More self storage in store, with another wave of construction in Collier County – Naples Daily News

Construction continues on a new storage facility near the corner of Goodlette-Frank Road and Ridge Street on Thursday, June 8, 2017, in Naples.(Photo: Luke Franke/Naples Daily News)Buy Photo

Out of room?Don't panic more self storage is coming.

New projects aresprouting out of the ground, and others are in the works across Collier County.

Since last year at least 10 projects have been eyed by prospective developers in the county. Not all of them are expected to be built, but a handful of those areunder construction, with more expected to break ground soon.

Why the sudden interest in building self storage? One of the reasons isa shift toward smaller homes and apartments of less than 2,000 square feet, which leaves little room for storage, said Mark Strain, the county's hearing examiner and chairman of the Collier County Planning Commission.

"The average size houseused to be huge," he said. "They would be several thousand square feet, 2,500 to 3,400 or 4,000."

Some new residents, relocating from the North, struggle to find enough storage for all their belongings because they don't have basements here and their attics here might be smaller, or they might not even have one.

Construction continues on a new storage facility near the corner of Goodlette-Frank Road and Ridge Street on Thursday, June 8, 2017, in Naples.(Photo: Luke Franke/Naples Daily News)

Owners who live here part time, or who rent out their homes part of the year,also rely on self storage to keep some of their belongings safe when they're away.

David Kovalik, a vice president of project management for Naples-based DeAngelis Diamond, which has been awarded a handful of contractsto build self storage over the past few years locally, offered other reasons for the uptick in construction:

A growing population.

Developers are playing catch up after projects ground to a halt due tothe Great Recession.

Financing is easy to get.

Good returns.

Land costsare lower for storage projects because they don't requireas much parking or asphalt asmore-intense developments, such as shopping centers or office buildings, and self-storage doesn't require many employees. Withjust a few people needed to manage, maintain and run a facility, overhead costs can be kept low, making it an attractive investment, Kovalik said

Storage units are also in higher demand because more small businesses are using them as a base for their operations, or to support their growth, hesaid.

Over the past two years, Johnson Development Associates, a real estate developer headquartered in Spartanburg, S.C., has tapped DeAngelis Diamond to build four self-storage projects in Collier, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Combined, the projects will have more than 2,750 air-conditioned units.

Johnson Development's projects range in size from 80,000 to 100,000 square feet. They're all Class A, meaning they're built with higher standards and better-looking finishes.

One of the developments awarded to DeAngelis Diamond in Collier is on Kramer Drive, west of Interstate 75, behind the RaceTrac gas station on Pine Ridge Road. The 79,560-square-foot storage facility will have 575 units. It's expected to be finishedby early next year and will be managed by Extra Space.

Another, known as Rattlesnake Self Storage, is still in the contracting and preconstruction phase. It will have 776 units and will also be managed by Extra Space.

Construction continues on a new storage facility near the corner of Goodlette-Frank Road and Ridge Street on Thursday, June 8, 2017, in Naples.(Photo: Luke Franke/Naples Daily News)

"Right now it seems the two biggest management companies are Extra Space and Cube Smart," Kovalik said.

Johnson Development also has a storage project planned on Bonita Beach Road in Bonita Springs and recentlyhiredWaltbillig & Hoodgeneral contractors, based in North Naples, to build a three-story, 105,000-square-footself storage projectnear the southwest corner of Immokalee Road and Juliet Boulevard, which will have 757 units.

The growth in self storageis happening across Florida, especially in larger cities such as Miami, and it's part of a national trend that has some questioning whether all the constructioncould lead to overbuilding in some markets.

Based on U.S. Census data, the value of new self-storage construction was estimated at about $2 billion last year, a sharp increase over 2015.

Earlier this year Collier County commissionersconsidered putting ayearlong ban on specific land uses, including self storage, along a 7-mile stretch of U.S. 41 in East Naples after Commissioner Donna Fiala said the area was looking "like a slum."

But the boardinstead directed staff to come up with a plan to encourage more-desirable land uses, such as restaurants, hotels and stores, without imposing a moratorium.

Michael Fernandez, owner of Planning Development Inc. in Naples, recently got a conditional use approvedfora storage project off U.S. 41 East between Rattlesnake Hammock Roadand Collier Boulevard.

The three-story project will span about 92,000 square feet. Final drawings are in the works, and construction is expected to begin by the end of the year.

The development will be called Carl's White Glove Personal Storage. Fernandez no longer owns the property but said the new owners are considering a business that's more personalized.

"This is third-generation," he said. "These new interior-only facilities, they are smaller, they are personalized. Some of themhave concierge services."

Concierge services may includepicking up and dropping off boxes at the doorstep or having boxes ready for pickup on arrival at storage.

Premier Storage Investors, a self-storage real estate investment and development company based in Memphis, Tennessee, is building a project at the southwest corner ofGoodlette-Frank Road and Ridge Street in Naples on a3.24-acre lot.

Construction recently began on a multistory 95,396-square-foot building and a one-story 11,300-square-foot building.

"Our interest was due to our feeling that the market is undersupplied," said Chip Campbell, chief analyst for Premier Storage.

While Premier isn't ready to take reservations yet, Campbell expects demand for the units to come from both residents and businesses.

The property will be managed by CubeSmart and carry its name.

Michael Dalby, president and CEO of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, said he's not too concerned about the boom in self-storage projects, in part because they are more likely to be built on retail sites rather than eating up land that could be used by other commercial enterprises.

"As we consider land use plans in the future, we might want to consider separating them from retail uses," Dalby said. "But I can tell you that the demand is high in any resort community (think condos with very small or no garages). It's almost an 'amenity,' and if we didn't have them, it would be a hassle for many residents and part-time residents."

Craig Timmins, a principal in Investment Properties Corp., a Naples-based commercial real estate brokerage firm, said with the latest wave of development, the good spots for self storage are running out.

"We're probably reaching the point where you will see a slowdown in new product after this wave gets done," he said. "Developers will want to see the buildings that are being constructed now be absorbed into the market."

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More self storage in store, with another wave of construction in Collier County - Naples Daily News