Self-Storage Facility Construction in the Boulder Valley

Floodplain maps decide where a self-storage building can sit before market demand does. Gunbarrel, an unincorporated community of 9,554 residents, lists flooding as its principal natural hazard, Lafayette has Coal Creek crossing U.S. 287 and Baseline Road, and Erie built a dike around nearby Coal Creek after its 1972 flood. A storage operator scanning for cheap, flat, visible land in this valley often finds that the parcel in question is also the lowest ground in the neighborhood.

We build storage facilities for developers, regional operators and owner-operators, and we start with the parcel's flood and soils story, then the unit mix, then the construction type. Storage is simple on paper and unforgiving in the details: a door that binds, a roof that leaks at a seam or a drive aisle that holds water will cost the operator reviews and rent for years. Our job is to hand over a building that works on the first day in January as well as the first day of August.

Floodplain permits, soils reports and elevators

In the City of Boulder, any building with part of its structure in the 100-year floodplain needs a Floodplain Development Permit, and the rule reaches footings, overhangs and gutters. Boulder County has its own floodplain rules in Section 4-400 of its Land Use Code, which take priority over conflicting building code provisions, and the building official may require a soils or geologic report where flash flooding, subsidence or soil creep are possible. Both are reasons to start with a civil engineer and a geotechnical consultant.

Multi-story, climate-controlled storage adds elevators. Boulder County deletes IBC Chapter 30 and leaves elevator installations and inspections to the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety, which means the permit path for the lift is separate from the building permit. In towns, editions differ, with Boulder and Louisville on the 2024 International Building Code and Lafayette, Longmont and Erie on 2021 in the tracker we reviewed. We prepare the permit set for the edition in force in the jurisdiction, then confirm it again at submittal.

Drive-up, climate-controlled or both

The unit mix is the first design decision. Drive-up units are single story, inexpensive to build and easy to access, and they need more land. Interior climate-controlled units stack vertically, need conditioning and often an elevator, and they rent at a premium. Operators in this valley often ask for a blend, with a climate-controlled building on the street and drive-up rows behind it.

The decision interacts with local conditions. Longmont averages 32.2 inches of snowfall a year and has recorded -38 degrees F, so drive-up doors and tracks need to operate in cold, and roofs need to carry and shed snow. A single-story building with long, low-slope roof spans must be checked against the county ground snow load map in unincorporated areas. We bring the roof engineer to the first meeting, not the last. For an operator comparing sites, we can price the same unit mix on two parcels and show how the site work changes the answer.

Building the shell, the floor and the doors

Most storage buildings are light-gauge steel framing or pre-engineered metal buildings, with a concrete slab on grade, corridors and rolling or swing doors. The details that matter are rarely the framing: slab flatness at door thresholds, drainage that moves water away from the building on every side, and a roof system with the right slope and seam details. We often compare single-story construction in pre-engineered metal buildings with conventional framing when the operator wants a multi-story building.

Fire protection and security come next. Sprinkler requirements depend on the size, the number of stories and the local fire code, and the access control, cameras and lighting need conduit and power in the walls, not added later. The office and retail counter, with restrooms and a small amount of merchandise, are built to a stricter finish than the corridors. We coordinate those packages from one schedule, and the operator's software and hardware vendors have access dates to work toward.

Who buys storage buildings here

Developers who build to sell to a larger operator want an efficient, rentable-area-driven design and a record that the building met code. Owner-operators care more about unit mix and the sales office. Property firms that add storage on an existing site, perhaps behind a retail shopping center, want phasing that leaves the existing business running. Each of these owners comes to us through a different door, and we adjust the preconstruction scope.

For developers, our commercial real estate process includes a budget organized the way a lender reads it. For firms with several properties, property management owners often ask about adding storage to underused land, and we start with a site study that looks at access, utilities and drainage before looking at the building. Population growth is part of the case: Erie grew from about 18,135 residents in 2010 to 30,038 at the 2020 census, which helps explain why storage interest follows new neighborhoods.

What moves the price

Storage looks cheap per square foot, so owners are surprised by how much of the budget sits in the ground. Grading, detention, paving and utilities can match the cost of a building on a constrained parcel. We separate site work from building cost in the estimate, because a comparison of two sites should not be muddied by a difference in drainage.

On the building side, the largest variables are the number of stories, the percentage of climate-controlled space, the door count and the finish of the office. Steel prices and lead times matter, and so do local review conditions: design review, landscape screening and lighting rules can add cost that does not show on the drawings. We place those items in the estimate as soon as the jurisdiction identifies them.

Where we look for storage sites

The communities that need storage tend to be the ones adding housing. We evaluate sites in Erie, with I-25 Exit 232 and E-470 close by, in Lafayette along U.S. 287, in Gunbarrel where flood risk calls for careful grading, and in Longmont, where the city has said more than 40 acres next to the airport are available for development. Each place has its own review process and edition of the code.

For a larger operator with several sites in the metro, a single preconstruction relationship saves effort. We keep a table of each jurisdiction's code edition, its floodplain rules and its design review habits, so the second and third sites move faster than the first.

Start with the parcel

Send us the address, the unit mix you have in mind and any flood map. We will give you a site and building outline with the permit path for the lift, the doors and the drainage.

Questions Owners Ask

Can I build storage in a floodplain?

Sometimes, but not casually. Boulder requires a Floodplain Development Permit for buildings with any part in the 100-year floodplain, and county floodplain rules take priority over building code provisions. The design usually involves elevated floors, flood-resistant materials and engineering that shows the building will not raise flood levels. Start with a floodplain determination on the parcel.

Do multi-story storage buildings need an elevator permit separate from the building permit?

In unincorporated Boulder County, yes. The county deletes IBC Chapter 30 and leaves elevator installations and inspections to the state's Division of Oil and Public Safety. Cities may handle it differently, so we ask each building department how it works.

How much does snow affect a storage building design?

A lot, for roof structure and doors. Longmont averages about 32 inches of snowfall a year, and the county sets ground snow loads from its map in unincorporated areas. Long, low-slope roofs need extra structure, and drive-up doors need hardware that works in cold.

Is a metal building or conventional framing better for storage?

Single-story drive-up rows usually favor a pre-engineered metal building because the price per square foot is low and the schedule is short. Multi-story climate-controlled buildings often use conventional framing or a hybrid. We price both for your site and unit mix.

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