Self Storage Feasibility Study in Wisconsin

Wisconsin storage: a heavy class with small loans

Self storage carries far more weight in Wisconsin's SBA lending than nationally. The location quotient is 2.70x, Wisconsin ranks 4 of 50 among states for the class, and storage is 10 of 39 among Wisconsin asset classes. The 139 Wisconsin approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 total $116.8 million. Yet the loans are small for storage: the Wisconsin median of $522,800 is only 0.56x the national self storage median, and that low median is where the Wisconsin cell clears our margin against Wisconsin's all-asset book and storage nationally. Wisconsin's quartiles run from $304,000 to $1.0 million, which points to smaller facilities, expansions and acquisitions in smaller markets rather than large urban builds.

A storage book carried by WBD, Inc.

SBA 504 carries 74 Wisconsin storage approvals against 65 under 7(a), and WBD, Inc. holds 66 of the 504 loans, worth $48.3 million. On the 7(a) side, Bank Five Nine holds 32 worth $26.5 million, Summit CU 7, and Live Oak Banking Company 5 worth $16.7 million, a few far larger loans. Franchise facilities are almost absent, at 1.4%.

Lending has fallen sharply. Wisconsin approvals were 18 in both FY2017 and FY2018, 26 in FY2021 and 24 in FY2022, but only 4 in FY2024, 5 in FY2025 and 5 in FY2026. A borrower today is entering a market where SBA storage lending has thinned out, and a lender will want to know why this project is different.

Cancellations are meaningful: Wisconsin's floor is 12.4% of storage approvals dated FY2017 to FY2024, and 14.0% at the ceiling. Funded loans have performed. The 83 Wisconsin storage loans disbursed over FY2017 to FY2021 carry no charge-off so far, a 0.00% floor that is also 0.00% at five years.

What a Wisconsin storage study must test

Dane County holds 15 approvals, Waukesha 11, La Crosse 10, Columbia 8, and Marathon, Sheboygan and Washington 6 each. A feasibility study must count existing and planned units per household in the trade area, test street rates and occupancy at competing Wisconsin facilities, and explain the slowdown in recent lending. Cost should be bid for construction or expansion. The payment test must hold through lease-up at the loan requested, up to $1.0 million at the upper quartile, and the appraisal must value the facility on stabilized income. A coding limit applies too: Wisconsin RV and boat storage lots are filed under self storage or general warehousing, with no code to separate them.