I grew up in Ohio, and we had a running joke that the state flower should be the orange barrel because, without fail, it was the one thing that was definitely in bloom every spring.

Well, I've noticed it's no different in Chicago. It seems every street is being torn up now that the weather is conducive for work. The other day I was driving through a construction zone, and while being snarled in one-lane traffic, I realized that I was sitting right next to a self-storage facility. Was there access to the parking lot? Well, yes, but it was incredibly hard to find, and there was a very narrow entryway to pull into it because the far right lane and curb were practically non-existent. I thought to myself, "I'm glad I don't have to try to drive to this place every day." I imagine it's pretty inconvenient for staff, tenants and -- worst of all -- potential tenants.

I realize construction is necessary and inevitable, and that it doesn't do much to gripe about it, but I was curious if you've ever seen your access/business significantly affected by a project? Was your business informed well in advance of the coming construction? Did the city/state DOT keep you informed of the progress? Would you say you lost business because of the construction?

I'm curious to hear how you've overcome some of these hurdles.

P.S. This post was NOT funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

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John Carlisle
Community Manager, Self-Storage Talk
Online Content Editor, Business Solutions Network
VIRGO
jcarlisle at vpico dot com
480-990-1101, x1214

John, when I lived in Chicago, it was five supervisors watching one man with a shovel. I'm sure it hasn't changed.

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Bob Taylor (Astro)
Blue Ridge Self Storage
Cashiers, NC

Disclaimer: What Gina said....'cause the the cheese fell of my cracker.

Last April, our neighbor shut down their Big Box Store for a complete reno. They even tore the main main road and all the parking lots.

This started happening right when we were really being affected by the economy, and it really dried the new move-ins up.

Fortunately, it ended in October!

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What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are small matters compared to what lies within us!

Shannon

I once testified in a case where I was asked to help compute damages when a contractor, hired by a city had employees walk off the job and ran into poor soils conditions. The city notified the facility that there would be disruption for about ten days. The subcontractor poorly managed the job to the point that their workers left the job and it sat idle for about a week. The contractor failed to get a soils report from an engineer and that further delayed the work. Meanwhile, the facility lost business during June, the busiest month of the year. In addition, the extensive earthwork was not properly watered and dust settled on many tenants belongings. The facility suffered for about three months, the pinnacle of the rental season and had many disgruntled tenants. The case was settled via a mediator for a lot of money.

Disruption of this nature is tolerable for a very short time period, however, more than a few weeks and the facility will truly suffer. Eeeekss..........

Yes, construction was just completed on the main road in front of my facility. It took a little over a year to complete it, once we thought they were done, they tore up the drive way entrance again, re-paved and moved on, only to come back a few weeks later and do it again...It was definitely slow around here when they were working on it. It was also extremely difficult to see where to turn in, when the entrance wasn't covered with a mound of dirt. Now that it has been completed...it has not gotten busier all of a sudden, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that it does! We were not really kept informed by DOT, but we were aware of their deadlines for completion. I will say I was impressed by the actual construction workers, they were very helpful to getting my customers in and out as easily as possible, they always kept an eye out to direct them in or out. I am glad it's over!

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LT

We've had road construction mess with our access and quite often we aren't informed until the equipment rolls up.

In one significant case we were able to argue for reduction in Property Taxes as it affected our business. Quite often it can be challenging to have the City work to accomodate your operations.

The most contentious was when the city without consultation or announcement decided to build a concrete median that would block our exiting traffic from turning left and also restrict movement of any 5 ton or larger truck. We were pissed. We complained to the City and clearly they were going to be buracratic about doing anything if at all.

Thus we drove over it well it was still wet. Poor construction guys were shocked. We explained why were upset and they gave up and cleaned it up. The City CALLED US to complain. Needless to say, the median is still not there and it's been about 4 years

^^^^^^ I Love it, Madman! One of our facilities has the same issue. It's hard enough getting out of there with evening traffic because the entrance is right after an interstate overpass. When you finally turn right, you gotta wait until there's enough room to complete a u-turn. And any customers approaching the facility from it's right have to go about a half mile to make a u-turn to come up and turn into the facility. I wish I had been there when that median was put it, I probably would have done the same thing. If I had a truck I'd probably just go over the median, but I think my civic wouldn't appreciate it much.

If it was to return late one night or over a weekend, I foresaw an (un)fortunate bulldozing accident ... in it's future

Just read about another instance of this happening in Yuma, Ariz. Self-storage facility is getting the brunt of it. I'll post the link when I have it.

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John Carlisle
Community Manager, Self-Storage Talk
Online Content Editor, Business Solutions Network
VIRGO
jcarlisle at vpico dot com
480-990-1101, x1214

Here we go: Owner Claims Road Construction Hurting AA Value Storage

__________________
John Carlisle
Community Manager, Self-Storage Talk
Online Content Editor, Business Solutions Network
VIRGO
jcarlisle at vpico dot com
480-990-1101, x1214