Top Markets for Self Storage Deliveries in 2022

Based on Yardi Matrix data as of December 2022, the national self storage footprint encompassed more than 1.6 billion rentable square feet. During the past three years, developers added roughly 136.8 million square feet of storage space amounting to 8.4 percent of total inventory. Overall, the nationwide development activity was on a declining trend with deliveries falling by nearly 14 percent, when comparing total deliveries of 2020 (53.6 million square feet) to 2021 figures (46.2 million square feet). Further contractions followed this in 2022 when national completions dropped to approximately 37 million square feet. Looking ahead, construction starts are expected to slow down, which will reduce new deliveries through 2023 and early 2024.

The table below highlights the top ten markets for self storage deliveries across the U.S., ranked by total rentable square footage completed throughout 2022. These ten markets made up 36.7 percent of the total volume of storage that came online in the past year.

Rank	Market	Rentable Square Feet Delivered in 2022	Percentage of Stock
1	New York	3,502,596	4.7%
2	Phoenix	1,771,079	4.7%
3	Dallas-Fort Worth	1,338,734	1.8%
4	Atlanta	1,294,223	2.7%
5	Sarasota-Cape Coral	1,073,123	5.4%
6	Tampa	1,064,409	3.6%
7	Los Angeles	1,058,478	1.5%
8	Chicago	903,747	1.8%
9	Washington, D.C.	820,602	2.7%
10	Miami	761,646	1.9%

Source: Yardi Matrix

1.      New York

During 2022, developers completed slightly more than 3.5 million rentable square feet of storage space, accounting for 4.7 percent of New York’s completed inventory as of last December. The past year’s completions across the metro represented a 34.1 percent growth compared to 2021 when approximately 2.6 million square feet of storage space came online and were just shy of the approximately 3.5 million-square-foot footprint added in 2020.

The largest self storage facility that came online in 2022 in New York was a seven-story property under the CubeSmart brand totaling 145,181 rentable square feet in Brooklyn. Wells Fargo bank facilitated the development of the Storage Deluxe-owned property with a nearly $55 million construction loan. Two of the top 10 largest developments in the metro have changed ownership for a combined $122 million.

2.      Phoenix

Across Phoenix last year 22 self storage properties came online, encompassing approximately 1.8 million square feet of storage space amounting to 4.7 percent of the metro’s existing inventory. Deliveries over the past three years in the Greater Phoenix area reached their peak in 2020, when 25 or slightly more than 2 million square feet of storage space was constructed. Completions dipped 27.1 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year, while 2022 showed a 21 percent improvement over the 2021 figures.

The top ten largest facilities delivered last year in Phoenix averaged out to 95,000 rentable square feet per property. While most of these facilities are located more on the periphery of the metropolitan area—for example, two are near the Scottsdale Airport and one is in the vicinity of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport—the second-largest newly completed project was delivered in Midtown. The Collective Storage totaling 107,049 net rentable square feet marked the second facility completed in 2022 for Clear Sky Capital, which currently also has two projects in different stages of development in Scottsdale, Ariz.

3.      Dallas-Fort Worth

While the Metroplex topped our previous list, where we looked at the top five markets for self storage deliveries from January to July 2021, this time around the market slid a few positions since in 2022 Dallas-Fort Worth supplemented its inventory with the addition of simply 1.3 million square feet of storage space, representing 1.8 percent of existing stock, 50 basis points below the national rate. New deliveries were down 44.5 percent compared to the total of new supply added in 2021 when more than 2.4 million square feet of storage space came online and down 39.2 percent when compared to the overall completions of 2020.

The largest self storage facility delivered in 2022 in the Metroplex was the 174,388-rentable-square-foot All Storage in Saginaw, Texas. All Storage financed the construction of the three-story facility with a loan originated by Prosperity Bank. Looking at sales activity among the top ten largest facilities completed last year in Dallas-Fort Worth, only one facility was traded, which Wentworth Property Co. snapped up. Bankers Trust provided a $20 million acquisition loan for the purchase of Life Storage totaling 103,731 rentable square feet in McKinney, Texas.

4.      Atlanta

Developers continued to be active in Atlanta as well as nearly 1.3 million rentable square feet of storage space came online in 2022, 2.7 percent of the metro’s inventory. Nonetheless, new deliveries were down 21.7 percent when compared to the same period in 2021 (1.7 million square feet added), while only 14.7 percent down when compared to the 2020 figures (1.5 million square feet).

Most of the ten largest self storage facilities completed in 2022 in Atlanta were located north of the city, while the self storage leading the list was the Public Storage-managed 97,211-rentable-square-foot property in McDonough, Ga., roughly 28 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta. Public Storage also acquired the 77,781-net-rentable-square-foot facility in Suwanee, Ga., and provides third-party management services for the storage totaling 78,516 rentable square feet in Marietta, Ga., making the REIT the most in-demand property manager among the top ten.

