How Much To Make A Storage Facility From The Ground Up?

Question

Hi All,

Just asking around to see if anyone has an idea on how much it costs to make a storage facility from the ground up. I have the land free and clear and it's on a major street. It's also near a recently built housing tract and I believe they are in the works of expanding. I wanted to get an idea of how much it would cost to create this facility and if it even makes sense. Any ideas or any people you recommend to talk to would be greatly appreciated.

Juan V Lopez · Answer

Great question Billy, hopefully you get some good responses. I'm looking into this as well and have been listening to and reading a lot of AJ Osborne's content. He has a great podcast and acquiring & building storage facilities. "Self Storage Income With AJ Osborne." He's a good resource to tap in to.

Michael Le · Answer

Henry Clark is always very helpful with these questions

Ronald Rohde · Answer

How long is a piece of string?

While you already have the land, theres still a ton of variables to even back of envelope estimate. Zoning? utilities? grading?drainage? detention pond?

WHERE IS THE LAND? Building SS in California is very different than Texas.

I think you're wanting ballpark $175/ft numbers. But do you know how big of a facility you want? Are you paying cash for construction or loan?

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Just call a local GC and ask what the SF cost is for this kind of building. They can give you a rough idea....

James Siller · Answer

Assuming there is demand, I would discuss with county and local fire marshals, city planning admin, county engineering, county floodplain, zoning.... how are you getting utilities, are there impact fees associated with them (water / sewer / electricity), assuming it's a state owned road you are on, you will have to get a permit from them as well (Ask your civil engineering company about this), Do you have a survey, does it have topo, what are your setbacks from the road, if it's a large road it may be significant if there is expansion planned, Does it have the required ingress / egress for emergency vehicles (ie. min road widths and entrances), does it have appropriate water supply for the latest fire codes (ask your civil engineering company for references to fire engineers or if they have somebody in staff that can help), where do you need fire hydrants and are sprinklers required, are there any easements currently- will you need to grant any for utilities...

Also, find an civil engineering company who's done similar type work.  Once you have a layout or idea, plan a pre-development meeting with the city to see if they're open and willing to support the plan.

Once you have most of those answers, then you can apply costs to them and see if the project makes sense financially.  Using the equity of the land to finance the build would be my first question, since you're a real estate agent, you should be able to approximate that value and figure that out.

Feel free to holler at me with any questions, I'm doing something similar with office warehouses currently in TX, but am looking at my next project of doing storages from the ground up.

Eric Spond · Answer

Start calling local architects and see if any of experience in designing a facility like this. These are fairly simple buildings with minimum infrastructure depending on the type of building you build, so if you have the land free and clear, that's a big cost taken out of the equation. Also, a good idea to get ahold of the local jurisdiction (City or County) and run your idea by them to ensure you're in the correct zoning and they are willing to give you the permits you need.

How Much To Make A Storage Facility From The Ground Up?

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