Radius+ released its 2026 Forecast on January 28, covering more than four decades of historical supply, demand, and pricing data across U.S. self-storage markets. The 80-plus page report combines proprietary Radius+ analytics with expert commentary from experienced industry professionals, built on full-year 2025 data and forecasting through the current development cycle. It is the most comprehensive market intelligence document the industry produces annually, and its release reflects how seriously data-driven developers now treat pre-development analysis before a dollar of capital is committed.
Yardi Matrix's January 2026 national report found approximately 46.5 million net rentable square feet under construction at the end of March, representing 2.3% of existing inventory. Advertised rates dropped 2.0% in March year-over-year, following declines of 1.2% in February and 0.4% in January. Yardi increased its new supply forecast by 6% for 2026 and by 4.8% for 2027. These are not numbers that favor underprepared development bets.
The environment is putting pressure on how development decisions get made. AI-powered market analysis is not replacing professional feasibility studies. It is changing how many sites get evaluated before one gets selected, and which sites make the cut.
What Does Radius+ Actually Provide to Developers?
Radius+ is the industry's most widely used self-storage location intelligence platform. Its core function is real-time market data: competitive pricing, supply pipeline tracking, demand signals, and market-level performance analysis. For development decisions specifically, the platform provides daily pricing analysis across major REIT and independent operators, construction pipeline visibility at the submarket level, and supply-per-capita metrics that allow developers to compare markets on a consistent basis.
The 2026 Forecast identified the 25 self-storage markets to watch this year, leaning toward metros with multiple demand supports: job growth, housing development activity, diversified employers, logistics and manufacturing employment, higher renter share, and steady household formation. Those characteristics are quantifiable, and Radius+ treats them as screens rather than narratives.
The platform's practical application for site selection is the ability to run a market against those criteria in hours rather than commissioning a bespoke feasibility study for each potential location. A developer evaluating sites across the Midwest can run a screen on 30 markets simultaneously, filter to those below 5.5 square feet of storage per capita with population growth above 2%, and arrive at a shortlist before any travel or engineering review occurs.
What Are the Supply and Demand Signals AI Tools Are Processing?
The data feeding these platforms in 2026 is considerably more granular than it was five years ago. Yardi Matrix tracks construction-as-percentage-of-inventory at the submarket level. The most supply-heavy markets currently: Sarasota-Cape Coral at 9.2%, Phoenix at 6.8%, and Las Vegas at 6.6%. Those numbers are not just directional. They represent specific exposure thresholds that a developer entering those markets needs to underwrite explicitly.
AI demand models draw on housing turnover rates, apartment and condominium density (high-density rental areas generate 40-60% more storage demand per capita than single-family neighborhoods), military base proximity, university enrollment, and seasonal demand patterns. These inputs are layered on top of demographic growth data to produce trade-area demand forecasts at the 3-to-5-mile radius level in suburban markets and 1-to-3-mile level in urban settings.
The competitive mapping layer is where AI distinguishes itself most clearly from traditional feasibility work. Platforms using satellite imagery, building permit databases, zoning application records, and construction loan filings can identify not just existing competitors but facilities under construction and approved development in the pipeline. When a new competitor project is detected in a trade area, a properly configured AI model recalculates the feasibility analysis with the additional supply included. Static feasibility studies, by contrast, typically reflect competitive conditions at a point in time and do not update.
What Did Storable's March 2026 Launch Add?
Storable announced on March 12, 2026, coinciding with SiteLink's 30th anniversary as the industry's most widely deployed facility management system, a significant upgrade to its Edge platform centered on AI-powered data access for operators.
The new Ask Your Data feature, part of the AI Insights suite within Edge Business Intelligence, enables operators to query their facility data using plain-language questions and receive verified, logic-backed answers in seconds. The queries can cover revenue, rate trends, occupancy patterns, and tenant behavior. The practical application: an operator asking "which unit sizes have the highest 90-day vacancy rate this spring compared to last year?" gets a direct answer from the system rather than pulling a custom report.
Storable's roadmap extends the capability further. Upcoming additions include industry benchmarking that lets operators compare their facility performance against similar properties, expanded BI reporting connecting AdWords, CRM, and marketplace data into a unified view, and Voice AI for handling inbound calls. The benchmarking piece is directly relevant to development analysis: operators evaluating whether an existing facility or market is performing to potential can calibrate against the Storable customer base, which spans thousands of facilities.
How Are Developers Actually Using These Tools?
The workflow that experienced developers describe is not replacing professional feasibility with AI. It is using AI to front-end the process and filter the opportunity set before expensive due diligence begins.
A new self-storage development typically costs $8 million to $20 million depending on market, size, and construction type. A poorly selected site that stabilizes at 65% occupancy instead of the projected 90% can turn a 10% yield on cost into a breakeven or loss position. The AI screening step is about eliminating bad sites before they consume capital and attention.