5.      Sarasota-Cape Coral

With the approximately 1.1 million rentable square feet of storage space delivered throughout the past year, Sarasota-Cape Coral’s footprint reached slightly over 20 million square feet as of December 2022. Looking at recent completions the metro’s development activity is on a minor growth trend as completions totaled roughly 970,000 square feet in 2021 and roughly 1 million square feet in 2020.

The top ten largest self storages delivered in 2022 in the Sarasota-Cape Coral market snaked down from Bradenton, Fla., to Naples., Fla. Leading this list was an Extra Space Storage-managed property encompassing 100,562 rentable square feet in North Fort Myers, Fla. Storage REITs proved to be a common management option among these newly delivered facilities, as CubeSmart had four properties under their brand, followed by Public Storage with three facilities (two of which they also owned) with Extra Space Storage rounding out the list with two properties under their management arm.

6.      Tampa

Self storage developers were also busy across Tampa last year, as more than 1 million square feet of storage space was added to the metro’s inventory. The number of completions overall decreased, although only slightly, as one less project was delivered in 2022 than in each of the previous two years, where 15 storages came online amounting to roughly 1.2 million square feet per year.

The largest self storage facility that came online in 2022 in Tampa was a single-story ClearHome Self Storage totaling 110,091 rentable square feet in Lakeland, Fla. Among the top 10 largest developments of the metro, four properties are already under new ownership with Extra Space Storage snapping up a 75,310-square-foot facility in Spring Hill, Fla., HPI Real Estate Services & Investments acquiring a 73,800-square-foot storage in Lakeland, Fla., and Value Store It Self-Storage purchasing two properties with a combined 153,778 square feet in Clearwater, Fla.

7.      Los Angeles

The market-wide share of projects delivered in 2022 was equivalent to 1.5 percent of Los Angeles’ existing stock bringing its self storage footprint to more than 1,000 facilities totaling 68.3 million rentable square feet.

Trojan Storage leads the top ten largest self storage properties completed in 2022 in Los Angeles. The locally based owner financed the construction of the three-story facility totaling 173,460 rentable square feet in Glendale, Calif., with a $6.3 million construction loan originated by Comerica Bank. A 120,038-square-foot Extra Space Storage in Inglewood, Calif., and a 94,909-square-foot SecureSpace Self Storage in Brea, Calif., round out the top three.

8.      Chicago

Throughout the Greater Chicago area, 11 facilities totaling 903,747 rentable square feet came online in 2022. This figure amounted to 1.8 percent of Chicago’s existing inventory, which as of December 2022 equaled 49.5 million square feet across 853 properties. Development activity significantly picked up when compared to 2021, when four facilities encompassing 333,703 square feet were delivered. This slow period was preceded by a much more active year as developers completed 18 storages totaling 1.6 million square feet in 2020.

The top ten largest facilities delivered last year in the Chicago market averaged out to 82,900 rentable square feet per property. The largest property was a Public Storage encompassing 107,788 square feet in Lombard, Ill. The three-story facility owned and managed by the REIT came online in the third quarter of the past year along with four other properties within the top ten. One property out of these ten facilities was delivered in the first quarter, while two more were finished in the second and fourth quarters, respectively.

9.      Washington, D.C.

Developer activity somewhat dropped in 2022 in Washington, D.C., when compared to recent years. Last year 820,602 square feet of storage came online in the metro, while in 2021 1.2 million square feet were delivered and in 2020 completions amounted to 1.3 million square feet. Last year’s new supply came to 2.7 percent of Washington, D.C.’s total stock, which totaled 30.6 million square feet as of December 2022.

Ten storage facilities opened in 2022 in Washington, D.C.. CubeSmart Self Storage was one of the most active developers in the market, as the REIT added two facilities totaling 196,929 square feet to their D.C. portfolio and another 66,000-square-foot storage to their management portfolio. Arcland also delivered two properties encompassing 184,637 rentable square feet with the help of a construction loan financed by United Bank.

10. Miami

In 2022, 761,646 square feet of storage space was completed, marking 1.9 percent of Miami’s existing inventory, which as of December 2022 stood at nearly 41 million rentable square feet. Overall, new deliveries were down compared to 2021, when approximately 1.3 million square feet were completed and nearly 50 percent down contrasted with 2020 figures, when nearly 1.5 million square feet of space came online.

The largest newly completed self storage of the metro was The Feldman Co.’s 104,000-square-foot facility in Palmetto Bay, Fla. The Extra Space Storage-managed property came online in the first quarter of the past year, as did most of the other Miami properties. Meanwhile, two facilities were completed in the second quarter, three in the third quarter and none in the last quarter.