From day one, CSC guides you through every stage of your self-storage project, regardless of the concept you choose. Our decades of experience allow us to provide practical, proven advice to refine your concept and develop the technical design.
You own or long term rent a building in which you let install steel units with roller or swing doors. These can be rented out to private people or professionals.
The key to success is maximising rentable square metres (especially by building upwards) and achieving the highest possible occupancy rate. Combined, these deliver one of the highest, often the highest, returns in real estate management in the UK.
Very low staffing is required, even lower with an unmanned system, making self-storage highly efficient.
The business is cash-intensive in the first 2–3 years but then becomes strongly cash-generative. It is also highly crisis-resistant: during the 2008 crisis, self-storage was the only real-estate sector where REITs remained positive.
This is an industry where there are various options regarding exit strategies and running the facility
In case you already have a building, we provide a budget quotation based on the location, useful for your business plan and bank financing.
If you are still looking for a building, location is critical. You can purchase or lease an existing structure (old bakery, warehouse, factory, retail unit, etc.) or build new. No building needs to be purpose-designed for self-storage.
Once you identify a site or building, we will evaluate with you the feasibility of a self-storage site at that location (important: accessibility, size, close to city center, residential or industrial area, close to high traffic road…).
You have to check with the local fire department about specific requirements for self-storage in the area (these vary across regions). We have different solutions ready in case the fire department puts in place specific rules.
Based on all the information above, a first draft drawing is made by us. This drawing can be used for the permitting process that is done by you. Once you have received the permit and bank has agreed on financing, we go to step 3: project drawing.
Based on the draft drawing and the remarks from the permitting government, we make a new, detailed drawing (including entrances, toilets, corridors, chimneys, mezzanine, stairs…) We iterate 2–3 times until you approve the final drawing.
After approval we issue a detailed quotation, timeline, responsibilities, payment terms and warranties. We conclude a clear, mutually beneficial agreement before moving to construction.
Your project drawer becomes your dedicated project manager throughout, ensuring smooth delivery.
We visit your site, anywhere in Europe, to verify the building matches the agreed drawings. Any minor adjustments are discussed before production starts, guaranteeing client satisfaction.
Production is launched based on the final approved drawings.
To make sure that the startup of the installation goes smoothly from day 1, we set up a shared communication platform between you, the installation team leader, project manager and CSC supervision for clear, efficient updates. This will be used for all detailed communication in every step of the process.
At the start of installation you will be there to receive the installation team and explain the housekeeping rules and safety rules. Afterwards the team can manage on their own.
At completion you join a final inspection tour with the team leader.
Every remark made by you or the team leader will be put on a snag list platform from which you receive the report. This concludes the installation process and we start working on the snag list which we normally try to finish within 3 weeks time.
Our sales manager will visit your facility to evaluate the project and company performance. We will also use this visit to evaluate the commercial performance of your site, the number of units rented, check whether the website can be optimized, different advertisement strategies… All with the goal to be able to optimize your investment.
We will also use this opportunity to make further arrangements on your future developments.
