Storage Unlocked

Thaddeus Campbell
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Business News
  • Weekly

Storage Unlocked is where self-storage meets reality. Hosted by Thaddeus Campbell, this no-fluff podcast dives into the hard numbers, bold opinions, and surprising trends shaping the self-storage industry and beyond. From housing market shifts and economic red flags to untapped investment opportunities, Thaddeus and Chris break it all down with sharp insight and real-world experience. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just storage-curious, you'll get insider takes, uncensored discussions, and data-backed forecasts that actually matter. Weekly drops. Always unfiltered.

  1. 4d ago

    While Storage Stagnated Post-COVID, Barry Sherman's Aviation Bet Took Off

    Is it time to get aggressive with commercial real estate development heading into 2027, or is patience your highest-yielding strategy ? I'm Thaddeus Campbell (Director of Business Development at S3 Partners), and on this edition of Storage Unlocked, I sit down with my mentor and S3 Partners principal, Barry Sherman . With decades of experience delivering institutional storage, small-bay flex, and aviation facilities, Barry breaks down how shifting debt terms and commodity costs have fundamentally altered project pro formas . We discuss why a standard 100,000 RSF facility now requires up to $6M in upfront developer equity, why entitled land should be prepped today rather than shelved, and how private aviation real estate is experiencing an unprecedented 60-million-square-foot expansion . In this episode, I cover: The New Debt Reality: How banks pulling back to 60%–65% LTC at near-8% rates has driven developer cash requirements from $1.5M to over $5M on identical footprints . The "Long Valley" Strategy: Why keeping shovel-ready entitlements moving through municipal reviews ensures you open units right when market absorption climbs . Material Inflation vs. Bidding Pressure: Balancing rising steel and fuel costs against a hungry contractor pool fighting for project volume . The Small Bay Pivot: Why capital is leaning into multi-tenant flex spaces to capture triple-net lease protections against rising operational expenses . The Private Aviation Boom: How Business Aviation Group is positioning for a national shortage of 20M to 60M square feet of hangar space over the next 10 years . Brought to you by our title sponsor, MLCO Construction (mlcoconstruction.com), and data partner TractIQ (tractiq.com) .

    While Storage Stagnated Post-COVID, Barry Sherman's Aviation Bet Took Off

  2. Oct 23

    MLCO: Competitive bidding offsets steel and diesel costs, keeping construction prices steady.

    How long can you trust a construction estimate on paper when materials and fuel are actively fluctuating ? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and on this episode of Storage Unlocked, I am joined by Joe Price (CEO) and Jordan Cater (Director of Business Development) of MLCO Construction. Joe and Jordan manage national builds across self-storage, small bay flex, boat/RV, and IOS facilities . In this episode, we cover how developers can protect budgets from rising steel and diesel prices, secure firm numbers lenders accept, and why small bay flex is leading development pipelines heading into 2027.  In this episode, I cover: Hedging Material Escalation: How locking in steel delivery schedules upfront shields owners from mid-development price jumps . Mitigating Fuel Volatility: Practical contract structures to cap diesel risk and share fuel fluctuations equitably with site subs . Infill Site Savings: Why ready access to power and water hydrants makes infill deals pencil when rural ground-up builds stall . The Spec Spectrum: Navigating the construction cost gap between simple contractor storage and institutional shallow bay flex . Collaborative Job-Site Culture: How MLCO's "hospitality mentality" builds trade loyalty and keeps competitive bids sharp . The 2027 Construction Outlook: Why small bay flex industrial leads current bidding activity as sidelined entitled land enters the market . Connect with Joe Price, Jordan Cater, & MLCO Construction: Website: mlcoconstruction.com Joe Price (CEO): jprice@mlcoconstruction.com Jordan Cater (Business Development): jcater@mlcoconstruction.com

    MLCO: Competitive bidding offsets steel and diesel costs, keeping construction prices steady.

  3. Oct 16

    Millrose accused of fraud in $200M home purchase from Lennar

    What happens to self-storage fundamentals when residential homebuyer demand falls below its 2008 Great Financial Crisis low ? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell (Director of Business Development and Strategic Branding at S3 Partners), and on this episode of Storage Unlocked, I sit down with Chris Berg (Abernathy Holdings, host of The Self Storage Report) to break down the cracks widening across the housing and commercial real estate landscape . We unpack the shareholder lawsuit against Lennar spinoff Millrose Properties, which alleges Millrose improperly bought over 700 homes, including 356 in the final week of a quarter, to prop up Lennar's earnings. We discuss why housing demand has hit 1995 lows, how 7.22% mortgage rates are locking up mobility, and what a stalled housing market means for self-storage rental rates and construction debt . In this episode, I cover: The Millrose Spinoff Allegations: Why shareholders are suing over claims Millrose overpaid for 700 to 1,096 homes to help Lennar hit quarterly revenue numbers . The Executive Stock Overlap: The conflict of interest behind Lennar's CEO owning 43% of Millrose stock while Millrose absorbs negative-cash-flow inventory . Demand Worse Than 2008: Data showing U.S. homebuyer demand falling to 30-year lows while unsold home supply reaches a 10-year high . The Moving Deficit: Why self-storage operators face discounted street rates when residential relocations—historically 40% of storage demand—freeze up . Pro Forma Reality: How $40/month introductory move-in promotions are causing lenders to reject regional construction pro formas . Institutional Technology Shifts: Public Storage's move to map 10 million U.S. micro-markets and the expansion of AI-native remote management . Brought to you by our title sponsor, MLCO Construction (mlcoconstruction.com)

