2025 Smart Facility Of The Year: CubeSmart

In recognition of innovation and technology adoption, a CubeSmart facility in Nashville, Tenn., has been honored as MSM’s 2025 Smart Facility of the Year. This award underlines not only the facility’s commitment to advanced self-storage solutions but also marks a showcase of how smart technology is transforming the self-storage industry.

The award reflects an ongoing shift in the storage sector, where facilities are increasingly adopting automation and energy-conscious design to meet the expectations of a more digital and sustainability-minded clientele. For CubeSmart and Janus International, the company that nominated the facility, this recognition serves as both a milestone and a model for how forward-thinking infrastructure can set a new industry benchmark.

The Nashville facility, opened in 2025, has already made significant strides. Faced with a challenging site and ambitious design, the development team embraced forward-looking technology and building systems. The result is a facility that blends advanced access, energy-efficient HVAC, comprehensive security, and a smart-enabled tenant and staff experience.

Beyond convenience, these design choices reflect a deeper understanding of how urban growth patterns and digital lifestyles are reshaping customer needs. Today’s tenants expect the same seamless connectivity and control they experience at home—an expectation that CubeSmart’s design directly fulfills.

The Development Challenges

Developing the Nashville facility was no small feat. The site presented several significant obstacles from the outset. The environment itself was a bit odd to build on since the development site is a long, thin, L-shaped site with a constricting physical landscape surrounding the area. In turn, such a large landscape requires a wide reach for Wi-Fi and security cameras.

With its odd shape, sprawling landscape, and multibuilding layout, the development team could not simply build a cookie-cutter box. This complexity may have increased cost, but it also created opportunity: more building volume, more units, and the ability to design a campus experience rather than a single building.

Every successful site begins with strong planning and development foundations. From the first brick laid, to the last camera installed, there are many steps to take and obstacles to hurdle. Construction of a facility with “primarily climate-controlled units required extensive excavation for the distribution of electricity and other utilities throughout the site,” notes Janus International.

In effect, what might have been a straightforward self-storage project instead became a complex civil-engineering and building infrastructure challenge. This hard work paid off: The facility now comprises eight climate-controlled buildings, 100 percent electronic access via smart locks, full security monitoring, and a wireless network across the site.

Fulfilling Its Purpose

Key technology features of the facility include eight climate-controlled buildings (out of 11 total) and 100 percent electronic access using the Nokē Smart Entry access system for all buildings and units. The facility also features a full security system with alarms and cameras, wireless networking throughout the campus, and energy-efficient building systems, including energy-recovery ventilators (ERVs) for ventilation air tied to overall facility energy optimization, LED lighting throughout, and programmable economizer fans that automatically switch to outside air when conditions allow.

Together, these systems reflect a holistic approach to building design, not just storage units but a smart campus built for operational efficiency, tenant convenience, and differentiated market positioning. All these new developments push forward a momentum of upgrading the self-storage industry to be more accessible and successful for both the tenants and staff on the ground. Many menial tasks, as well as daily inefficiencies in the workplace, have been resolved with the technology installed.

Implementation Of Technology

Many roles came into play with the augmentation of technology in this CubeSmart location. The entire purpose of the technology installed is to make all the involved parties’ lives easier and make the self-storage facility overall more efficient.

Luke Coriglia, a contributing developer of the property, notes that “as a developer and owner, we are responsible for setting the third-party managers up for success and providing a facility that meets the needs of today’s self-storage tenants.” When this facility was in the works, as was the technological vision for cameras and smart locks (on both the units and for the access to each building), the goal was that it would hopefully make the manager’s and staff’s lives easier so they could focus their attention on their tenants.

Partnering with Coriglia and CubeSmart, and one of the most integral contributors to this and many other self-storage facilities’ successes, was Janus International Inc.

“We partnered with the developer as well as the management company CubeSmart,” says Christine DeBord, CMO of Janus. “We’ve had relationships with them for quite some time. We partnered with them for the door hallway, the design for all of the units, the Nokē system, and the smart locks … Janus has been working with CubeSmart for many years. We are their preferred partner for their new development. We work with them from a technology and integration standpoint. We do a substantial amount of involvement with restoration, rebuilding, and replacement.”

The technology strategy was embedded early in the project: the owner/developer, the management company (CubeSmart), and the technology-integration partner all aligned up front. Technology was not an afterthought; it was thoroughly integrated into both the design and the operations.

Impact On Staff And Tenants

Routine management tasks have become either automated or low contact with the facility’s use of smart locks, smart thermostats, and Wi-Fi based security systems. These technologies benefit both managers and tenants by streamlining and simplifying the rental process and the overall customer experience. Other features that appeal to modern users and are aligned with emerging expectations of convenience include online reservations, electronic lease signing, and the ability to manage units from a mobile device.

“At this site in Nashville, there’s a lot of buildings, and it’s much easier to push a button than walking all the way over to manually lock and unlock,” Coriglia says, adding that adapting to one’s environment is a great way to stand out in your local market. “Addressing the customers’ needs is important. Nashville is a market of young professionals and people who are tech savvy—these people want a smart product and a smart solution.”