The process as practitioners describe it: screen 50-plus markets using supply-per-capita, population growth, and housing metrics. Flag markets where AI models show supply per capita below 5.5 with growth above 2% annually. Narrow to 3-5 viable candidates. Commission traditional feasibility analysis on those, incorporating site visits, zoning review, and construction cost estimation. The AI-informed shortlist changes which markets get the expensive analysis, not what that analysis looks like when it is done.
The zoning restriction environment is also creating a specific use case for AI pipeline monitoring. With moratoriums in place across 15-plus states and New York City now requiring special permits for self-storage in 20 Industrial Business Zones, knowing what is permitted and what is approved in a target submarket before pursuing a site is foundational. Platforms tracking permit databases and zoning records provide this in near-real time.
The data environment today is the most complete it has ever been. The question is whether operators are building their development process around what the data can actually tell them, or still relying on intuition and a few calls to local brokers.
What Do the Undersupplied Markets Actually Look Like in 2026?
The Radius+ and Yardi data consistently point to the same regional pattern. Undersupplied markets are concentrated in coastal metros (Boston, New York, San Jose, Washington D.C.) where zoning restrictions and high land costs constrain new supply. Oversupplied markets are in the Sun Belt (Sarasota, Phoenix, Atlanta) where development activity outpaced demand growth during 2022-2024.
The opportunity set identified by AI screening is typically secondary and tertiary markets with stable population trends, constrained infill supply, and economic anchors in healthcare, logistics, education, or light manufacturing. These markets do not generate national headlines. They tend to produce consistent absorption and pricing power when a well-positioned facility enters, precisely because pipeline activity is thin and competition is limited.
Multi-Housing News identified Jacksonville, Florida as the top emerging self-storage market for 2026, supported by in-migration, housing development activity, and a diversified employment base. The broader list of emerging markets shares the same profile: secondary metros benefiting from affordability migration, multiple demand drivers, and pipeline activity that remains manageable relative to current demand.
The Numbers Worth Writing Down
- Radius+ 2026 Forecast released January 28; 80-plus pages covering historic supply and demand from 1984 through 2025 and forward projections
- Yardi Matrix: 46.5 million net rentable sq ft under construction nationally as of end of March 2026; 2.3% of existing inventory
- Yardi 2026 supply forecast revision: increased by 6% from prior estimate
- Most supply-heavy markets: Sarasota-Cape Coral 9.2%, Phoenix 6.8%, Las Vegas 6.6% construction-as-percentage-of-inventory
- National advertised rates: down 2.0% in March, 1.2% in February, 0.4% in January year-over-year
- Storable Ask Your Data launched March 12, 2026, on Edge Business Intelligence platform
- AI screening can evaluate 50-200 potential sites simultaneously vs. 4-8 weeks for a single traditional feasibility study
- Markets below 5.5 sq ft per capita with population growth above 2% represent strongest 2026 development opportunities per AI demand models
- Development cost range: $8M-$20M per facility; occupancy miss of 25 points can invert yield on cost
- Zoning moratoriums now active in 15-plus states; NYC requires special permits in 20 Industrial Business Zones
The Operators Who Get This Cycle Right Will Have Used Better Data Than the Ones Who Missed It
The development argument for AI market intelligence is straightforward. In a cycle where deliveries are declining, zoning is tightening, and regional performance is bifurcating sharply, the operators who get site selection right are the ones who will capture the recovery in street rates and occupancy. The operators who committed capital to oversupplied markets in 2024 are the ones still waiting to stabilize.
Radius+ and Yardi Matrix are not new. The data platforms have existed in some form for years. What has changed is the analytical capability sitting on top of the raw data, the speed at which markets can be screened and compared, and the integration of AI-powered querying tools that allow operators without dedicated research teams to access institutional-quality analysis. The barrier to data-informed development decisions has dropped significantly. The cost of ignoring the available data has not.
Sources
- Radius+ Releases 2026 Radius+ Forecast for the Self-Storage Industry, PR Newswire
- The 25 Self-Storage Markets to Watch in 2026, Radius+
- U.S. Self Storage Market Steps Cautiously Into 2026, Yardi Matrix Reports, Yardi Matrix
- Yardi Matrix Self Storage Forecast Update Reflects Pipeline Growth, Yardi
- Storable Marks Sitelink's 30th Anniversary with Platform Refresh and New AI Capabilities, PR Newswire
- Storable Marks Sitelink's 30th With Refresh, New AI, Modern Storage Media
- Top 10 Emerging Self Storage Markets of 2026, Multi-Housing News
- AI Self-Storage Site Selection: Feasibility Guide, The AI Consulting Network
- Self-Storage Development Feasibility in 2026, Loan Analytics
- ISS News Desk: Self-Storage Vendors Release 2026 AI Products, Inside Self-Storage