    Millrose accused of fraud in $200M home purchase from Lennar

  4. Oct 9

    The 5-Year Refi Trap: Why Assets Are Selling at a Loss

    What happens to your underwriting when borrowing costs move faster than cap rates ? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell (Director of Development at S3 Partners), and on this episode of Storage Unlocked, I am joined by Lauren Feeney, Director of Acquisitions at Trojan Storage . Lauren lives in the underwriting trenches every single day . In this episode, we break down why capital costs are eating returns, the emerging wave of below-basis asset sales, and how conservative operators structure capital to survive macro downturns . In this episode, I cover: The Cost-of-Capital Reality: Why a 5.3% 10-year Treasury is compressing buyer spreads, and why macro energy and AI data center debt competition keep yields under pressure. The Sensitivity Test: A direct breakdown of how 7% debt slashes cash-on-cash yield from roughly 7% to 4% on an identical $10M acquisition . Below-Basis Sales: Why 50% of broker transactions over the last four months closed at or below original basis, alongside a 20% to 30% drop from initial price guidance . The Maturing Debt Wall: How multi-year extensions on 2021–2022 loans are setting the stage for forced exits . The Reserve Requirement: Trojan's rule requiring construction reserves equal to two times the annual debt service ($2.5M+ on a $30M loan) plus operating reserves . AI Market Underwriting: Integrating Claude with TractIQ to cross-reference 5-year unit rate histories against new supply deliveries Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Lauren Feeney Email: lauren@trojanstorage.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-feeney-98b3a992/ Brought to you by our official partners, MLCO Construction and TractIQ. https://mlcoconstruction.com/ https://tractiq.com/tssr

    The 5-Year Refi Trap: Why Assets Are Selling at a Loss

  5. Sep 25

    Small bay industrial base camp has become a go to resource for investors owners and developers.

    Why are commercial real estate operators pivoting away from big-box industrial and traditional storage toward 1,500- to 5,000-sq-ft multi-tenant bays ? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell (Business Development Director at S3 Partners), and in this episode of Storage Unlocked, I sit down with Will Skillman, President and CEO of Trowbridge Development and founder of Small Bay Industrial Base Camp . Will shares how he leveraged his background as a former general contractor and mobile home park operator to build one of the fastest-growing communities in commercial real estate, scaling to 550+ members in under four months . In this episode, I cover: The Missing Industrial Middle: Institutional logistics funds and traditional storage operators bypass the 1,500–5,000 sq ft bay, creating an enormous supply-demand imbalance for local tradesmen . Low-TI Tenant Economics: Structuring leases with minimal upfront buildouts protects cash flow while incubating high-growth small business tenants . Base Camp Community Growth: By focusing on adding genuine value through weekly Friday expert sessions and interactive networking, built an active group where 10% of members have completed 10+ deals . Underwriting in a 5.1% Treasury Climate: Elevated debt yields and high replacement costs are slowing speculative ground-up builds and pushing capital toward value-add multi-tenant conversions . The Decades-Long Horizon: Small business workforce growth provides small-bay flex industrial with an estimated 10- to 20-year runway before institutional consolidation takes hold . Join the Small Bay Industrial Basecamp here: https://www.skool.com/small-bay-basecamp Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners):
 Email: thaddeus@s3.partners
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/
  Connect with Will Skillman (Trowbridge Development) Email:
will@trowbridgedevelopment.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willskillman/ This Episode was brought to you by:
 https://www.s3.partners

    Small bay industrial base camp has become a go to resource for investors owners and developers.

  6. Sep 18

    We break down the state of storage with a 20 year veteran of the industry.

