Burgeoning demand for self-storage has led to a surge of activity in the sector.
Anthony Bryson is breaking new ground in the self-storage sector with a niche offering to meet growing demand by the city’s well-heeled.
The Builtform Capital managing director has transformed a 7,400 square metre site in Osborne Park into a 36-unit luxury self-storage facility.
The strata-titled development, which was fully sold ahead of its completion earlier this year, was offered to buyers on an invite-only basis.
The complete product, dubbed Sotto, is largely used to store high-end cars for wealthy Western Australians who have simply run out of garage space.
It also comprises common-user amenity including a games room, gymnasium, cafe, sauna, dining area and liquor storage lockers.
In a nutshell, Sotto is a place for high-net-worth individuals – mostly males – to store their toys and meet like-minded people.
“It circles back to our philosophy that we want to develop spaces we would like to use ourselves,” Mr Bryson told Business News.
Having founded Builtform Capital in 2017, Mr Bryson has an affinity with Osborne Park. The company is onto its ninth development in the suburb and has completed $210 million worth of projects in the area.
“It [Osborne Park] is the Peppy Grove of commercial,” Mr Bryson said.
“It’s central enough that a lot of businesses, rather than having a north and south branch, would have one central [premises] in Osborne Park.
“It has great access … and is super tightly held. Land is … quite scarce, it’s somewhat of a commodity.”
Builtform Capital is planning a second luxury self-storage facility in Belmont. Image: Builtform Capital
He said he was surprised at the scale of wealth reflected in clientele at Sotto.
“We underestimated the calibre and quantity of car enthusiasts in Perth, the quantity of vehicles that people have,” Mr Bryson said.
“[There are] a lot of guys flying under the radar.
“It surpassed our expectations initially, which translated to a larger unit size becoming more popular … to cater for vehicle collections of six-to-eight vehicles.”
Growth
Several factors are behind the growth in the self-storage sector in recent years.
As a recent CBRE report pointed out, the sector is now viewed as its own asset class, rather than as a subset of industrial property.
“One asset class in particular continues to thrive from strength to strength,” the report read.
“Self-storage is commanding attention and experiencing its strongest demand to date.”
Population growth, an increase in residential density, geopolitical disruption, higher discretionary spending, changing family dynamics and the rise of online retail all drive increased demand for self-storage, according to the Self Storage Association of Australasia’s latest industry snapshot.
This year, an increase in overseas and interstate migration, the decline of average dwelling sizes, global political instability and a rebound in consumer confidence among some cohorts has led to a greater need for storage among consumers and businesses.
And Perth is one of the fastest-growing markets nationally in this space.
According to the SSAA, there are approximately 175 facilities in Perth across 495,000sqm of net storage area.
This translates to a supply rate of around 2.05 units per 100 people.
Perth has four self-storage facilities in planning stages, eight under construction and a further 12 in the pipeline.
A recent Cushman & Wakefield report found Perth’s 3.1 per cent increase in storage fees for the six months to September 2025 led the nation.
Storage fee rates in Perth have grown from about $220/sqm in March 2020 to $389/sqm in 2025, according to the agency.
These factors, among others, have led to a proliferation of facilities and a surge of interest from investors in self-storage properties.
As Mr Bryson put, the sector was an area of increasing need.
“It’s purely an economic thing in terms of supply and demand,” he said.
“People require more storage than they have available, and … we’ve had it pretty good in Perth for quite a long period of time.
“People have accumulated a lot of things, and I guess businesses aren’t buying and leasing huge premises, so they are looking at offsite storage as well as individuals.”
Builtform Capital is developing a second luxury self-storage facility in Belmont, but Mr Bryson insisted that it would not be a repeat of Sotto.
KeepSafe Storage’s Joondalup facility exemplifies the trend towards multi-storey self-storage sites. Photo: KBH Group
“We will never replicate Sotto, because we believe it would diminish what we’ve created here, and the people we’ve got here can’t be replaced elsewhere,” he said.
The company is also due to announce another storage development in Osborne Park.
Trends
Storage stalwart National Storage has been active in Perth in recent years, with the development and acquisition of several properties.
Local builder Encon is constructing a $25 million Rivervale storage facility for National Storage, due for completion in March next year.
The three-storey project was approved in June last year, following an initial knockback.
In December 2023, the project failed to convince the Metro Inner Development Assessment Panel, which prompted National Storage to take the proposal to the State Administrative Tribunal.
Opponents of the project included City of Belmont Mayor and DAP member Robert Rossi, who said it could have a detrimental impact on the future planning of the area. The SAT ordered the assessment panel to reconsider the proposal, which led to its approval seven months later.
The project sits just over one kilometre from KBH Group’s KeepSafe six-storey warehouse, due for completion in early 2026.
