Stuff of dreams: Storage units for sale in SW Weld

LONGMONT – We’re a nation filled with people who buy and own a lot of stuff. That love of purchasing creates another need: space for the stuff.

GarageTown is a company that sells storage space just off Colorado Highway 119, west of Interstate 25 east of Longmont. The storage units start at $62,400. The spaces, which can accommodate an RV, motorcycles, boats, tools, snowmobiles and other collectibles, also can be rented.

Why own a storage space when you can rent? It’s an investment, according to Mike Ard, a GarageTown team member in Longmont. He says several owners buy as an investment and then lease their units to others. The company’s ad states a similar real estate project saw units appreciate 20 percent in one year.

“For many it’s easier being a landlord of an oversized storage unit than it is of a residential property,” he said. “Most owners who rent their spaces enjoy a positive cash flow as well as the appreciation of the facility.”

Idaho-based developer Victory Homes owns GarageTown. A high-end residential builder for many years, Victory was developing an upscale riverfront neighborhood in Idaho and decided to construct storage units for residents on some leftover land, according to Ard.

The company contacted Ard, a builder who was finishing a condo storage facility in Centennial, to build the units. Once they finished the job, Ard and owners of Victory Homes came up with a business model for storage units that could be sold rather than rented.

They built the first GarageTown facility in Idaho, and it sold out quickly. The concept and company grew and now has made its way to Colorado.

Ard said the idea has caught on. Where two years ago a Web search might have yielded a “small handful” of similar developments around the country, “today, there are scores of providers,” he said. “Yet, to the best of my knowledge, GarageTown is the first developer to actually brand the product and take it regionally.”

Victory plans to build several GarageTowns in Colorado. In addition to the Longmont facility, other sites include Highlands Ranch and Colorado Springs. There are also two in Washington.

The local GarageTown in Del Camino will be finished this summer. It will cover 4.5 acres and include 84 storage units, ranging in size from 768 square feet (16 feet by 48 feet) to 1,344 square feet (24 feet by 56 feet). The automatic overhead doors are 14 feet tall, and the ceilings are 16 feet high. The units also include a heater, individually metered electrical service, a dedicated RV power outlet, fluorescent lighting, fire sprinklers and phone and cable access.

Ard said buyers can use up to 10 percent of their units as office space. “It’s ideal for the small-business owners including contractors, distributors and route sales operations,” he said.

Common amenities include restroom facilities, a spacious clubhouse, trash service and access to potable water.

To date, about half of the 84-unit facility is reserved.

One customer, Carol Gorsuch of Boulder, reserved a unit for purchase earlier this spring.

“It’s really nice quality, and I suspect it’ll appreciate in value,” Gorsuch says. She will be storing a camper and boat in her slot. “It has everything we need and want in a storage location – heat, good security and it’s not too far away, so it’s convenient.”

Ard wouldn’t share details on how the company markets itself, but did say the company uses direct mail and is “very focused on identifying our customers and satisfying their needs.”

Typically, about 40 percent of those occupying any facility are RV owners, about a third have car or toy collections and most of the balance are small businesses storing business supplies, he said.

“It’s a perfect place for protecting those expensive toys from the elements, for reclaiming the basement or garage, or for consolidating a collection that might be spread all over town,” Ard pointed out.

Many reservations come from referrals. GarageTown offers a $500 per unit referral fee for an owner who brings in a new customer.

Initial market research led GarageTown principals to believe that most if not all customers would be those who owned RVs. “But since then our thinking has expanded with our customer base,” according to Ard. “Now we focus on car collectors, people with a lot of toys, those with restrictive neighborhood covenants and small business, not retail, where space and accessibility are important.”

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