Storage Facility Advice from the BP Brain\ Trust

[Jim Keplinger]

Dear BiggerPockets BrainTrust:

Folks, I'm about to pull the trigger on my first deal (tommorow?!?) and I have questions. I'm purchasing a 4600SF commercial building 30 feet off the main Square in small town Indiana.  The square is currently undergoing a massive (and well funded) revitalization effort, which I thought would be as good a place to hitch my wagon as any. That said, I have experience in spas (building and operating), so the obvious choice for ~2000 feet is a spa...and I may already have a leasee. However, that leaves ~2600 feet unaccounted for. Now, I can do a lot of things with the space, however, as it is dry, has a loading dock, is at least temperature controlled (might be climate controlled as the building has been used for document storage for a decade), and has a dry fire suppression system installed and working. But, this particular section is not public-facing (access only off a back street), has no windows (cinderblocked up years ago) and is far from sexy...it's just space.

One of my ideas is to fit it for self-storage units. I'm a quick study and have started reading up on such things, however, there is precious little on doing it to such a small space or even how to estimate costs. Can anyone give me advice, pros, cons, etc? Is it a good idea or is there a more lucrative way to profit off the space?

Thank you in advance for any and all ideas!

Jim