The self-storage industry has seen unprecedented growth lately, with the past 10 years delivering 25 percent of the total existing inventory of self-storage nationwide. Although still below pre-pandemic levels in terms of new supply, 2023 saw 53 million square feet of new space added to the market, and 2024 is on track to see the delivery of no less than 54 million rentable square feet.

Demand is at the core of the sustained development pace in the self-storage market, traditionally driven by the four D’s: death, divorce, dislocation and downsizing. These factors have long been fundamental to the interest in self-storage, leading to one-fifth of Americans relying on storage away from home to maximize space.

Recently, two more D’s (decluttering and distribution) have become significant drivers, rounding out what are now the six D’s of self-storage. The shift toward working from home and shrinking home sizes have created a need for people to declutter more than in