Our client developed this property in 2006 and operated it until the sale. Self-storage was an ancillary business for them, and its performance was not maximized. That led to cash flow below what the facility could earn, which made it hard to sell at the desired price. In fact, the facility had been listed a number of times with no success.

Our experience with self-storage told us that achieving the highest sale price would take a long-term consulting approach. First, we helped our client make operational changes to raise income to a level that justified the desired price. That required a thorough analysis to find the areas needing improvement, new strategies to raise physical occupancy (the share of units rented) and economic occupancy (rent collected as a share of potential rent), and direct outreach to high-probability buyers.

In the end, we improved income and occupancy and turned our client's side business into a cash-flowing asset with true market value. We then generated interest in the property and negotiated a sale that left our client satisfied.