Q1 results: self-storage of St.Petersburg saves positions
A steady growth trend was formed on the market in 2020-2021, which, as we believed before the current events, should have continued in the medium term.
Offer
At the end of March 2022, 134 warehouse complexes in the self-storage format are operating on the St. Petersburg market. Among them —Prostor, Mini Sklad, Smart Sklad, Kladovochka.RF.
The number of warehouse facilities of such format has increased by 9 (compared to the indicators of December 2021) at Q1, and the totaled in the number of 42.
Basically, the segment grew by heated storage facilities. According to the results of three months, the segment of SS heated warehouse complexes accounted to 27% (+1 p.p.), the share of mixed format, on the contrary, decreased and amounted to 5%. Unheated self-storage warehouses occupy the majority of the market — 68% of the gross supply in the city (– 1 p.p.).
The leaders in terms of supply on the market are Primorsky with 12% and Vyborgsky with 11% of the gross supply each. They are followed by the Krasnogvardeisky, Nevsky and Frunzensky districts – with 10% share in the gross offer each.
Demand
Two factors influenced the formation of stable demand from individuals in the market. Firstly, the average area of purchased housing has significantly decreased over the past 10 years. Secondly, reduced supply of individual garages also provided self-storage possibility to grow.
Auxiliary growth in demand for individual storage services has shaped the rapid increase of the e-commerce segment during the COVID-19 pandemic. For small online stores that do not have their own distribution centers, self-storage services can solve many problems. In addition to directly storing goods, some complexes provide the opportunity to register a legal entity at the address of the complex.
Commercial terms
According to Maris experts, as of the end of March 2021, the asking rates in self-storage heated warehouse complexes have not changed and on average were 800 – 2,200 RUB per sqm per month. Rental rates in the segment of unheated storage facilities vary in the range from 200 to 1,400 RUB per sqm.
Development forecast
Most likely the market will continue to grow in 2022, perhaps not at the rapid pace that we have observed. The growth rates will be restrained by increasing operating expenses and declining real disposable monetary incomes of the population, which significantly limits the potential for demand growth in the market.