Nearly 100 self-storage centers are scattered throughout Cy-Fair’s seven primary ZIP codes. At least three major new facilities opened in the last year, and more are planned for 2017 as people continue to flock to the area.
“There’s obviously a lot of growth [in Cy-Fair], but it’s also an established community,” said Brian Cisarik, co-founder of SurePoint Self Storage, which opened in mid-March on Barker Cypress Road. “We felt like there was a lack of available space for the community and a real need for what we offer.”
Clients at self-storage facilities pay the company a fixed cost in exchange for being able to store goods on-site. Storage facilities in Cy-Fair target a variety of customer types, offering climate-controlled units, commercial storage and mini-offices in addition to standard storage setups.
According to Reis Inc., a commercial real estate data firm, usage rates of storage facilities in the Northwest Houston area have increased over the last five years. Vacancy rates averaged 8.2 percent in the most recent report from mid-2016, down from about 20 percent in early 2012. The study measures vacancy rates by as the average percent of vacant units in storage facilities throughout the area.
“Self-storage is a seasonal industry—vacancy rises in winter months after kids check into colleges,” REIS Senior Economist Barbara Byrne Denham said. “Rents follow the same pattern, but the market as a whole closely follows the apartment market.”
As demand for storage facilities has increased, storage rental prices have steadily climbed. The Reis report found prices increased nearly 16 percent since 2012, now averaging $90.06 monthly for a 10-by-10-foot nonclimate-controlled unit.
However, at the locally owned Cypress Creek Storage, management determines rental rates and said they try to be fair to the community.
“We keep our prices as low as possible, but property taxes in our area are extremely high,” Office Manager Teri Vaughn said. “When that goes up, we have to increase our rates.”
Cypress Creek Storage, which is located on Telge Road near the Stable Gate and Rock Creek subdivisions, started with 30 boat storage units in 2001. As community needs evolved over time, the property expanded to offer 450 multipurpose units.
An ongoing expansion will add 79 new climate-controlled units by the end of May, Vaughn said.
“There are a lot of families blending their homes—be it parents moving in with their children or children moving back in with parents,” Vaughn said.
Residents also need storage solutions when selling their homes and building new homes, Vaughn said. The 77429 ZIP code, where Cypress Creek Storage is based, saw a 10 percent population increase between 2010 and 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In the 77433 ZIP code, where SurePoint Self Storage is located, population increased by 27.6 percent since 2010. Cisarik said rent cost is based on the market, but customers in the area could be willing to pay for more amenities.
“We like to build in a higher-income area with a lot of population density, so [the location] really fit our model,” he said.
