of the units for my "shop" to store parts, tools, etc but other than that it just hasn't proved to a smart move by the previous owner. It's a nice building so I would hate to tear it down but I am tired of dealing with break ins and running them off.

Has anyone see any other alternative uses for self storage buildings? Each of the units are 10 x 10 I believe. This wash does have good business, the bays (7 SS) run parallel to the street, then the vacs (5) are parallel to the wash bays, then in the very back are the 18 units parallel to the vac canopy and wash bays (9 in the front and 9 in the back)

Since I only have 5 vacs and I have extras in my warehouse I was thinking of demoing the building and putting in another canopy and additional vacs. This is a site where the customers like to take their time to vac, clean, and detail their cars. I am a little concerned that if I do put vacs in the back there will get vandalized all the time since they are in the far back. I have all new led lighting so the place is well lit at night so what do you guys think?

 

[Waxman]

Wow what a nice looking building! Is there a demand for efficiency apartments in your area? You could convert it to living space. Expensive, but if the market is right for it, why not?

Put a tunnel wash in there? Sell just the storage business part or lease the whole building to someone else? Put a laundry mat in there?

Another thought: leasing 5 units is not 'nothing' in my opinion. It is some money, and that's always better than nothing. Why not go the easy route: keep what you have ( demo costs $$). It has value so don't tear it down. Instead, have a big promotion for the storage. More signs, social media blasts, create a Google Business Page for the self storage. Give the business its own name. if it doesn't have it already. Make up biz cards; give them out to any Uhaul / Penske truck rental place. Create a "call to action" for your potential customers, like first 3 mos. rent free, etc. Get into the business a little deeper; read trade forums, get tips from other experienced storage operators. Ask them how they fill vacancies.

 

[KleanRide]

I'm with waxman, promote the heck out of what you've got before spending money on demo and re-purpose. Any ideas on how saturated/competitive your local storage market is?

 

[Rfreeman]

Thanks guys! Yeah I agree it is a nice building that's why I really dont want to tear it down but the problem is the location. I have a lot of crackheads roaming the streets day and night....they go through the trash cans and in the back kick in the roll up doors to crash the night. Last week I caught a guy in one unit with a prostitute! I dont even try to rent the back units because I would hate for someone's things to get stolen.

I thought about taking the roll up doors off and blocking up the back units to make them 9 instead of 18 or blocking them up and putting a 36" or 48" wide steel door for extra security.

 

[soonermajic]

Maybe add LED lighting back there or fence it in.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I saw a 10 unit storage facility turned into 8 SMALL offices and 1 larger office.
The person I had the meeting with has been there for 6 yrs. and loved it.
Because of the size the rent was ideal for his purpose. He told me all the units had been rented out for at least the same time.
Just a thought

 

[Rfreeman]

Sooner, first thing I did was add LED to the whole place SS bays, Vacs, and this building hoping the extra light would detract them from coming around.....nope no luck! I am thinking about fencing off either the whole property closing the wash at night OR just fencing off access to the back of this building.

Jmmustang I have seen that as well and it crossed my mind. I could get electrical there but my only question would be water? Would each unit need water and restroom? Do you know how that facility handled it?

Waxman, your in detail as well as car washes do you think if I extended the width of the roll up doors I could detail out of these units?

As always thanks!

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Rfreeman the office I was in had a small bathroom.
For your units if you don’t have water going to it now I would add it to each unit if you leased them out as office units.
I would charge a monthly Common Area and Maintenance (known as CAM cost) charge to each unit leased out for water, electric, gas (heat), sewer and trash as part of the monthly rent per unit.

 

[Waxman]

I suppose you could detail in there but that's a whole new ballgame; a whole new PROCESS, employees, different types of customers and customer service, more inventory and equipment. Detailing is not absentee; you have to be there at least 25-40 hrs per week to spot check for quality assurance and to provide good customer relations.

I have grown to appreciate the types of businesses that is simple and with fewer employees. Of all the options available to you, I would dig deeper ( much deeper) into the storage business and discover new ways to fill vacancies and keep crackheads out. Just like this great group of car wash operators on the forum, I'm sure the storage biz has successful and experienced operators who have had the same challenges as you.

