Self Storage
The self-storage industry in North America has been significantly impacted by urbanization and changing lifestyles, leading to increased demand for storage solutions as living spaces shrink and real estate costs rise. Additionally, the adoption of technology and innovative business models has transformed operations, enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency.
As demand has surged, regulators target traditional facilities, with new models emerging to make storage nearly invisible
Commercial real estate investors are hitting refresh on stodgy investment strategies and sending more capital flowing into alternative property sectors. Portfolio managers that were once laser-focused on traditional property sectors are expanding strategies to include bigger allocations beyond the typical mix of office, retail, industrial, and multifamily assets.
While many businesses in the United States have been coping with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for a year or longer, the broader availability of vaccines and a rebounding global economy are cause for more optimism than skepticism across the real estate industry, said industry leaders participating in a recent ULI webinar. Industrial, self-storage, and single-family rentals have been some of the sectors surging, while laggard sectors are still betting on a burgeoning recovery.
Driverless cars will have an even greater disruptive impact on society than elevator did more than a century ago, as soon as public fear gives way to acceptance, said panelists at the ULI Washington Real Estate Trends Conference.
At the recent REIT World Conference in Las Vegas, industry experts said they are looking forward to 2016, when REITs will be separated from financial services and elevated into a new Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sector. Self-storage and apartments are attractive due to favorable demographic trends. Plus, interest rate survey results from Trepp.
Developers who are primarily targeting the demographic “barbells” of baby boomers and millennials shared on-the-ground experience at a ULI Spring Meeting session moderated by ULI Senior Fellow Maureen McAvey.
