Watch Us 5x Our Returns in Self Storage

Why It Matters

Adding modular units on existing land can sharply increase net operating income and returns by phasing investment and unlocking high-margin rentable space, making it a fast, capital-efficient growth strategy for self-storage owners. This approach reduces risk on lease-up and improves flexibility for operators targeting rising demand.

Summary

Hosts and guest Jamie of storesigner.co.uk discuss converting underused land at a 105-unit self-storage site near Nashville into modular storage—using shipping containers or prefabricated units—to add roughly 20–30 new spaces. The team is weighing layout options that balance unit count with vehicle maneuverability, designing drive aisles sized for moving trucks and planning phased rollouts to deploy units incrementally. Jamie emphasizes an operator-focused design that maximizes rentable square footage while preserving customer access and turnover. The conversation highlights a practical blueprint for rapid, low-capex capacity expansion using modular units.

Original Description

Book a call with me to join my commercial real estate investor mastermind: https://accelerator.crecentral.com/5x

Check out Jamie’s site: https://storagedesigner.co.uk

Self storage is one of the best asset classes out there, but most investors leave the biggest gains on the table. They buy a facility, raise rents, run it a little better, and call it a day. That works. It just doesn’t get you to a 5x return.

The real money is in adding units.

In this episode I sit down with Jamie from Storage Designer to walk through a 105-unit facility we bought in Madison, just outside Nashville, for about $1.7M. It came with extra land, truck parking, and a couple of vacant lots already graded and ready to go. We pull up real CAD designs and work through three different layouts live, weighing unit count against truck access, customer experience, and code.

Then we run the numbers. Adding roughly 46 modular container units for about $150K in total cost pencils out to nearly $1 million in added value. That’s where the 5x comes from. Not from squeezing tenants. From using land that was just sitting there.

0:00 Why adding units beats raising rents

1:30 Meet Jamie from Storage Designer

3:38 The Madison property breakdown

4:39 The phased container approach

5:53 Design option 1

11:38 Should we tear down the old building?

13:28 Sticky tenants vs movers

19:05 Sourcing containers: new vs used

25:34 Running the numbers on lot 1

30:01 Design options 2 and 3

44:33 The second lot

47:25 Running the numbers on lot 2

49:16 Why this beats raising rents

52:19 What to keep in mind when adding units

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The information provided in this video should not be construed or relied on as investment advice for any specific fact or circumstance. Its content was prepared by Tyler Cauble with its main office at 1100 Douglas Ave, Nashville, TN 37206. This video is designed for entertainment and information purposes only. Viewing this video does not create a broker-client relationship with Tyler Cauble or any of its agents. You should not act or rely on any of the information contained herein without individual professional advice.

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