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New Boat Storage Business

 
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brotherbrown831
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Joined: 26 May 2008
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City: Oklahoma City

PostPosted: Sep 22, 2009 9:17 am    Post subject: New Boat Storage Business Reply with quote

Looking for feedback, advice, and recomendations.

I have been on the waiting list for interior boat storage around lake Draper near my home for almost a year now. There are only three covered boat storage facilities within a 5 mile radius of the docks at my main lake. I have begun to consider grouping with some coworkers and financing a new boat storage facility as a means of passive income generation.

The justification is there has been a large expansion of mid-range to high end housing in a 10 square mile area just south of Lake Draper and north of Lake Thunderbird. These houses are on the upper end of the local market and the middle/upper class people buying these homes are the same type of people who tend to have recreational toys like Boats/RVs/jet skis. Most of the newer neighborhoods have HOA's that forbid the storage of boats not contained inside the garage. Since I am on a multiple year long waiting list for boat storage it stands to reason that many of them are too.

The land cost in the area is not as cheap as it was in a decade ago due to the new development in the area, however there is still lots of undeveloped land that could be converted to commercial zoning and used for storage. The building costs would not be huge, I figured phase one would build one 60' x 150' with ten doors on each side. Each stall would be approximately 30' x 15' with 12' foot doors. I have some initial estimates for the steal buildings and they are reasonable. The concrete, construction, gravel, and fencing work could all be done at a discount as my investors all own companies that do that kind of work. I have yet to recieve my insurance quote, I am hoping this will not be my biggest expense but since this is tornado alley I know it will be high.

So my rough draft plan for a passive low overhead business:
1. Obtain 2 - 6 Acres, zone for commercial use
2. Gravel and cement/foundation work
3. Fence in property
4. Build first building, leaving room on lot for addional buildings in the future.
5. Install small closed circtuit security camera system (I can do this part)
6. Lease out slots for 1yr minimum contract lengths.
7. Hope I break even and wait a few decades for the land to appreciate a few hundred percent Razz (wishful thinking)

Let me know what you guys think. Also is you have any requests for ammenaties you want to have at a boat storage location, boat wash, maintenace services, etc...

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pet575
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PostPosted: Sep 22, 2009 9:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Make sure that the doorways are at least 12 feet high and at least 11 feet wide. My storage unit for my boat is 12' high but only 10' wide and it is a pretty tight squeeze.

Things I wish we had:

1. Lights/electrical outlets inside of each unit
2. ANY type of water hookup outside for community use.

I don't know that the camera is all that big of an attractive feature, IMHO.
As for insurance, you could probably keep your costs down by writing some provisions into the lease to state that each individual lessee is responsible for their contents in their unit and that you will not be responsible for anything other than the structure itself. That way, in the event a tornado comes and rips the roof off and sucks the boats out and up into the air without further damaging your building, your only responsibility is to put the roof back on and it is on them to have their boats covered by their own insurance policy.

Good luck!

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Okie Boarder
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PostPosted: Sep 22, 2009 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seems like a reasonable idea. I live around Tulsa right now and there are quite a few storage places. Seems like there aren't as many in OKC. You would likely get a fair amount of business.
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GnarShredd
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Joined: 16 Jun 2009
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City: St Pete.

PostPosted: Sep 22, 2009 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds solid. If there's a need, fill it.

I have a heavy retail background but my advice is to make sure to develop some strong, one-on-one, relationships with your customers. That would definitely be one of my top considerations if I was keeping a boat somewhere. If you trust someone, you know they care about keeping your stuff safe, esp. expensive stuff.

I don't know what the area is like but would it be worth while to consider 6mo. leases for people who have a permanent slip of their own but want to keep their boat inside during certain times of the year (This might just be me being from Florida but we get A TON of seasonal residents, don't know if it's the case for you.). You could prorate a bit and charge higher/month for the shorter time span?

