Self Storage Feasibility Study in Oklahoma

Smaller tickets, heavier weight

Oklahoma's self storage borrowers take loans noticeably smaller than their peers elsewhere, yet storage matters more here than the national mix would predict. Between FY2017 and FY2026 SBA approved 37 loans for the class in the state, worth $32.6 million in gross dollars. The median loan of $560,000 is 0.60x the national median for self storage, and that gap in ticket size is the one measure we can say separates Oklahoma from the class nationally. The location quotient of 1.73x says storage makes up a bigger portion of Oklahoma's SBA lending than of lending nationwide, and the state ranks 24 of 50 for the class while storage sits 17 of 39 among the classes financed inside Oklahoma.

Programs, lenders and where the loans sit

The middle half of approvals runs from $249,400 to $895,000, so the typical facility here is a modest build or a purchase of an existing small operation rather than a large climate-controlled campus. Of the loans, 28 are SBA 7(a) and 9 are SBA 504, and franchising, at 2.7% of loans, is close to irrelevant. On the 7(a) side BancFirst leads with 7 loans and $4.2 million, while Live Oak Banking Company shows 6 loans carrying $9.0 million, so a smaller count there means much bigger projects. Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma, Inc. tops the 504 table with 5 loans and $3.3 million. Geography is dispersed: Comanche and Payne counties each hold 5 loans, Tulsa 4, and Oklahoma County only 3. Annual volume swings from a peak of 9 loans in FY2021 to a single loan in FY2024, and FY2026 shows 4.

Cancellations, and a rate we do not print

Cancellation after approval hit at least 23.3% of Oklahoma storage loans approved in FY2017 through FY2024, and 26.7% if undisbursed loans are counted too. Both are floors for the true figure. Roughly one approval in four never reaching a closing tells a lender that site control, entitlements or construction pricing often shift between commitment and funding. The page leaves out a charge-off rate, because too few of the state's storage loans have aged enough to support one; that omission is a limit of the data, not evidence of a clean record.

What an Oklahoma storage study has to test

A study for Oklahoma storage should measure supply in the actual trade area, in square feet per household, with the units already built and those permitted, since a projected lease-up means little against an unseen competitor. Rent per square foot should be tested for climate-controlled and drive-up units separately, and construction cost set against a ticket that usually lands near the median. Coverage should be run on a slow fill, with a concession case. Because 504 funding is common, the study should also state how much of the project is hard cost. One limit on the coding: Vehicle storage for RVs and boats lacks any code of its own, sitting inside the self storage code or the other warehousing code, so an outdoor vehicle-storage plan should be read cautiously against this cell.