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”, but which is also exposed to the dust and dirt brought in by vehicles. Far better if you can get a true locker in a room away from the parking.

The least storage options are found in many “conversion” buildings. Some four-story walkup buildings with outdoor parking don’t really have a basement at all, so some 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 luggage.

Some buildings, of course, 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 strive for. Since condo 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 fee on the space. While these storage condo “units” have had a tax assessment of zero, the City of Calgary will likely start taxing them in 2004. Will that tax bill be worth the postage to mail it? That begs the question of what a storage locker is worth.
In one downtown condo apartment building most suites come with a large titled basement storage locker. Yet some suites do not, so the condo Board found various common-property nooks and crannies and had more lockers built. The resulting smaller lockers under stairwells had no trouble fetching $500 for a 99-year lease, while the larger lockers “sold” quickly at $1,000 for a 99-year lease. That shows there’s real market value to titled condo storage units, and it’s likely more than these leases obtained. By the 1% rule-of-thumb, expect to pay at least $10 property tax per year in future for titled condo storage lockers.

Buildings with inadequate storage, of course, can address the problem in-house. With the developer gone, and the condo Board of owners in charge, look around for unused space that could be converted to lockers. Most buildings offer under-stairwell gaps, hallway dead-end spaces and other nooks that can be used. Basements and boiler rooms can offer lots of space, but watch that you don’t allow access to mechanical equipment, or break fire regulations. Ask the city’s fire-safety office to vet your plans.

When it comes to assigning those newly-created lockers, avoid month-by-month 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. Unlike with titled lockers, you can’t go down to the Land Titles Office to confirm who “owns” a locker leased on the common property. 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 our motto be, “a storage locker for every suite!” Oh, and a room for bicycles, too!