cgfw201
Member
Hi
So we have an empty barn on our farm. Used to be a cattle shed, but not had any cows init for 10 years now, and since has just been used for ad-hoc storage of random farm machinery and bales.
We're now looking into options for something which will generate a bit more revenue from it.
The initial thought was installing Self Storage units. The farm is inside the M25, just off a busy road (20k cars per day go past), and there's a few very wealthy towns within a 5 minute drive, none of whom currently have a self storage facility. There's over 500k people who live within 20 minute drive.
Initial research on this suggested that we could convert about 3000sqft of the barn to self storage for around £50k, which includes all the units, levelling the floor, toilet installation, electrics, cctv and lighting.
Reports from the SSA (Self Storage Association) suggest the average net annual rent for the area is approx £25-£30 per square foot.
These numbers make this option look very appealing. At just 50% occupancy, the first 3000sqft trial units should be able to make around £40k a year revenue. If that goes well, installing a further 5500sqft of units up to a total 8500sqft lead to a potential annual yield of just over £200k. Obviously, getting to 100% full is not easy, and reality would be a lot less, at least to start with.
However, we don't really know how realistic this is, at all. Self Storage seems appealing as it has low staffing requirements and is a growing industry. But it is also very possible that 2 years down the line there's not enough clients in place to make the money we need.
If you had an empty barn in a location like this, what would you do? Converting to warehousing is also an option, but conscious of the much lower rent/sqft potential that has.
Any thoughts much appreciated.
So we have an empty barn on our farm. Used to be a cattle shed, but not had any cows init for 10 years now, and since has just been used for ad-hoc storage of random farm machinery and bales.
We're now looking into options for something which will generate a bit more revenue from it.
The initial thought was installing Self Storage units. The farm is inside the M25, just off a busy road (20k cars per day go past), and there's a few very wealthy towns within a 5 minute drive, none of whom currently have a self storage facility. There's over 500k people who live within 20 minute drive.
Initial research on this suggested that we could convert about 3000sqft of the barn to self storage for around £50k, which includes all the units, levelling the floor, toilet installation, electrics, cctv and lighting.
Reports from the SSA (Self Storage Association) suggest the average net annual rent for the area is approx £25-£30 per square foot.
These numbers make this option look very appealing. At just 50% occupancy, the first 3000sqft trial units should be able to make around £40k a year revenue. If that goes well, installing a further 5500sqft of units up to a total 8500sqft lead to a potential annual yield of just over £200k. Obviously, getting to 100% full is not easy, and reality would be a lot less, at least to start with.
However, we don't really know how realistic this is, at all. Self Storage seems appealing as it has low staffing requirements and is a growing industry. But it is also very possible that 2 years down the line there's not enough clients in place to make the money we need.
If you had an empty barn in a location like this, what would you do? Converting to warehousing is also an option, but conscious of the much lower rent/sqft potential that has.
Any thoughts much appreciated.
