Self-storage
In self-storage, the site does the heavy lifting.
A storage facility is mostly simple buildings on a hard-working site. The IRS default writes it all off over 39 years. A study pulls the qualifying site work onto a 15-year schedule, and that changes your early-year deductions.
The baseline
39 years for the buildings. Much less for the site.
Self-storage is nonresidential property, so the default depreciation schedule is 39 years. But think about what you actually bought. The metal buildings are simple. A lot of the value sits in the things around them: the paving customers drive on, the fence and gate that secure the place, the lights, the signs. Qualifying land improvements carry a 15-year life, not 39. On a site-heavy property, sorting that out is the whole game.
What reclassifies
The site work that can move to 15 years.
Paving and drive aisles
The asphalt and concrete your customers drive on, plus curbs and sidewalks. Paving is a classic 15-year land improvement.
Fencing and gates
Perimeter fencing is a named 15-year land improvement. Gate systems get analyzed on their own facts as part of the site package.
Site lighting and signage
Outdoor lighting that serves the site can move to 15 years. Signs are analyzed under the same permanence test the courts use: being attached to the land does not, by itself, make something permanent.
Landscaping
Site landscaping around the facility is another named 15-year land improvement, even on a property where it is modest.
Security equipment, like cameras, keypads, and access controls, gets analyzed item by item too. The question is always the same: does this part serve a specific function and operation, or does it serve the building? The Whiteco factors, the courts' six-question permanence test, decide the close calls.
The honest part
Unit partitions: the answer is "it depends on the facts."
Some providers promise that the metal partitions between storage units always qualify for a short life. The case law is more careful than that, and so are we. In Mallinckrodt v. Commissioner, drywall partitions built in place stayed with the building, even though they were not load-bearing. In Metro National v. Commissioner, truly movable partition systems qualified as personal property.
The difference is movability in fact. A partition system designed to be taken down and moved behaves like equipment. One that is built in place stays with the building. Your facility's partitions get classified on their own facts, with the proof to back the call. That is what keeps a study defensible. See what makes a study audit-defensible.
- What our storage studies document:
- Each site improvement tied to its 15-year class
- Partition calls supported by how they are built
- Photos and cost records behind each line
- Authorities cited in the report's Appendix A
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