Self-Storage Conversion: Should I stay or should I go now?

[Kristian Conway]

So I've done residential real estate deals and seen some success. I work in construction, have done a lot of my own work and am a Civil Engineer by trade. In my hunt for another rental deal I stumbled upon an old warehouse for only $100,000. In my market, you can't buy any rental that's not in a rough neighborhood for less than approx. $150k. The building is two story with 4000 total sqft. I've always had a wild hair to convert an old building to loft style apartments but after analyzing the area and the necessary construction to convert I don't believe this is a viable option. 

HOWEVER, I thought of converting the property to mini self-storage. DISCLAIMER I have no experience in this field at all. I've never even rented a storage unit myself, only been to friends storage units. And I do understand the "stay in your lane" and "shiny object syndrome". However, I do believe it's worth pursuing even if it's just a learning exercise. 

So here's some rough numbers I came up with: 

$100,000 purchase (Definitely think I can get it cheaper)

4000 sqft space resulting in 3000 sqft usable rental space. (I worked up a layout of common storage unit sizes trying to keep a good mix of units) 

At 80% Occupancy I would be looking at roughly $2900 monthly rent. 

To convert the property it would take roughly $50,000. 

Property is zoned "Other Commercial". 

So I would be in the property $150,000 with a monthly rent of $2900. 

My biggest struggle right now is how to value the property to calculate Cap rate, etc. I typically utilize the BRRRR model on my residential property and have a very solid understanding of how to value the properties. On a property like this, I would still like to use the BRRRR model and pull my money back out but am unsure on how to value since it's so unique. I've also never dabbled in the commercial sector so I'm curious about the differences in financing as well.

Any help is appreciated!