*Disclaimer: I have no experience in the storage business, just retail (big and small) and all of my ideas posted may be really dumb for your purposes. Cool
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brotherbrown831
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PostPosted: Sep 23, 2009 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I got some listing from my real estate agent and it looks like the land is actually pretty cheap. As an additional bonus I found city council minutes from meeting over the last few years that state the city is attempting to entice commercial growth on the north side of the lake to include a new golf course, so with new residnetial growth to the south and the west and commercial up north this area is really starting to look attractive. The issue I have now is with zoning, the land I have found is all zoned AA for agriculture use, I am no familiar with the process of re-zoning from Agriculture to either commercial or Industrial, I am still waiting to hear back if storage is considered commercial or industrial.
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vette74
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PostPosted: Sep 24, 2009 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Don't forget a lot of the property will be used as a detention pond.
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chavez
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PostPosted: Sep 24, 2009 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

brotherbrown831, why not just have a big effing building built, and invest in a forklift with a ball on it.

Client drops off on your pad, then you wheel em in to their "stall" and your done.

One building, one big roll up door.

There is a guy out here who does this. He allows boats, rvs, pretty much whatever. You just park on the pad, unhook (and cover, etc) and he takes it in from there. He has about 4 or 5 acres, and a coded gate to enter the property. His storage building is a huge prefab steel warehouse deal. Probably 200x200 or so with a single large roll up you could drive a semi though (literally).

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Nooga678
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PostPosted: Sep 24, 2009 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also, don't limit yourself with the 1 year lease minimum. Not sure how cold it gets there and if people winterize and put their boats up for the winter. Around here a lot of people keep their boats at their house during the summer and find storage during the winter to get them out of their driveways. You wouldn't want to turn that business away by forcing a 1 year contract.
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_bruky
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PostPosted: Sep 24, 2009 7:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A family member owns a few of these places in Europe for big boats - the kind that people really can't get rid of or take home.

chavez is correct. The roll up doors are going to really bump up the price of a cheap pre-engineered structure. Big open building, plenty of exhaust fans to keep the mildew to a minimum, and you're set. Dry-stacking is also a great way to maximize your sqftage return by approximately 15-20%

Nooga, bah, round 'em all up and kick out the budget boats when the 1-year folks roll in.

Drystacking 4-level would be extremely beneficial and require minimal additional funds as far as the pre-fab structure.
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brotherbrown831
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PostPosted: Sep 25, 2009 3:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am familiar with the concept of storage that you guys are speaking of, however in this area I do not think its is a proper business plan. The issue I have with warehouse style storage is that it would require an employee, that is a non-fixed cost that lasts for ever. Secondly, in this area many people that I know will pick up and drop off their boats several times a week at all different hours, so the warehouse would have to be staffed very early for fisherman, and very late for guys like me that like to ride the sunset session. I think the traditional self storage model works best in this situation. I am still looking for a pre-fabricated steal company to quote me the price of the building and I have a few leads on some local contractors that can build it.
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Jdubb16
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PostPosted: Sep 25, 2009 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here are a couple of items you many need:

- Fire protetion system, these can get pricey.
- I am sure you will need an umbrella policy to cover yourself in case one boat catches fire and damages other's. The first person's covereage will be limited and will have a cap. If it is not enough, they WILL come after you. You may need to have coverage for gas/oil spillage.
- Consider several different lease lengths and decrease the price per foot or price per space based on the longevity of the lease. If you make it attractive to sign a year long lease even for someone who only needs it for 8-9 months, then you never have gaps in revenue assuming you keep them coming back.
- Try placing a small add in the paper to see what reaction you get. Se how many people would be willing to put a deposit down (say 25% of the first year) to get on the list. To do this, you would have to be able to give them a projected date of opening.

I will post more thoughts as they come to mind.

Jdubb
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nicksonbelt
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PostPosted: Feb 18, 2012 1:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey, thanks for the information on boat storage facility. I am looking for buying new boat and thinking for the storage of it. I searches online for it that which company provide these facility and found one. Thanks

boat repair
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