By Marc Goodin CEO of Storage Authority Franchise www.StorageAuthorityFranchise.com
1) Make sure your contract with your engineer includes that they will provide earthwork cut and fill quantities to make sure they have done a good job of balancing the earthwork. Often raising or lowering a site during the design phase a foot can save $100,000 or more in construction costs.
2) Fewer buildings can save you a $1/sf plus. Less pavement, less piping, less exterior lighting, less footings and exterior walls, less snow plowing. It adds up to a good savings. Plus you use less land. If the rear of some buildings without a drive can be substituted for fencing there is an additional significant savings.
3) We all love the look of shiny steel look of light gauge construction. But if you go with larger “red iron” framing you can save $$. It is very important to keep it well protected on the site as scratches in the paint can easily turn to rust for a very bad look. I like the steel look and have it at my facilities but with high interest rates all saving options should be on the table.
During the initial design phase of the project make sure you and your Engineer & Architect have weekly zooms until the site and unit layout are completed. Reviewing things like efficient building length and widths, office size and location, Handicap door locations, and grading, rv parking, and climate control vs non-climate control percentages are just some of the items that will turn out much better with team participation up front.
So if your site is 90,000 sf and you save $3/sf which can be obtained in many cases from the items above, you just saved $270,000!! I have seen too many bad designs that lead to an extra cost of $10/Sf plus.
Tip: Always get your Borings and Geotechnical report done first thing in the process. I have seen site designs that either require too much ledge blasting and must be abandoned. In some cases, the site can be saved but requires a total redesign costing time and money.
Send me an email for reading material to help you understand the self storage development, operations, and Sales & Marketing and Storage Authority. Marc@StorageAuthority.com Don’t forget to check out our FAQ’s & Blog on our website for great information. www.storageauthority.com
Cheers,
Marc
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