The continuing demand for yet more self-storage space across the country has now seen the building of facilities representing a total footprint of 1.6 billion square feet.
And according to the website StorageCafe, the demand shows no sign of slackening, even though up to 45.2 million square feet of self-storage space was built in just 2021 alone.
New announced projects in the last two weeks include a 70,000 square foot facility in Clearwater, Florida, to belong to the Atlanta-based company Nitneal Partners. A 93,000 square foot facility is set for construction by the Guilderland Realty Partners Guilderland, New York.
A 122,000 square-foot facility, built by the Mangat Group, is set to open in Peoria, Arizona; meanwhile, U-Haul International is converting an existing building in Santa Fe to a self-storage facility, creating in the process just over 103,000 square feet of space.
In the last decade, according to reports, the number of new self-storage facilities has grown by an almost impossible-to-imagine 926%. While an average $1 billion a year was spent on the construction of such new facilities between 2012 and 2015, the figures jumped to more than $3 billion in 2018 and has stayed at that level ever since.
Part of the reason for the continuing demand for more self-storage space, according to a survey conducted by the site RentCafe, has to do with the continuing large number of people who today live in apartments.
Questioning around 4,200 renters, the survey found that some 21% are currently using self-storage facilities, while 12% said they had plans to use such facilities in the future.
Positive long-term prospects for the industry are seen in the age of those doing the storing, with 44% of Generation X renters, born between 1965 and 1980, making up the largest customer base.
Another growing group, the Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, comprised 30% of active users.
In a statement accompanying the survey, Maria Gatea, an analyst with RentCafe, pointed out that the “recent need to carve out space at home for home offices or gyms, plus an increase in multigenerational living,” are two factors contributing to the ongoing need for more self-storage space.
By Garry Boulard
