How to do market research for potential self storage site

[Bruce Clark]

My partner and I recently acquired an empty lot that is in a "downtown" area. The lot used to have a large commercial garage on it, but the garage burnt down and now it is vacant. Just blocks away from this lot, a local investor is currently developing a large industrial building into several high price (for the area) condos. With this in mind, my partner and I are thinking of building self storage units on our lot. We have contacted the City and confirmed that the zoning is fine, and the inspector actually indicated that the City would love to have the lot developed for storage (dont know what this is worth). 

We currently only have rental properties and have no experience with self storage. I am just starting my market research to determine if this idea is actually doable/profitable. I plan to research all storage facilities in the area. Im planning to research how many units are around and how many are actually available. (I have not done this yet). However, after I get these numbers, I am not sure how to analyze them. 

Other than this, I am not sure what numbers I should be gathering; what analysis I should be making; what considerations are important; etc.

Any tips, tricks, suggested reading, or advice for a brand new self storage investor would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.