A total of 191 million square feet of the United States’ self-storage inventory today comes from the adaptive reuse of commercial buildings, typically outdated industrial properties.
That 191 million figure? It accounted for roughly 9% of the total U.S. supply of self-storage space in October of this year.
This information comes from the adaptive reuse study released by StorageCafe in early November.
According to the study, about 78% of the commercial buildings converted to self-storage were previously industrial facilities. In second place? Former retail spaces, which made up 16% of the conversions to self-storage spaces.
StorageCafe reported that the average street rate for a unit in a converted self-storage facility stood at $141 a month in October, a bit lower than the average of $144 for properties originally built as self-storage.
According to StorageCafe’s research, converted self-storage properties offer more affordable monthly rates in 49% of the cities that offer both types of facilities. This makes them an attractive option for customers looking for a lower monthly fee.
And an interesting tidbit for the Midwest? Chicago leads the country with the highest square footage of converted self-storage facilities. According to StorageCafe, the Chicago market boasts almost 7.3 million square feet of space that has been redeveloped into storage units. This space is divided among 72 facilities.
Also in the Midwest, St. Louis ranks fifth nationally with 2.2 million square feet of converted self-storage space, a figure that makes up about three-quarters of the local self-storage inventory.
Milwaukee ranks eighth nationally with 1.65 million square feet of converted self-storage space, making up 47% of the local storage inventory. Kansas City, Missouri, boasts more than 1.5 million square feet of adaptive reuse self-storage, while Cincinnati claims almost 1.3 million square feet of converted self-storage space.
The Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis also rank among the country’s top 20 cities for adaptive reuse. Minneapolis boasts 1.4 million square feet of converted self-storage space while St. Paul counts 1.3 million square feet.
