Three of the Best Private 3rd Party Operators Reveal the Reality of AI in Storage Ops.

The Age of AI Voice Agents is here.

Can you scale a self-storage portfolio past 25 locations with only one employee managing the entire operation? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and in this episode of Storage Unlocked, I am sitting down with Ryan Chapman (Lumio), Tyler Harper (Homegrown Storage), and Albert Kim (StoragePilot) to break down the rapid evolution of conversational AI voice agents . Over the past 12 months, the baseline for facility automation has completely shifted, moving independent operators away from restrictive phone menus into a world of hyper-efficient, digital-first operational loops . In this episode, I cover: * Plugging the Leaky Bucket: Why routine payment inquiries and basic support account for up to 90% of your total phone volume, and how after-hours AI capture protects your long-term monthly recurring revenue . * Astronomical Marketing ROI: Tyler Harper reveals how Homegrown matches conversational call intent directly back to Google ad tracking, forcing the algorithm to aggressively drive down customer acquisition costs across 700 pilot stores . * Headcount per Square Foot: Why remote management shouldn't just be about reshuffling human labor to a centralized node, but fundamentally expanding a single manager's capabilities to handle 30+ sites . * The Flywheel of Internal Data: Albert Kim outlines the transition from customer-facing bots to the internal "AI District Manager" that synthesizes gate logs and field tasks without messaging chaos over Slack or WhatsApp . * The Economics of the Token: A raw look at how massive tech lab subsidies from players like OpenAI and Anthropic are lowering distribution costs for the mid-market operator . Tune in to discover how to use deep storage domain expertise to build an unstoppable operating engine that can easily go toe-to-toe with the biggest REITs and Wall Street private equity firms . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners [thaddeus@s3.partners] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/] This Episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/ [https://pbbrown.com/]

Why NSA Is Trading ABOVE Public Storage's Implied Buyout Price

I am breaking down the massive macroeconomic and tech shifts defining our asset class in May 2026 . From Public Storage's blockbuster $10.5 billion deal to swallow NSA to a jaw-dropping discrepancy in same-store NOI growth, we are looking directly at the data points that prove the three-year downcycle has finally found its bottom . In this episode, I cover: The Cap Rate Inversion: Why active street transactions (like a recent secondary market 6-cap trade in Syracuse) indicate that public REIT stocks are deeply underpriced compared to their real-world property values . SmartStop's Quiet Masterclass: How the newest public REIT controlled expense growth at just 0.3% to lock in an industry-leading 2% same-store NOI expansion . The Cost of a Cold Winter: Inside CubeSmart's Q1 earnings drop, where dynamic marketing costs and freezing New Jersey snow removal fees swallowed 20% of their entire quarterly expense growth . Processing Speed as an Alpha Edge: Noah Starr (Tract IQ) details their massive new update that integrates exact CMBS data with AI workflows to let you screen hundreds of deals in seconds . Sneak Peeks: A preview of our upcoming roundtables featuring AI pioneers (Storage Pilot, Lumio, Homegrown Storage) and our Q2 Broker Wrap-up . Tune in to get the definitive financial and structural playbook for self-storage and alternative commercial real estate . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners [thaddeus@s3.partners] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/] This Episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/ [https://pbbrown.com/] https://s3.partners [https://s3.partners]

Small Bay Institutionalized: Tech-Native Tenants, $40K Cobots, and the Eversource Power Crisis

Are you building a Small Bay Flex portfolio for institutional capital, or are you building it for yourself? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and in this episode of Storage Unlocked, I sit down with three titans of the industrial flex market: Brett Turner (BKM Capital Partners), Jeremiah Boucher (Patriot Holdings), and Brian Whitmer (Doors and Spaces). Together, we pull back the curtain on an asset class experiencing a massive surge in institutional demand. In this episode, we cover: The Management Intensity: Why Small Bay remains a full-contact, hand-to-hand combat operations sport where you act as your tenant's outsourced real estate department. The Power Crunch: Why massive tech shifts like robotics and cobot arms are forcing developers to fight utility companies for heavy three-phase power upgrades. The Demographics Matrix: How tech-native millennials are dropping the average small business owner age to 45 and shifting the tenant pool toward advanced localized manufacturing. The Fallacy of Kiosks: Why B2B tenants refuse to deal with AI automated workflows when a mechanical issue hits their shop floor. The Fund Hustle: Brett shares the brutal reality of raising a first-time fund and what it takes to accumulate scale from scratch. Tune in to find out why sticking to a dedicated thesis is the only way to win in a market where prices are high and execution certainty is completely unknown. Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): thaddeus@s3.partners [thaddeus@s3.partners]https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/] Connect with Brett Turner (BKM Capital Partners): bturner@bkmcp.com [bturner@bkmcp.com] Connect with Jeremiah Boucher (Patriot Holdings) admin@patriotholdings.com [admin@patriotholdings.com] Connect with Brian Whitmer (Doors and Spaces) bwhitmer@repropco.com [bwhitmer@repropco.com] This episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/ [https://pbbrown.com/]

Storage Unlocked recaps all the goings on at the Northeast Storage Expo.

I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and in this episode of Storage Unlocked, I am recording live from the Northeast Storage Expo at Foxwoods . While the data says New England is outperforming the nation, the operators on the ground have a more nuanced story to tell. I sit down with industry legends and local power players to discuss how they are navigating legislative challenges and a transaction market that is defying high interest rates . In this episode, I cover: The Syracuse Anomaly: Why a recent trade at under a 6% cap on T12 earnings is proof that cash is still king in secondary markets . The Death of Fast Lease-ups: I discuss Lou Barnhole's warning to newer developers who underestimated their capital reserves during the 2021-2022 underwriting frenzy . Operational Necessity: Why education sessions are now packed with owners looking for "superpowers" to combat stagnant housing movement . Faith & Leadership: Shannon Charbonneau (XPS Solutions) shares how she integrates her convictions into her role as an industry-wide leader . The Round Table: I explain our new curated peer groups for high-level storage and flex-industrial operators . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners [thaddeus@s3.partners] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/] This Episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/ [https://pbbrown.com/] https://s3.partners [https://s3.partners]

Noah Starr, TractIQ CEO, breaks down the data from a newsworthy Q1 for Self Storage REITs

Are the days of "speculative underwriting" officially over? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and in this episode of Storage Unlocked, I am joined by Noah Starr (CEO of Tract IQ) to analyze the Q1 2026 REIT earnings reports . We move past the headlines of the $10.5 billion PSA/NSA merger to look at the raw numbers defining the "institutional era" of self-storage . In this episode, I cover: The Performance Gap: Why Extra Space reported +1.2% same-store NOI growth while Public Storage sat at +0.4%, and what that tells us about their competing bridge lending and third-party strategies . The Cost of Capital: What PSA's $500 million raise at 5% signals for future cap rates and why 2% debt is "far behind us" . Institutionalization: How the "Public 4.0" strategy is bringing massive REIT capital into secondary and tertiary markets for the first time . Verified Data: Noah explains how having access to achieved rates and occupancy for $50B in assets is allowing operators to make "defensible" decisions . Market Cycles: Why today's normalized rates and cash-flowing assets may represent a healthier entry point than the 2021-2022 frenzy . Tune in to get the data you need to thrive in a market that is no longer waiting for interest rates to drop. Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/] Connect with Noah Starr (TractIQ) Email: noah@tractiq.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-starr/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-starr/] This Episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com [https://pbbrown.com] https://s3.partners [https://s3.partners]