Behind one metal shutter, hundreds of candles are being boxed ready to be shipped around the world, behind another another an e-bike repair shop fixes transport for the city’s hundreds of delivery riders. There’s even a locker full of bitcoin ATM machines, , but legal here in Canada, which enables bitcoin owners to exchange the digital currency for cash, or vice versa. Showing me around the long, brightly lit corridors lined with rows of shuttered metal doors is David Allan, one of the owners.
He says 70% of this facility is rented by businesses. “In a pre-Covid world, office rents went to around C$60 ($44; £34) a foot, while you could get storage at the time for $30 a foot. "So, instead of having sort of an interior office for file storage, firms moved into self-storage facilities because it was half the price or less, and they were able to use their offices in a more productive way.
” It's a worldwide trend. Storage companies are snapping up vacant commercial spaces abandoned after the pandemic. Meanwhile, as rents rise, consumers and business are looking for cheaper storage options.
In Canada, 16 new facilities opened their doors last year, adding an extra one million sq ft of space. Rents are up too - by an average of 12% from 2023 - according to StorTrack, who track industry data. In the UK the industry made more than a billion pounds last year for the first time, from commercial property firm Cushman & Wakefield and the Self Storage Association.
In parts of Asia.
