Singapore/Malaysia
Singapore’s largest and longest established self storage operator StorHub Group, with footprints across 15 cities, has acquired a majority stake in Malaysian self storage leader, Flexi Storage. This also marks the rebranding of all Flexi Storage facilities to StorHub Self Storage Malaysia.
Established in 2015, by two Malaysian entrepreneurs, Desmond How and Alex Lee, Flexi Storage has been serving the Malaysian community in 24/7 self storage facilities across Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, and Seri Kembangan.
“As a self-funded company that has managed to build from the ground up, this acquisition indeed is a huge milestone in our career path as Malaysian entrepreneurs. Since Flexi Storage started operations in 2015, we have served more than 1,600 customers by providing secure and flexible storage for personal and business usage.
“We are happy to be a part of StorHub Group, alongside Singapore’s most established self storage operator. In Malaysia, we have observed close to 90% occupancy rate across our facilities, which drives our growth trajectory to expand further in Malaysia. Pandemic hobbies such as cooking and cycling also brought a wave of new customers who then decluttered to make way for a new interest,” said Desmond How, Chief Executive Officer of StorHub Self Storage Malaysia.
StorHub Group operates 18 facilities in Singapore and has established presence in 15 cities including Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and now, Malaysia. The Group currently operates facilities spanning over 5.1 million sq. ft. of gross floor area (GFA) and more than 70,000 self storage units. StorHub is confident that our expansion into Malaysia will reap the benefits of the joint venture.
Mike Hagbeck, Group Chief Executive Officer of StorHub Group said, “With 20 years of experience being the longest operator in Singapore and Asia Pacific, we are steadfast with our aim to become a dominant Pan-Asian self storage player by capturing the rapid growth of the self storage industry across the key markets in Asia Pacific. We aim to bring along a wealth of experience in building safe and secure self storage facilities and to strongly understand the needs of our self storage customers in Malaysia”.
During the pandemic, the self storage industry saw brisk business as the lockdown curtailed movement and increased remote working across many industries. Personal space became a luxury, and many looked towards self storage to store personal items or inventory.
Post-pandemic, the self storage industry is set for robust growth, with increasing acceptance of self storage as an option, urbanisation, and lifestyle changes and attitudes toward living spaces driving this segment.
David Chin, Group Chief Investment Officer of StorHub Group shared his insights about the industry, “Malaysia has been identified as a key growth market as StorHub Group sees rapid urbanisation changing the way consumers and businesses perceive living space or real estate. Overall, the country has tripled its urbanisation rate over five decades from 28.4% in 1970 to 75.1% in 2020. Selangor leads with the largest urban population of 6.7 million. We plan to acquire properties across Klang Valley, Penang, and Johor as part of our expansion seeing that it is a key growth market in the region.”
Alex Lee, Chief Operating Officer of StorHub Self Storage Malaysia said, “This leads us to locate our newest facility on the border of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The acquisition of the strata property in Old Klang Road marks StorHub Self Storage’s fourth convenient location in Malaysia.
“The centralised and dense location in Old Klang Road is easily accessible and will surely benefit neighbouring communities in Taman OUG, Taman Kinrara, Taman Damai Utama, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, Mid Valley City as well as those beyond the vicinity as they will be able to enjoy advantages of the facility that StorHub offers”, added Mr. Lee.
The fourth StorHub facility along Old Klang Road welcomes all residential and commercial property tenants and landlords and is officially the first StorHub facility in Malaysia that is located within a residential building. With the addition of Old Klang Road, StorHub Malaysia now offers over 1,000 self storage units spanning over 85,000 sq. ft. of GFA to cater to the self storage needs of the neighbouring communities.
StorHub offers self storage solutions for customers to enhance space at home and in offices to enjoy clutter-free living with self storage space ranging from ten square feet to over 400 square feet, with storage fees starting from RM95.50 per month.
