Space-Constrained Companies Make New Year's Resolution

Jan. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- KANSAS CITY, MO. – Companies looking to maximize their square footage in 2010 are resolving to leverage the power of portable storage to cut facility costs. Containerized storage is proving a workable solution for businesses large and small that can't afford to lease additional warehouse space but need additional square footage.

"For companies with a New Year's resolution to expand their warehouse space without singing a new lease, portable storage could be the ideal solution," says John Finnessy, CMP, Executive Director of the National Portable Storage Association (NPSA), a nonprofit membership association dedicated to the advancement of the portable storage industry. "Portable storage containers are an economical alternative."

The U.S. industrial vacancy rate increased to 10.4 percent in the third quarter of 2009, according to Grubb & Ellis. That's its highest level since the third quarter of 1994. Higher vacancy rates typically means more negotiation power for tenants, but there are higher vacancy rates for a reason: Some companies are going bankrupt, others are downsizing, and still others aren't willing to absorb existing space in markets across the country even though they need more square footage.

When the market does recover, the NPSA warns, there may eventually be a period of warehouse shortages. That's because space under construction plunged to 24 million square feet at the end of the third quarter, it's lowest since the mid-1990s, according to Grubb & Ellis. If a shortages of warehouse space occurs, or if prices are driven up by demand in the wake of an economic recovery, portable storage could once again serve as the ideal solution for cash-strapped companies.

"As we're seeing, companies are leveraging containerized storage to expand and grow at the top and bottom of the industrial real estate market," says Joel Rathbone, NPSA Operations Manager. "We expect that trend to continue through the next cycle."

For more information, visit www.npsa-us.org.

The National Portable Storage Association
The National Portable Storage Association is dedicated to the advancement of the portable storage industry. We at the NPSA are here to serve those in the portable storage industry who rent, sell or lease containers, trailers and mobile offices.  The NPSA assists members with industry, regulatory and workforce issues; plus, offers members networking, marketing and legislative support at national, state and local levels.

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