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SSA Special Report: Industry Hurricane Update

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SSA Special Report: Industry Hurricane Update

Help Comes from Connecticut’s Westy Self Storage

Connecticut-based Westy Self Storage were designated as drop-off locations for baby products, cleaning supplies, non-perishable food items and personal hygiene products. The company provided temporary storage for donated items and delivered them to Feeding America, a nonprofit network of more than 200 food banks. Feeding America was to deliver the collected items to the most affected areas of Texas.

Founded in 1990, Westy Self Storage is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The company has 15 facilities in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

SpareFoot Makes Finding Emergency Storage Easier

SpareFoot.com offered to compensate residents impacted by Hurricane Harvey for a full month of self storage by issuing reimbursement gift cards from Amazon.com. Victims who reserve a storage unit through the SpareFoot.com website are eligible to receive the free gift. The company is also helping victims find offers for free self storage move-ins through its online platform by highlighting those listings in green in user search results.

SparFoot.com helps customers find and reserve storage units with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability.

Lockaway Storage and Metro Storage Provide Free Storage

Lockaway Storage and Metro Storage have designated facilities to provide at least 30 days of free self storage and other services to those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Lockaway officials announced they would provide a free month of storage to Texas storm victims at any of its 29 facilities in the San Antonio metro area. The operator has also partnered with UNITS Moving and Portable Storage to provide free use of mobile storage units.

Lockaway operates more than 40 self storage properties in Texas.

Metro Storage announced that it would offer two months of free rent at six of its facilities in the Houston area. Four of the locations are within the city border while the others are in Kingwood and La Marque. None sustained damage in the storm.

“People that have damage and are beginning the recovery and cleanup process are looking for a safe, dry place to store their belongings,” said Blair Nagel, CEO of Metro Storage. “We’re fortunate to be in a position where we can offer assistance to residents in this time of need.”

Metro Storage operates 130 locations in 13 states.

CubeSmart Sees Impact of Storms

CubeSmart closed all of its 104 owned and managed stores in Florida on Sunday, Sept. 10 out of concern for customer and employee safety in the wake of Hurricane Irma. By Tuesday, after Irma, CubeSmart reopened 22 Florida facilities.

By September 11, 50 of CubeSmart’s 52 Houston-area stores were open for normal business. The two remaining properties, representing 141,250 square feet and 985 units were temporarily closed to new customers due to damage caused by Hurricane Harvey.

“The size and impact of these back-to-back storms is unprecedented,” said Christopher Marr, president and CEO of Malvern, Pennsylvania-based CubeSmart. “While these are trying times for our customers and teammates in areas impacted by the Harvey and Irma hurricanes, we are actively working to reopen our stores and provide the storage space necessary to support the rebuilding efforts in our communities.”

Public Storage Loses Seven Properties to Harvey

On September 10th, Pubic Storage announced that all of its Florida properties and nine in South Carolina and Georgia would close for the safety of customers and employees. Those closures included 284 properties across both coasts in Florida with approximately 19 million net rentable square feet and 194,000 units.

In Houston, Public Storage had closed and then reopened all 116 properties covering 8.5 million net rentable square feet and over 79,500 units.

Seven properties severely impacted by Hurricane Harvey, covering approximately 500,000 net rentable square feet and 4000 units, will be demolished and rebuilt to state-of-the-art properties to withstand potential 500-year floods in the future.

Extra Space Manages Store Closings in Wake of Storms

Extra Space announced on Aug. 31 that it had reopened 30 of its affected facilities in Houston. Those properties comprise 2.6 million net rentable square feet in 20,000 units. Four locations totaling 2,500 units remained closed in early September.

Extra Space also said the company would offer a free first month of rent on new leases signed in September at is Greater Houston facilities. The REIT is providing other assistance to those displaced by the storm.

“Our hearts go out to the millions of people in Houston as they move forward from this tragic event,” said Joe Margolis, CEO of Extra Space.

In Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Extra Space announced that eight properties totaling 6,200 units remained closed for four days after the storm. The eight stores will be opened as soon as they are safe and operable, and rent credits are being provided to customers’ accounts depending on the level of interruption at the locations.

Life Storage Reopens Most Stores

Life Storage, Inc. closed its Houston and Beaumont, Texas, properties and by September 1 had reopened 63, leaving six temporarily closed due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey. Of those, three stores are wholly owned by Life Storage, representing 2,100 units, and three stores totaling 2,300 units are joint ventures.

“We recognize that this has been a traumatic time for the residents of Southeast Texas and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected,” said David Rogers, CEO. 

In Florida, eight stores remained closed by September 14, primarily due to power outages in the area. Two wholly-owned Life Storage facilities in Florida sustained heavy damage.

U-Haul Companies Step Up with Free Storage

U-Haul Companies of Southern Louisiana and Northern Louisiana are offering 30 days of free storage to residents impacted by Harvey’s winds and rains. Louisiana received tremendous rainfall from the storm after it passed Texas.

Eleven U-Haul Companies across the state of Florida began offering 30 days of free storage and U-Box container usage to residents impacted by the storm.

U-Haul Companies of Clearwater, Eastern Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Miami, North Orlando, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa and Western Florida made 96 facilities across 54 cities available to offer the 30 days free disaster relief assistance.

In Texas, six U-Haul companies began offering a free month’s rent and U-Box storage ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Harvey.

National Storage Affiliates Trust Weathers Texas Storm

National Storage Affiliates Trust announced that the company’s portfolio was not meaningfully impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The company has three wholly-owned and two joint-venture properties in the Houston area. All five stores were open and operational by September 1.

“Though our portfolio has not been significantly impacted by the events in Houston, we are keeping the people of Houston in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” said Arlen Nordhagen, CEO and chairman of NSA.

Yardi Eases Search for Housing, Donates Hurricane Aid

Property management software company Yardi donated $1 million to relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Harvey and launched a website to help displaced residents find housing.

The Santa Barbara company will attempt to help tens of thousands of people affected by the storm by using its RENTCafe property marketing and leasing platform to create a housing registry website that will help displaced residents find temporary and permanent homes.

The website RENTCafe.com/HurricaneHarvey allows housing providers to post available units along with special concessions and for displaced residents to search for housing. There is no charge for housing providers to list their properties on the website or for residents to use it. Yardi also has launched a hotline that evacuees can use for housing at (844) 363-6317.

| Categories: | Tags: Westy Self Storage, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Harvey, Florida, Texas, Yardi, U Haul, SpareFoot, Extra Space, Public Storage, Life Storage, Metro Storage, Lockaway Storage, Emergencies, CubeSmart, National Storage Affiliates | View Count: (2496) | Return

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