    Can an independent self-storage operator survive the wave of institutional consolidation while still relying on a five-dollar padlock and an angle grinder ? In this edition of Storage Unlocked, I am joined by Rob Kopp, founder of KISS Locks and owner of American Storage South . Drawing from more than two decades of developing, owning, and operating facilities, Rob shares a hard-hitting look at the operational, financial, and technological hurdles facing storage owners in 2026 . In this episode, I cover: The New Operational Reality: Why the historic post-COVID tailwinds have fully faded and how the 10-year Treasury breaking 5% is exposing operators with approaching debt maturities . The Reality of Trade Show Choice Paralysis: Navigating the sheer flood of new AI voice agents, FMS platforms, and access control vendors without locking up your business workflows . The 48% Independent Footprint: What it means for mid-tier and mom-and-pop operators as institutional players steadily chip away at national square footage . Why NFC Beats Bluetooth: The physics behind using Near Field Communication (the same tech powering NFL ticket entry and passport chips) to secure units within a 20 mm range. Battery-Free Electronic Locking: How harvesting energy directly from the customer's smartphone eliminates battery maintenance, dead circuits, and failed lock cutoffs . The One Lock Hybrid: A look at hardware built to handle standard disc locks for legacy tenants, remote tap-to-clear overlocks, and a $5/month digital access revenue stream. Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Rob Kapp (KISS lock) Email: rob@keepitsimplestorage.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-kapp-7a543210/ This Episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/

    We break down the state of storage with a 20 year veteran of the industry.

  7. Sep 11

    Cody Payne explains the rise of Small Bay and what is happening in both acquisition and development

    Can you justify building small-bay flex at $15 to $16 NNN when vintage local inventory sits at $12 NNN ? On this episode of Storage Unlocked, I sit down with Cody Payne, partner at FlexParks USA and founder of Small Bay Feasibility . Cody brings two decades of transaction and feasibility data to show developers how to separate viable flex dirt from costly mistakes . In this episode, I cover: Cross-Asset Capital Flows: How post-2023 rate pressure in storage, office, and multifamily is driving investors toward low-TI small bay industrial assets . The Sideline Bottleneck: Why conference attendance is surging, but first-time developers often struggle to take dirt vertical—leading to a spike in shovel-ready land sales . The 3X Radius Rule: Why population and business counts must expand by at least 3X from a 2-mile to a 5-mile ring to support steady tenant absorption . The Spending per Capita Metric: Why areas with under $10,000 to $10,500 in per capita spending struggle to achieve rates above $12/sq ft . Size vs. Absorption Speed: Why 1,000–1,500 sq ft bays lease in 30 to 60 days, while larger 2,000+ sq ft spaces linger for 3+ months . Bank Underwriting Strategy: How to prove to lenders that a new flex park will capture a 20% premium over older 1980s stock . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners):
 Email: thaddeus@s3.partners
  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Cody Payne (Flex Parks USA): Website:
smallbayflex.com Email:
cody@flexparksusa.com LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/codypayne/  This episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/

    Cody Payne explains the rise of Small Bay and what is happening in both acquisition and development

  8. Sep 9

    Why did Storage need another option. Travis Morrow says exactly what made him enter the arena.

    Can an industry event be engineered to deliver genuine operational ROI rather than the same recycled panels ? On this episode of Storage Unlocked, I sit down with Travis Morrow, President of National Self Storage and publisher of Modern Storage Media . Travis pulls back the curtain on the design, economics, and vision behind MSM's The Show, taking place November 4–6, 2026, in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center and Signia Hotel . In this episode, I cover: The Return to Normal: Why operating at sea level requires expanding education, refining operational systems, and increasing marketing visibility rather than cutting budgets . The Exhibitor-Operator Balance: Engineering a trade show environment strictly focused on the ratio of owner-operators to vendors . Floor Plan Architecture: Placing networking cafes directly in the center of the exhibition hall and eliminating competing breakout sessions during trade show hours . Deep-Dive Tracks: Advanced 200-level sessions built around Operations, Development, Investment, and Data . Live Deal Analysis: The Tracked IQ Deal Room, where real acquisitions and feasibility studies are analyzed live on stage . Store Manager Development: The Manager's Office track, crafted to give on-site store managers immediate tools to improve property-level execution . Main-Stage Production: Bringing outside production standards to self-storage with keynotes from Chipper Jones, storage-owning members of Congress, CNN's Scott Jennings, and an opening reception at the Georgia Aquarium . Head to msmtheshow.com and use code unlocked to save $100 on registration . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Travis Morrow: Email: travis.morrow@storelocal.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/storageoperator/ Brought to you by our title sponsor, PB Brown General Contractors - https://pbbrown.com/

    Why did Storage need another option. Travis Morrow says exactly what made him enter the arena.
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Storage Unlocked is where self-storage meets reality. Hosted by Thaddeus Campbell, this no-fluff podcast dives into the hard numbers, bold opinions, and surprising trends shaping the self-storage industry and beyond. From housing market shifts and economic red flags to untapped investment opportunities, Thaddeus and Chris break it all down with sharp insight and real-world experience. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just storage-curious, you'll get insider takes, uncensored discussions, and data-backed forecasts that actually matter. Weekly drops. Always unfiltered.

Information

  • Creator
    Thaddeus Campbell
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Storage Unlocked

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