question Gauging Interest on storage in Glasgow Area

Guys

Purely an initial marketing exercise to gauge interest. We are looking at opening up a covered storage facility (5 to 10,000 sq Ft) for classic vehicles (Mil Vehs get priority) on a month by month basis with the option of making use of our workshop ramp/area at an hourly rate and also for an extra nominal charge a weekly or monthly battery and fluid check maintenance service.

I am trying to see what the average cost per month for a dry clean facility with the optional costs over and above a basic rental fee.

Likewise we will also be looking at offering an outside caravan/trailer/boat storage area in a secure yard as well. Building and yard has CCTV and alarms etc and we are either considering a 24/7 entry or normal hours and weekends - still trying to find out which may be better - if normal hours then we would also have to offer an out of hours service to open up far a nominal sum to cover cost of staff coming in at whatever time.

Thoughts, discussions and comments welcome and also anyone who may be interested and want to be put on a waiting list, price and availability dependent etc, likewise anyone who already does similar advice and warnings re pitfalls and problems, customer relations etc.

Thanks

Gary

no one interested it seems although I did get 16 replies from classic car owners

no one interested it seems although I did get 16 replies from classic car owners

Not surprised you got no responses, as MV owners mostly are frugal bunch and, given many vehicles' large size and weight, storage at market rates would be too costly, relative to the underlying asset value. One of our companies owns a storage facility in Northeast USA and though we do not do vehicles, I can tell you storage is a difficult business. High turnover in tenants and abandonment of storage units a few months into the contract are common problems. Depending on laws in place in your jurisdiction, the property owner can't just toss contents, but must notify tenant and then engage in burdensome process to take possession of their storage space and auction or dispose of contents. Probably a different story with vehicles, but if you run this as a business enterprise, you need a lot of insurance. A fire in one vehicle is likely to destroy every vehicle and by the time you add up the costs and overhead, not sure this makes sense.

A typical car needs 250 SF of storage, ignoring lanes of travel, and the economics of rent/SF don't really pay out. In USA, you might get $100/mo for storing a car in a city like Philadelphia. This will yield $1,200/year, or less than $5 PSF for the 250 SF the car takes up. Given that travel lanes don't generate revenue, your net yield PSF will be even less.

Most people with warehouse space rent out the WH to a tenant and are just collecting rent. If you rent that WH to classic car or MV owners, you are now running a business of chasing 50 different tenants for rent each month, coordinating complaints, dealing with oil leaks cleanup, etc. The juice is not worth the squeeze, IMHO.

Obviously, it's a different story with classic car collections of highline vehicles. Someone like Jerry Seinfield or Jay Leno with 30+ cars each costing $100K++, does need a dedicated, climate controlled facility with all the backup services. I reckon it'll be tough to find many car moguls in Scotland. Not trying to rain on your parade and this is just my personal opinion, but you asked and I'm sharing.