The Self-Storage Playbook: Drive-Thru Design, Smart Lease-Ups & Class-A Growth (w/ Robert Vineberg, Pandora)

Self-storage in Montreal is changing fast. Robert Vineberg, president of Pandora Self-Storage, breaks down the model behind their Class-A facilities—drive-thru access you can literally pull a cube truck into, humidity-controlled environments that protect high-value goods, and security that actually feels safe. We unpack how Pandora picks markets (population, storage per capita, rate comps), what zoning and stabilization really take, and why small facilities often fail on fixed costs. Plus: co-working near your unit, commercial-friendly lockers, and a national growth roadmap from Quebec to Ontario and beyond.

 

Highlights:

• Drive-thru storage & commercial-ready unit mix (3/6/900 sq ft flexibility)

• Market math: ≥100K people in 3 km, comp rates, and saturation guardrails

• Build & lease-up truth: 11–14 months construction, ~40-month underwriting for stabilization

• Green design & financing: zero-carbon targets, climate + humidity control, security as product

• Operator realities: marketing spend, unit-mix discipline, and why "all small units" kills NOI

• Expansion strategy: why you need at least two sites per new city for ops redundancy
  
  

Perfect for: CRE investors, developers, operators, and SMBs who need flexible, near-home space.

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