Self storage market metrics
While storage facilities are popular on the urban fringe, they are becoming more common in cities.
National Storage’s development of a six-storey, 1,600-unit self-storage facility on Pier Street is a prime example of this.
National acquired the property at 220-224 Pier Street for $12.1 million in late 2022, at a similar time to purchasing its Rivervale site.
The Pier Street property was zoned for residential development and its vendor, Peakstone, was a Singapore-based property fund with a history in apartment development.
National Storage’s plan to construct a $44 million self-storage facility on the 3,490sqm site was approved in late 2023.
Construction of the project is under way, with completion expected in January next year. A report prepared by the City of Perth on the project ahead of its approval pointed out the growing need for self-storage in the area.
“While an office or residential development may be considered to be more desirable in this location and further enhance the vibrancy of the area, the proposed storage facility will provide an essential service to the emerging residential population,” the report stated.
An entity owned by Maurizio Oteri, of Fremantle, purchased a nine-storey office building at 148A Adelaide Terrace in East Perth for $6.5 million last year.
Anthony Bryson’s Builtform Capital, via its building arm Platform Construction, is converting the former Bankwest data centre to a storage facility for Wilson Storage.
The strata-titled property was initially intended to be badged as a Storage King.
At the time the transaction took place, RWC WA managing director Stephen Harrison, who brokered the deal, noted the high demand for self-storage in the area.
“East Perth is WA’s highest-density precinct, creating high demand for storage units,” Mr Harrison said.
RP Data shows that National Storage has bought development sites in Wangara, Neerabup and Bellevue in the past 12 months, for a total of $43.5 million.
The storage provider also bought the Swansea Markets site in East Victoria Park from embattled builder Nicheliving for $8.45 million in late 2024.
An application for a $41 million warehouse with 9,649sqm of self-storage has been lodged with the Town of Victoria Park.
In West Perth, BlackRock-owned StoreLocal has approval for a $27 million, seven-storey self-storage facility at 20 Sutherland Street.
The 4,300sqm site sits across from Scitech and is owned by the family of the late Kreepy Krauly founder Terry Jackson.
National Storage, which has a facility in East Perth, is one of the most active players in the self-storage space. Photo: Claire Tyrrell
Institutional capital
Plans were revealed for the West Perth site following BlackRock’s move to take a controlling stake in StoreLocal, in May 2025.
The asset manager’s entry into the market reflects its investment potential.
As SSAA chief executive Makala Ffrench Castelli explained, interest from institutional investors in the sector, including global private equity, had accelerated in recent years.
“This reflects a maturing sector underpinned by strong long-term fundamentals: resilient income, scalable operating models, sustained demand and favourable demographic drivers,” Ms Ffrench Castelli said.
“The depth of capital and rise in transaction volumes underscores growing investor confidence both domestically and internationally.”
KeepSafe's Joondalup facility exemplifies the trend towards multi-storry self-storage sites. Photo: KBH Group
Blackstone also has a strong presence in the industry through the ownership of several self-storage assets across the country.
The private equity firm purchased a portfolio of five properties from WA-based KBH Group in May 2021 for $84 million.
Blackstone plans to divest that collection of properties, with BlackRock having emerged as a strong contender the purchase the circa $160 million portfolio.
As the deal was struck between KBH Group and Blackstone, KBH Group managing director Shaun Bain said the transaction would help the company expand to the east coast.
KBH Group recently realised these aspirations, with the opening of its first facility in Victoria last week. In October, it acquired assets in Queensland and NSW, where it plans to bring on 600 and 400 units, respectively.
Through its KeepSafe brand, KBH Group has warehouses across six locations in Perth and is planning to open two more within the next six months.
The company was the first to develop self-storage facilities of more than two storeys. KBH Group built four-storey warehouses in O’Connor and Balcatta in 2015 and 2016, respectively. At the time, multi-storey self-storage was uncommon in Perth.
Mr Bain said a high demand for storage in residential areas meant these facilities had become increasingly conspicuous.
“Everyone is building on main roads now, so there is a lot more exposure to passing traffic, which is increasing the visibility of our industry,” he said.
He added that the standard of buildings was improving as competition increased.
“We are no longer a shed in the backyard of industrial areas,” Mr Bain told Business News.
“We are sitting up front and centre with commercial buildings on main roads.” KBH Group is building a six-storey KeepSafe storage facility in Belmont, following its acquisition of the 970sqm site for $4.16 million in 2022.
Its recently opened five-level facility in Joondalup was recognised for its sustainability at the SSAA awards.
The solar and battery storage system at the Joondalup warehouse enables the project to reduce its reliance on the electricity grid by more than 90 per cent.
Mr Bain said KBH Group planned to own its assets in the longer term and continue to manage them.