This is your simplest, most cost-effective and headache-proof way to proceed. Look at it another way; what does it cost to acquire new customers for the storage and what effort is required by you to gain the customers and then run this business? Conversely, what does it cost to remodel, equip and stock with chemicals for a detail shop? What are the associated employee expenses for detailing ( wages, insurance, fringies ). What is the effort required and cost of gaining customers for your detail shop?

I know what I would do; educate myself on storage unit business. Promotion, customer acquisition, retention, standard vacancy rate. Price per size / unit. Add ons: truck rental, dolly rental, box and tape sales, ETC.

 

[Rfreeman]

Rfreeman the office I was in had a small bathroom.
For your units if you don’t have water going to it now I would add it to each unit if you leased them out as office units.
I would charge a monthly Common Area and Maintenance (known as CAM cost) charge to each unit leased out for water, electric, gas (heat), sewer and trash as part of the monthly rent per unit.

Jmustang can you tell me more about the general area where these units were located? Because in my area I am thinking the crackheads will just break into the offices. I like the idea and am very familiar with real esate (Im a Tx Lic Realtor, commercial agent, and investor) Im very familiar with NNN, Double Net, gross lease and CAM charges....I also own a few smaller shopping centers on NNN leases. I think the biggest location is the neighborhood I am located in....and not much I can do about that.

 

[Rfreeman]

Waxman

Thanks for the input but I was thinking more along the lines of leasing it out to a detailer. I actually know a mobile detailer that comes to my office to detail my car and he does an excellent job! I was thinking about providing the building and leasing it to someone else for all the reason you mentioned in your post. At my other location I have a snowcone stand....I don't want the headaches of hiring and babysitting teenagers to run that so I lease it out to the some "professional snowcone stand" people....they have 3 other stands in the area so they know their business....In my lease i stipulate the rules because a customer whether car wash or snow cone stand doesn't know the difference between us (car wash) and the snow cone stand and at the end of the day I want each customer to leave satisfied so I tell them if I get complaints your gone! The location is great for a snow cone stand so they run a tight ship because they don't want to lose the location.

So I was thinking of converting the building and leasing it to someone to run their business out of it.

 

[Rfreeman]

UPDATE: They broke in again last night this time into my unit and one of the other units I have leased! They stole a spare LED light I had in there and not 100% sure what they got from my tenant. So close to demoing this thing! haha

I know storage units are profitable I have studied the buisness and familiar with them in this area but given my neighborhood I think these are just asking for trouble.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Jmustang can you tell me more about the general area where these units were located? Because in my area I am thinking the crackheads will just break into the offices. I like the idea and am very familiar with real esate (Im a Tx Lic Realtor, commercial agent, and investor) Im very familiar with NNN, Double Net, gross lease and CAM charges....I also own a few smaller shopping centers on NNN leases. I think the biggest location is the neighborhood I am located in....and not much I can do about that.

Pompano Beach/Fort Lauderdale Fl. Dixie Hwy. not a great area

 

[Rfreeman]

UPDATE: Thanks for all the input so I have another business (the day job) and I was cutting it up with my guys in the shop and told them about my little problem and we came up with a solution. Grabbed case of beer, the welder, and went to work! These bad boys will be installed on each storage unit with two "hockey puck" locks. Let's see if this keeps the two legged varmints away

 

[WBNTEXAS]

Rfreeman, not sure if you're a fast fabricator or slow drinker but that's a FINE looking gate!
….and only one case of beer...

 

[Rfreeman]

Rfreeman, not sure if you're a fast fabricator or slow drinker but that's a FINE looking gate!
….and only one case of beer...

Hahaha a little bit of both.....thanks we took it to our paint booth today primed and painted to install tomorrow. Let's see if they will try to screw with this...

 

[KleanRide]

Man that’s impressive, you guys do nice work

 

[soapy]

Looks like you could use those for riot arrest over flow.

 

[KleanRide]

How much would you charge to build a gate like that to put in front of my coke machine?

Only a matter of time before Bubba and Cooter wrap a tow strap around it and take it for a spin.

 

[Rfreeman]

haha I know what you mean. Give me the dimensions and we can gladly take a look at it for sure. If you can send me some pictures of your coke machine and where its located that would be great too. We made a similar gate for my equipment room front door as well.