Coriglia also points out the positive reception from management and customers for accessibility. Security is highly valued to anyone, but especially those who are leaving what could be valued belongings in a unit. Instead of intermittent supervision, CubeSmart now has high-security cameras that detect any motion and doors that provide a logged history of those who entered and exited the building that day. In fact, Janus International Inc. reports that there are “95 percent of owner-operators reporting fewer break-in claims using our Nokē smart locks versus traditional padlocks.”

Not only is the security superb, but there are solar panels and geothermal equipment, and the access to this equipment is all very advanced, such as the web-enabled thermostats to control the HVAC. With the Wi-Fi network and physical cables running throughout the buildings, the cameras, ventilation system, and security system are all interlinked.

Acknowledging the current and progressing nature of one’s clientele is key to keeping up with trends. DeBord addresses this, saying that the “Nokē app has a high rating. Customers and tenants are used to using their smartphones for accessing their homes, and we’ve really embraced and are aware of the smart technology’s place—it’s become ubiquitous in the consumer space.”

Managers can now look at any web portal from any device to see which units are open or closed, which tenants are on site, and any motion activity within the facility. “The value to the owner is it makes the manager’s ability to focus on marketing and customer interaction,” says DeBord. “Without smart tech, the managers will spend hours a week on property walks, unit checks, etc.” With this new tech, managers are at the front desk and available to assist any tenant who requires one-on-one interaction. “It helps a manager make the most out of their day,” she adds. In sum, the owner and developer recoup the investment through improved operations and tenant experience.

Reaping The Benefits

This facility is relatively new, but the positive feedback and good lease-up performance reflect a liking taken by the tenants to the state of this facility. When managers are provided with resources to run a facility smoothly, there is a direct link to satisfied customers.

“One thing we’ve seen in getting off the ground is the smart locks were very helpful in the beginning for troubleshooting 1,100 units to see which units are open or not,” says Coriglia. Things like this maximize the facility’s time, and in turn launched this facility much quicker than if this troubleshooting was done manually. Customers have also responded very positively to the extreme security, as not only does the security system keep out non-tenants, but it restricts tenants to only have access to their specific building. Coriglia sees “the parallels in the multifamily industry using similar locks on apartment units; it’s less expensive than recutting keys and getting new locks. This demonstrates how operational improvements [access monitoring, building separation, remote oversight] translate into value.”

DeBord makes a noteworthy observation. “One thing about this technology is that this facility is never closed to rentals,” she says. “Most facilities are closed on Sundays, with limited hours, and you may be able to make a reservation, but with this technology they can reserve a unit online; they can move in immediately after verifications and signing their lease online. They can move in whenever they are ready.”

This distinguishes smart facilities from competitors, highlighting their accessibility and feasibility to the public. DeBord brings forward Janus’ contribution to the industry, noting how smart locks have been increasingly making headway in the self-storage space since 2017, saying that “the uptick has been real. At first we led the industry in smart-lock tech. We launched our first Bluetooth smart lock in 2017. Since then, roughly half a million have been installed.”

Why This Award Matters

Receiving the title of “2025 Smart Facility of the Year” is more than a celebratory press release—it marks a recognition that the self-storage industry is evolving. Facilities like the CubeSmart Nashville campus demonstrate how storage properties can no longer simply offer boxes and locks; they must offer connectivity, convenience, security, and operational efficiency.

In an era where consumers expect app-based access, instant reservation, digital keys, and robust security, self-storage facilities that lag behind risk being commoditized. By contrast, the CubeSmart Nashville facility shows how high‐end infrastructure (smart access, campus-wide connectivity, data-driven HVAC, multibuilding design) can create a premium asset that appeals to tech-focused users, including remote workers, small-business storage, and niche segments (like bands or mobile creatives) that value smart systems.

From an operational vantage point, the building owner and operator benefit from remote oversight, analytics on access and usage, fewer manual tasks (property walks, key cutting, lock changes), faster turnovers, and differentiated marketing appeal.

Final Thoughts

The CubeSmart Nashville facility stands as a model for how smart technology, thoughtful design, and operational alignment can combine to deliver a next-gen self-storage experience. The “Smart Facility of the Year” award recognizes that technology is embedded into the facility’s design, construction, operations, and customer interface.

For owners and operators considering their next facility, the CubeSmart Nashville story offers a blueprint: Integrate smart systems early; ensure the user experience is simple and seamless; focus beyond just storage to access, security, and operations; and recognize that the investment pays off particularly in larger, multibuilding complexes.

While smart technology is not right for every facility, in the right context it delivers real value—for owners, managers, and tenants alike. Congratulations to CubeSmart and all the teams behind the Nashville campus for achieving this recognition. The self-storage industry is evolving, and this facility is leading the way.

Development Team

Owner: Farragut Investments & Warden Capital

Management Company: CubeSmart

Builders: JM Williams Contractors

Architect: H2A Architecture & Design

Security Provider: Nokē Smart Entry by Janus International

Property Management Software: Storable Edge

Doors & Hallways: Janus International

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Ciera Rupp is a New York-based freelance writer with a passion for crafting engaging content across various niches. She specializes in captivating storytelling and delivering informative, impactful narratives that resonate with audiences.