Located along the coast of San Pablo Bay, Calif., just north of San Francisco and Oakland, is the community of Hercules. The city, which got its name from a local manufacturer’s patented dynamite formula back in 1881 (“Hercules Powder”), is now one of...
There are many challenges when introducing self-storage to new markets anywhere in the world, but when you combine acquiring land, permitting, and construction challenges with educating most of the population about the purpose of self-storage it becomes...
With miles of sun-kissed beaches, a treasure trove of alluring attractions, and countless opportunities for outdoor recreation, Texas’ historic island city of Galveston is a seaside paradise for its 53,000-plus residents and tourists alike. From various...
In the Kingston neighborhood of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a sleek, modern building stands on a one-acre plot where a blighted thrift store had created an eyesore for years. The project would take four and a half unpredictable years to complete, but nothing...
Guatemala City sits cradled in a vivid, mountainous area called Valle de la Ermita (Valley of the Hermitage) in Guatemala’s south-central region.
The city is Guatemala’s capital, largest city, and economic, administrative, and cultural center. Guatemala...
Many studies have found that people want to purchase experiences more than things, but what happens when the concept of experiences and things are combined?
A New Facility of the Year winner is created.
Rockwell Storage, located in the Mill Creek area...
From its earliest planning, the team that brought to fruition Life Storage at The Promenade in Scottsdale, Ariz., faced a monumental design, engineering, and construction foe that “seeks its own level,” as the old saying goes—water.
The self-storage...
One day back in 2014, Todd Amsdell got a return phone call from a broker about a property in Jupiter, Fla.
Amsdell is president and CEO of Cleveland, Ohio-based Amsdell Companies, a privately owned real estate company that specializes in construction,...
Greg Van Cleave has always had a philosophy about life: “If something is supposed to happen, it does, and if it’s a struggle, it doesn’t.”
He says his latest project, Vineburg Wine & Self Storage, located at 1010 Napa Road in Sonoma, Calif., altered...
As a new developer, Erik Henson, owner of SmarterSpace Storage Archer Road, took a wise approach and sought out vendors with proven success in the self-storage industry. The strategy paid off. After many challenges, the Gainesville, Fla., facility has...
XYZ Storage wants to make life for its customers “as easy as XYZ,” and it has embodied that philosophy with its newest storage facility, XYZ Storage – Eastern in Toronto, Ont.
The five-story building, just 29 blocks from the center of Toronto, boasts...
The year is 1984. Macintosh aired its iconic “1984” ad, “Purple Rain” is a splash at the box office, and a new mini-storage facility in Pontiac, Mich., is built. Like many first-generation facilities, it fits the standards of the day.
Fast forward to...
It’s not always easy to find that “sweet spot” in a secondary market—a location where the population density is strong, the median income is high, traffic levels are robust, and competition is minimal. But Metro Self Storage of Lake Forest, Ill.,...
James Reid has an ambitious goal for StorCo Self Storage, a company he founded in 2015. He envisions expanding StorCo into a nationwide company through owning high-tech self-storage facilities and providing third-party management services to other...
When the owners of Brickhouse Self Storage began envisioning their dream, they didn’t have a cookie-cutter facility in mind; they had a dream of bringing self-storage into the future, and with the help of Universal Storage Group, their dream became a...
M3storage Tobalaba, Santiago, Chile
Santiago, the capital and largest city in Chile with nearly seven million residents, is surrounded by the Andes Mountains. The city is virtually landlocked, creating a finite area of developable land. Since land is...
The El Paso, Texas, site was located at the crest of a natural drainage arroyo in a flood zone with steep banks that rose over 35 feet above useable land. El Paso continued to grow around the 14-acre property as it remained undeveloped for nearly 35...
Surrounded by the picturesque Andes and Chilean Coast Range mountains, Santiago, Chile, the country’s capital and largest city, has a bustling downtown.
Santiago has a population of nearly 5 million. In the heart of its downtown area, centered on the...
2019 Facility of the Year If one looks at any major metropolitan area in the country, they will typically find some part of the urban core currently undergoing a revitalization. Birmingham, Ala., is no exception.
At the same time, many print newspapers...
Within the second largest city in Texas, nestled in between two heavily traveled highways, stands a new self-storage facility that is virtually as monumental as the Alamo itself. In fact, Key Storage Sonterra, Mini-Storage Messenger’s 2019 Overall...
Within northeast Ohio’s largest metropolitan area, there is a suburb of Cleveland called Solon. Over the past several years, it has been recognized by publications such as Money and Bloomberg Businessweek for being one of the safest cities in the state...
2018 Facility of the Year
Many self-storage developers have a hard time pushing the idea of self-storage through cities these days, but that wasn’t the case with Oakley Self Storage in Oakley, Calif., a bedroom community in the Bay Area.
Developers...
2018 Facility Of The Year
When the developer of Congress Storage in Austin, Texas, sought an infill location for a new self-storage facility, the ideal site appeared to be in a historic community two miles south of downtown and approximately four miles...
2018 Facility Of The Year
Soaring above the rest of this year’s applicants is a high-tech and sophisticated self-storage facility that truly is a modern marvel. Indeed, Mini-Storage Messenger’s 2018 Facility of the Year Overall Winner, National Self...
2018 Facility Of The Year
When a company purchases a self-storage facility with redevelopment in mind, the process typically doesn’t take very long. However, West Coast Beaverton Self Storage is an exception to the rule.
Factor in a small lot with...
2018 Facility Of The Year
It’s long been a dream for Jonathan and Allison Brett to add wine storage to their facility, Highlands Self Storage. They just had to wait for the right time.
The facility is located in the middle of wine country in...
2018 Facility Of The Year
The evolution of architecture is responsible for some amazing additions to our nation’s cities and towns. When a building emerges as extra special, it often considered an art object.
Praise of this magnitude isn’t too far off...
If you’re ever in Franklin, Tenn., strolling through its downtown shopping area, featuring a stunning array of historical buildings, don’t be surprised if one or two of your fellow shoppers look strangely familiar. That’s because they may be one of the...
Converting a former furniture store and health club into a storage facility might seem like a typical conversion, but for Metro Storage, located at 3220 W. Touhy in Skokie, Ill., it was anything but typical.
The small lot didn’t make the project...
When you think of Santiago, Chile, you might think of the beautiful mountains that surround the city, the Plaza de Armas (city center), shopping in the boutiques or the vibrant nightlife.
However, Grupo PATIO, owner and developer of Mr. Storage, wants...
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