The StoreWest Bluebird Self-Storage Development Fund (“The Fund”) is off to a fantastic start. 3projects have begun construction, 4-6 projects have the potential to begin construction by next spring, and new opportunities are being presented to us on a weekly basis. We are very happy with the pace of progress thus far.
The Fund’s investment objective is to achieve capital appreciation through the development and sale of Class A self-storage projects across Canada.
We are pleased to report to our Investors with this summary of the Bluebird Storage
facilities that are currently in operation, as well as the two facilities that are
currently in the construction phase. The deal pipeline currently holds several more
facilities and development locations, including Class ‘A’ opportunities in the interior
of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario (Greater Toronto Area).
Please click on the below link for the full report:
Henri-Bourassa – 2023 Q1 Report
Occupancy remains strong in our two facilities in Nova Scotia. When you combine the two reports below, the percentage of units rented between the two facilities is 89.6%. If you look at the square footage, we are currently leasing out 94% of all space available. This is considered quite high for storage and Wright in particular is in need of more space with over 97% of available area currently rented!
2021 was a solid year for both facilities. Our revenue for the year was $1,631,116 over 10.5 months of operation with monthly revenues increasing 10-20% over the course of the year. The Q1 numbers, as noted below, show this growth trend continuing with $500,000 of revenue in the first quarter of 2022. This puts Wright-Parkway on track to surpass $2M in revenue for 2022.
Management is now looking at expansion options for the Wright facility. This expansion could add 4 to 6 stories and up to 60,000 Sq Ft of much needed space to this facility. Management believes the net gain in value for Wright from such an expansion could be significant
Leasing up a storage facility during winter months is a bit out of the norm. We were very happy to see this trend continue while also having 11 people on the waiting list for larger units, which will help with our lease up once our expansion is complete.
We have completed our 2021 year end and T5013s were sent to all investors at the end of March. 2021 was a great growth year for Chestermere and we ended the year at 69.9% storage occupancy with total revenues of $875,903. This represents a 47.42% increase in revenue YoY from our 2020 total of $594,161. Excluding amortization, Chestermere was profitable in 2021 – a very significant step for the LP.
As, you can see from the above YTD management reports, 2022 continues to show growth. The first quarter is typically very slow for storage, but revenue has continued to grow and occupancy as well. Chestermere is currently over 80% occupied!
Soft opening was very well received by the public!
*Over 1000 members to date
From all of us, thank-you for being part of this great journey
In February 2021, Wright-Parkway Self-Storage LP was formed by StoreWest & Bluebird to acquire two facilities, one in Truro, Nova Scotia and the other in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The Parkway facility in Truro is 21,786 SF net rentable with 259 units. While, the Wright facility in Dartmouth is 68,957 SF net rentable with 607 units.
Revenue management has continued to be Bluebird’s focus with these stabilized assets. It has instituted a two-pronged revenue management program targeting both new & existing clients.
• Retrofit of the Automatic Truck bay is complete. New foam cannons and brushes are a big hit. Significant amount of maintenance fixes completed year-to-date.
• Memberships continue to grow with over 1300 members currently. This is up from ~700 members at start of year. We now have over 165 fleet clients as well.
• Sales in the overall car/truck wash are up 33% YoY. We have also dropped our labour by close 20% this year, while getting our chemical cost down as well.
Dufferin Storage celebrated its first anniversary at the end of August. The facility achieved 35% occupancy in its first year – well ahead of projections (20% is considered normal).
At its current level of occupancy the storage facility is essentially at operational breakeven (an impressive feat in one year).
Storage is now entering the quieter period (Nov. – March), but management will continue to focus on financial occupancy while looking forward to the 2022 lease up season.
*Please note our pricing vs our competitors below
Management is currently working with our lender on terming out the construction loan for Dufferin Storage. As part of this process, updated appraisals were obtained on both the storage and wash from Colliers.
Colliers appraised the wash at $15.1M and storage at $28.3M (as is). This provides a total project appraisal of $43.4M with a total project cost of ~$29M (~$14.4M gain on $11M equity). While this is no guarantee of exit value it is encouraging.
In late 2020, StoreWest replaced our existing facility Manager with Bluebird. In addition to leasing up the facility, Bluebird’s main focus has been on bringing up our revenues and financial occupancy. This has been achieved through systematic rent increases as noted below. The net result has been a dramatic increase in monthly revenue.
Essential service – no payments deferred or missed during Covid
