Self-Storage Startup Expands Into Brooklyn With 2 Leases
Stuf, a 4-year-old urban self-storage company, is expanding in New York with two more Brooklyn leases.
At 485 Clermont Ave., an office building owned by RXR, Stuf has leased approximately 15K SF for about 180 storage units, the company told Bisnow.
At 550 Fifth Ave., Stuf will open a 9K SF location housing 110 units.
The two new locations are set to bring Stuf to five in New York City and almost 30 nationwide. Other cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Seattle and one each in Boston and Atlanta.
Stuf founder Katharine Lau launched the company in 2020 and has raised more than $11M in Series A funding, including from investors in Warby Parker.
Stuf offers a revenue-sharing model for landlords. As of 2023, the company managed about 100K SF across the country, including spaces owned by Jamestown Properties and Hines.
"We're doubling down on existing markets, particularly New York, where we plan to open one location per month in 2024," Lau said in a statement. "Real estate owners are increasingly reaching out to us with their underutilized spaces so we can convert them into rent-generating building amenities."
In 2024, Lau plans to double Stuf’s footprint, according to Business Insider, which named her a rising star in real estate. Demand strengthened during the pandemic, spurring Lau, who had been a vice president of real estate at coworking provider Industrious, to launch her own business.
The industry is especially tied to the housing market. High interest rates have caused self-storage demand to cool, especially as the number of people moving has dropped.
Still, New York remains one of the most undersupplied metro areas, with 2.4 net rentable SF per capita, well below other cities, according to a report by Yardi Matrix. Supply under construction represents 3.5% of existing inventory.
That has led to high rents for self-storage units in the city. NYC's annualized storage rate per SF is $33.52, while the national rate is $16.37, according to Yardi.
CORRECTION, MAY, 5:13 P.M. ET: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that 485 Clermont Ave. is a residential complex. It is an office building. This story has been updated.
