Look Who’s
Talking Bliss Edwards
Executive Vice President Of SmartStop Self Storage
By Erica Shatzer
have transformed from inconspicuous single-story buildings in industrial areas to remarkable multistory structures on bustling thoroughfares. The operational and managerial aspects of self-storage businesses have become more sophis- ticated. Technology has enhanced the self-storage experience for customers and created efficiencies for facilities. Above all, public opinion about self- storage has greatly improved as a result of these changes.
T
As noted by Bliss Edwards, executive vice president of SmartStop Self Storage, self- storage has gradually become “main- stream” since she entered the industry in 2015 as a member of the Dymon Self Storage team. The general acceptance of the asset class as well as the essential product it offers was certainly amplified
o say the self-storage industry has changed since its inception is a massive understatement. For starters, storage facilities
by COVID-19, as people turned to storage for solutions to the subsequent upheavals in their lives. And the ongoing surge in demand has pushed occupancy rates and rental rates to record highs at self-storage facilities across the country, spurring even more self-storage development.
A Shifting Strategy With a background in urban planning, Edwards, who worked for the City of Ottawa before joining the self-storage industry, has been on both sides of the approval pro- cess for new development. Though she acknowledges that development approvals are the same for all real estate projects, many self-storage proposals had been met with opposition in the not-so-distant past.
Fortunately for the industry, according to Edwards, that resistance is largely wan-
ing. “More cities are on board with self-storage,” she says, adding that the commit- tees and councils are beginning to realize that self-storage is an integral part of a complete community. “There’s not as much push back as there was five years ago.”
Obviously, Edwards knows that those are “broad” statements and that approvals
are still granted on a case-by-case basis. However, she spends her days educating council members and the other powers that be about the business, and those con- versations have unearthed one clear shift in people’s mindsets: They now know that self-storage is a necessity.
While a self-storage facility may not be their first choice or the “sexy” option, cit- ies are finally understanding the value of self-storage and how it can create balance
16 October 2021
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