Self Storage Conversion Leased Property

[Chris O'Reilly]

Local industrial property, zoned for self storage, is hard to come by to build or convert. Not to mention expensive. I have found some smaller buildings that could be converted to self storage but the catch is that are for lease, not for sale. My initial pro-forma shows a leased scenario has a much bigger return than a standard build/buy/convert path, but I can’t find anything online regarding this method.
Is it not done? If not, why? I realize caution needs to be taken to get protections in the lease so the business and your customers don’t have move in 5 years. But if the return is there for the next 10-20 years, why would this not be a great option? What am I missing? Why is this not a common set up for self storage conversions?

Thanks for your input.