MSM Announces 2026 Facility Of The Year Winners At THE Show

Six Outstanding Self-Storage Facilities Honored Live For The First Time In The Awards Program's Nearly 40-Year History

Modern Storage Media (MSM) celebrated the best in self-storage last night during its Red Carpet Awards Gala at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia as part of MSM's inaugural self-storage conference and trade show, THE Show. The gala marked the first time the winners of the annual Facility of the Year awards were announced live before an audience of industry professionals. The evening began with a cocktail reception and red carpet entrance, followed by dinner and the awards presentation. It was hosted by emcee Mark Durden-Smith, a prominent U.K. television personality and sports anchor, and MSM's own publisher Poppy Behrens.

Since 1987, MSM has recognized the industry's most exceptional facilities. Today, there are winners in six categories: Overall, New, Construction, Smart, Conversion, and International. The awards recognize excellence in self-storage design, development, innovation, and technology, showcasing properties that set the standard for the industry. And because every facility has a story, the selection process also considers the challenges developers faced in bringing their projects to fruition and how they overcame them.

The 2026 Facility of the Year winners are:

New Facility: Storage Sense, Bowling Green, KY

Construction Facility: Storelocal Storage at Tesoro Viejo, Madera, CA

Smart Facility: Centro Storage, Jacksonville, FL

Conversion Facility: Storelocal Storage, Irving, TX

International Facility: Bow City Seton, Calgary, Canada

“We look forward to recognizing the industry's most modern, cutting-edge self-storage facilities each year, and every time they manage to raise the bar for the next round of awards,” says MSM Publisher Poppy Behrens. “This year, it was especially rewarding to honor the winners at THE Show and give them the opportunity to accept their awards in front of their peers.”

Each winning facility received an engraved trophy and will be featured in the December issue of MSM's Messenger magazine, available in print and digitally in the coming weeks. In-depth profiles of all six award-winning properties will also be published on the MSM website.

FUN FACT: MSM's first Facility of the Year was announced in 1987. The winner was Federal Self Storage in Dania, FL. The facility is still in operation, though it was sold for $13M to U-Store-It in 2004. U-Store-It was acquired by CubeSmart, which now owns the facility. It's listed on Cube's website, with the same phone number it had in 1987!