Mini storage units at co-op complex?

[Janet Crouch]

Hi. I’m on the board of a co-op apartment complex in Tucson, Arizona. It is an older complex (built in the 1960s) with over 100 units. It is well maintained, but we could sure use some income. We have an older shuffleboard court area with a concrete slab, and a playground area (which gets very limited use, as there are probably only 5 kids in the whole complex). We also have an area with a couple of clotheslines near the laundry room, where a few people occasionally hang out laundry to dry. These areas are at the edge of our property, fairly unobtrusive. Overall, I think we could convert 1,000 to 2,000 square feet of these areas to mini self-storage units and rent them out to shareholders, maybe at 5% below market rates, as an amenity of the property. I’m thinking maybe 5 x 10 units, but that’s just a guess. We would survey shareholders on their interest, but we think we’d have enough people interested. If not, we could make units available to residents of the sister co-op next door. I feel like this could be a money maker for us. We’d probably have our property manager handle storage rentals.

I’m at a loss as to where to start. I’ve found some companies that make steel storage unit buildings, some of which can be shipped unassembled, etc. The portable ones might work best for us, as we could depreciate them over 7 years and they could be put on gravel areas, it looks like. But I’d like to put together some cost information and figure out profit per square foot, how long it would take for us to recoup our investment, etc., so that I can present this information to the rest of the board and the community.

I’m hoping that some of you in the self-storage business can give me some ideas on where to start and how to calculate expenses and income. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!