Clutter Trend Turns Storage Facilities Into Second Homes

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 6th 2008 at 4:02PM

I've written about the deluxe "car condos" before but I found this recent article on storage condos fascinating. More and more people are using storage condos not just as a place to stores a few things but to actually uses as a sort of second home, a place to actually spend time with your stuff. GarageTown sells units that come with cable television, high-speed Internet, individual thermostats, and clubhouses where the owners can hang out together. At 2,000 square feet the largest spaces are as large as some homes. All states have self-storage units but most are the rather chilly and drab cement and metal spaces you can rent out. The storage units as condos are for the most part, clustered in resort areas and places with long winters. But that is changing. Even rental units are getting more and more deluxe marking a shift from when people would just plunk their things in a storage facility and promptly forget about them. The prices for condo garages and storage condo units vary but GarageTown's units in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho cost about $57,000 to $85,950 (for comparison sake, one-bedroom condos in the area under 500 square feet start around $100,000). For those who simply don't have enough room, the storage condo becomes your garage or basement away from home, not just a place to store things but also a hideout from everything going on in your home.

Tags: condos, storage, storage facilities