John C. Lindsey –Co-Founder and
President of Lindsey Self Storage Group BY ERICA SHATZER
would be a substantial understate- ment. In reality, this past decade has brought about some of the industry’s most significant shifts since its inception. Various technologies have transformed nearly every aspect of facility opera- tions, marketing, and management. Self-storage has become mainstream, and demand for the product is through the roof. In turn, valuations have skyrock- eted. Moreover, sales prices above the original asking rates have been reported for numerous transactions, with bidding wars between multiple buyers becoming commonplace. Without a doubt, increased investor interest is responsible for most of these sweeping advancements.
To
The Limelight According to John C. Lindsey, co-founder and president of the Lindsey Self Stor- age Group, a brokerage firm that was established in Durham, N.C., 10 years ago, the self-storage sector has received a “drastic” boost in attention since he first entered the brokerage business.
Back in 2012 and 2013, when he
was getting his feet wet in self-storage brokerage, Lindsey was listing deals with 10 and 11 percent cap rates— seemingly unfathomable pricing given today’s aggressive environment with valuations ranging from four to six percent cap rates.
Though Lindsey, who has been
involved with self-storage since he was a teenager, spending his summers behind a desk and later pouring concrete for his father’s construction company, has
say the self-storage industry has changed over the last 10 years
always known about the strong fundamentals that make self-storage a great investment, he credits the industry’s recession-resis- tant nature for giving the asset class a more promi- nent role in commercial real estate approximately five years ago.
“We hit growth seemingly over-
night,” he says, noting that nowadays any deal with a cap rate of seven or higher closes extremely quickly. “Pricing has changed so much!”
Then, hot on the heels of a wave
of new construction throughout 2016 and 2017, Lindsey asserts that COVID-19 “hyper accelerated” the attention the industry had been receiving. Applaud- ing the way self-storage had managed to not only survive but thrive during the pandemic, more and more inves- tors began throwing “big funds” into the sector like a ticker-tape parade for a beloved celebrity.
In fact, Lindsey Self Storage Group’s
sales volume doubled year-over-year in 2020, 2021, and they’re on track to do it again in 2022.
“2020 and 2021 were our busiest
years yet,” says Lindsey, “The influx of people in the space is crazy!”
A New Narrative Not surprisingly, with the huge figures of self-storage sales making headlines, and more investors eager to invest, more brokers were bound to enter the scene. Lindsey estimates that there are
approximately a dozen storage-specific brokerage teams in the business, but “it feels like there are a hundred” and “it seems like half came about in the last five years.”
However, this noticeable uptick in
competition doesn’t overly concern Lindsey. Instead of worrying about the possible implications on his business, he provides this level-headed example: New York City has about 20,000 real estate agents, but only a select few handle the majority of the deals. “There are only so many deals that can be done,” he says, adding that self-storage brokerage will experience a “higher level of competi- tion” in the future.
Despite the increased competition,
his own business has continued to grow along with demand, hiring new team members and opening offices in Shreve- port, La.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Destin, Fla.; and Paris, France. Lindsey Self Storage Group also has plans to add additional offices in Asia and Europe. The compa- ny’s headquarters remains in Durham, N.C., where his mother, Jean, still serves as the office manager.
MiniStorageMessenger.com • September 2022 17
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