{"id":1323,"date":"2022-09-26T15:19:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T15:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/?p=1323"},"modified":"2022-09-26T15:19:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T15:19:03","slug":"irish-self-storage-group-in-multi-million-pound-northern-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/irish-self-storage-group-in-multi-million-pound-northern-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Self Storage Group In Multi-Million Pound Northern Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nIrish self-storage company U Store It is preparing to open a major new site in Belfast as part of a multi-million-pound expansion north of the border.<\/span><\/p>\n

The five-storey mega unit, just off Kennedy Way in west Belfast, is expected to open by the end of the year, offering between 1,500 and 1,600 storage units for consumers and small businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

It comes just weeks after Ireland\u2019s biggest self-storage company was acquired by US real estate group Heitman.<\/span><\/p>\n

The investment manager is paying \u20ac104 million (\u00a390m) for U Store-it\u2019s existing sites in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, and Waterford, according to The Times,<\/span><\/p>\n

Documents filed with the Irish Companies Registration Office indicate Heitman will pay another \u20ac20m (\u00a317m) for four development assets, including the site in west Belfast, which is still under construction.<\/span><\/p>\n

U Store It owns the north\u2019s longest established self-storage business Belfast Self Storage. Opened in 1996, the Duncrue Street complex offers 680 units.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new unit under construction along the M1 close to Milltown Cemetery will offer more than double the number of units, with users able to obtain round-the-clock- access via pin code.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dublin-based firm originally secured planning approval for the project in 2008, but major building work only commenced in recent months.<\/span><\/p>\n

Karen Brennan, U Store It\u2019s head of sales and business development, said while the concept of self-storage remains a relatively new concept on the island, it\u2019s already huge in the US and Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe business model is the flexibility,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s no lease, and you can just roll it on month-to-month.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s attractive to the online retailers, start-ups and in the case of the Belfast market, for mainland UK businesses looking to have a satellite operation in Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-storage is also being increasingly used by residential customers, particularly among prospective house-buyers involved in a property chain deal, or in cases of deceased householders.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCustomers will use anything from two weeks to 15-20 years,\u201d said Ms Brennan. \u201cAny and all reasons apply.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The new gated and secure facility on Blackstaff Way will offer customers round-the-clock pin code access<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms Brennan said major expansion is now on the cards in both the Republic and Northern Ireland, with expansion beyond Belfast likely in time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s expansion going on everywhere. It\u2019s an exciting time,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, the priority is trying to get the new site up and running and then looking at opportunities outside of Belfast to see what\u2019s available to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a demand. Because in Ireland it\u2019s such a young sector, the biggest problem we would have is awareness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The business is anticipating considerable demand for commercial storage space in the north in the post-Brexit era.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an awful lot of commercial usage for self-storage, because there\u2019s such a premium for commercial space,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a commercial point of view, the selling point is there is no lease. You have a business address, but don\u2019t have to be on site to collect or wait around for deliveries all day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like an additional staff member.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Irish self-storage company U Store It is preparing to open a major new site in Belfast as part of a multi-million-pound expansion north of the border. The five-storey mega unit, just off Kennedy Way in west Belfast, is expected to open by the end of the year, offering between 1,500 and 1,600 storage units for consumers and small businesses. It comes just weeks after Ireland\u2019s biggest self-storage company was acquired by US real estate group Heitman. The investment manager is paying \u20ac104 million (\u00a390m) for U Store-it\u2019s existing sites in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[20,4],"tags":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1325,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions\/1325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/uk\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}