Extra storage space is a valuable asset in any home, and more so in apartment-style condominiums. Whether you're buying new or resale, keep in mind your need to store your car's winter tires, unused luggage, ski equipment, camping equipment and perhaps that crate of comic books from your youth. In short, where's it going to go, other than in your suite's bedroom closet?
Most new buildings provide for out-of-suite storage, but check into what form it takes. Some buildings offer a "cage" in the parkade, and this might even be suspended over the hood of your car, which isn't the most convenient thing. Others will offer a larger walk-in "cage" in front of the car, but which is also exposed to the dust and dirt brought in by vehicles. A far better style is a true locker in a room apart from the parking, although adjacent to it.
The least storage options are found in many "conversion" buildings. Some four-story walkup buildings with outdoor parking don't have a basement, so offer no storage outside of the suites. In addition, if an existing closet in each suite has been converted to a laundry room there can be precious little space for storing your coats, much less your bicycles and camping equipment. Some developers have addressed this by building storage sheds out by the parking, although the security for them can't be good.
Some high-standard buildings come with a separate bicycle storage room, in addition to a roomy locker for each suite. That's the best standard, and one that all new-condo builders should meet; since condominium bylaws prohibit storing bikes and other clutter on balconies, an alternative really should be offered. The ideal locker should be three or four feet wide by four or five feet deep, eight feet high, with a full-sized locking door accessed via a full-width corridor. Smaller lockers will remind you of what you rent for the season at the ski hill.
While lockers in condo buildings are usually assigned common property, they can also be surveyed and titled. In the latter case you have assurance that you'll never be told to change lockers, or have it taken away, but you'll pay a small monthly condo contribution on the space. While these titled-property storage condo "units" have had a tax assessment of zero, the City of Calgary will likely start taxing them in the future. Will that tax bill be worth the postage to mail it? That begs the question of what a storage locker is worth. I've seen Calgary builders sell titled lockers at $200 per square foot, which I thought was pretty reasonable. A 4' X 8' locker would be 32 square feet, so would cost $6,400. That's an acceptable extra cost in proportion to a $400,000 or $500,000 apartment home.
In my own high-rise conversion condo building many of the suites came with a large titled basement storage locker, but other suites did not, so our condo board found various common-property nooks and crannies and had more lockers built. The resulting storage spaces were eagerly leased for a one-time fee of $500 to $1,000 by suite owners who needed them. That again confirms that there's real market value to condo storage units, whether titled, leased or assigned.
If you building needs more lockers, look around and see what you can do. You and your neighbours own the common property, so you certainly have the right to make use of it. Basements and boiler rooms can offer lots of space, but watch that you don't allow access to mechanical equipment or break fire regulations. Perhaps parking garage spaces are long enough to accommodate 3'-deep storage. Ask the city's fire-safety office to vet your plans.
When it comes to assigning those newly-created lockers, avoid month-by-month payment arrangements. Such details are too hard to keep track of, so rent them out either by the year, or virtually sell them off for a lump sum in exchange for a 99-year lease. Post the associated suite number on each locker door, so in future you'll know whose it is. A permanent record of assigned lockers could be made by attaching a list as a schedule to your bylaws, registered at the Land Titles office. As to the cost of construction, it's not likely to exceed your lease revenue, and all your corporation wants to do is break even and provide the storage.
Condominium apartment storage: we always want more, and yes, it has real market value. Buy it if it's offered to you, and build more if you help govern a building with too little. Let your motto be, "a storage locker for every suite!" Oh, and a storage room for bicycles, too!
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