Amsdell Companies

What Amsdell Companies does

Amsdell Companies is a privately held, family-owned real estate company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, founded in 1928 by Carl Amsdell as a masonry restoration firm in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Over three generations the company has evolved into a full-service real estate operator specializing in the construction, development, and management of self-storage facilities, business parks, and commercial real estate. Its operating subsidiaries include Compass Self Storage LLC (a national self-storage brand with 100+ locations across the United States offering storage units, moving supplies, packing materials, and truck rental) and the Amsdell business park portfolio, which includes Airport Executive Park (214,083 sq ft in Middleburg Heights, OH), Emerald Corporate Park (70+ acres in Cleveland, OH), and One International Place (a class A office building). The company is currently led by President and CEO Todd Amsdell, with David Horton as CFO and a leadership team spanning operations, acquisitions, and finance.

Amsdell generates revenue through multiple streams: recurring rental income from self-storage units and commercial office/warehouse leases, property management fees, and construction and development services for third-party and internal projects. Its go-to-market is hybrid — a sales-led approach for business park leasing executed through CBRE as channel partner, paired with direct customer acquisition for Compass Self Storage through a national management platform. Pricing for business park space is quote-based and billed annually through CBRE, while self-storage pricing is not publicly disclosed. Customer segments are bifurcated between enterprise/commercial tenants at the Ohio business parks and a highly fragmented base of residential and small-business storage customers across multiple US states. Historically the company led the 2004 IPO and secondary offering of U-Store-It Trust (raising approximately $400 million), before the Amsdell family departed public company management in 2007 to refocus on private operations and launch Compass Self Storage in 2008.

Amsdell's underlying technology is limited to property and facilities management systems supporting self-storage operations and business park maintenance, with no disclosed AI, API, or platform-as-a-service capabilities. Its competitive position rests on 90+ years of family ownership, vertically integrated construction capability, and national scale in self-storage, with no external institutional investors or private equity backing evident in the data.

Name

Amsdell Companies

Legal name

Amsdell Companies

Website

https://amsdellcompanies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1928

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Amsdell Companies is a privately held, family-owned real estate company founded in 1928 and headquartered in Cleveland, OH. It develops, owns, and manages self-storage facilities (Compass Self Storage, 100+ US locations), business parks, and commercial real estate.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate and Self-Storage

NAICS

Lessors of Miniwarehouses and Self-Storage Units (53113), Lessors of Miniwarehouses and Self-Storage Units (531130)

SIC

Public Warehousing & Storage (4220)

akta.pro primary industry

Business & Commercial Self-Storage (Inventory/Records) (HSAKAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Self-Storage Ancillary Services (Locks, Boxes, Truck Rental, Mailbox/Package Acceptance) (HSAKAGAH)

Keywords

• Self storage facilities
• Commercial real estate
• Business park leasing
• Property management services
• Construction development

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Commercial Real Estate Leasing: Revenue from leasing office and warehouse space at business parks including Airport Executive Park and Emerald Corporate Park in Cleveland, Ohio area
2. Self Storage Rental: Revenue from Compass Self Storage locations across the United States providing self storage, moving, packing supply and truck rental solutions to residential and business customers
3. Property Management Services: Management fees from overseeing business parks, industrial parks and related commercial real estate properties
4. Construction and Development: Revenue from construction and development of self-storage facilities, business parks, and related commercial real estate

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Amsdell Companies is a privately owned, family-led real estate firm that develops, constructs, and manages self-storage facilities, business parks, and commercial real estate. Through its Compass Self Storage brand, it offers self-storage units, moving supplies, packing materials, and truck rentals nationwide. Through its business parks (Airport Executive Park, Emerald Corporate Park, One International Place), it provides flexible office and warehouse leasing in the Cleveland, Ohio area.

Product overview

Amsdell Companies is a premier full-service, privately owned real estate company specializing in the construction, development, and management of self-storage facilities, business parks, and related commercial real estate. The company operates a portfolio including Compass Self Storage (a national self-storage brand), Airport Executive Park, Emerald Corporate Park, and One International Place. Services encompass property acquisition, construction, and property management across both metropolitan and suburban markets in the United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Airport Executive Park: Business park located in Middleburg Heights, Ohio near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, offering office and warehouse space.
• Emerald Corporate Park

Products and services

• Compass Self Storage A self-storage brand providing storage units, moving supplies, packing materials, and truck rental solutions for residential and business customers across the United States in metropolitan and suburban markets.
• Airport Executive Park A business park located at 6745 Engle Road, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, offering office and warehouse space with approximately 214,083 square feet of rentable space across multiple buildings (6745, 6749, 6751, 6753, 6755, 6777, 6779, 6801 Engle Road).
• Emerald Corporate Park

Quantifiable outcome

• 100 store milestone achieved by Compass Self Storage
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• U-Store-It TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Amsdell led U-Store-It Trust's Initial Public Offering with 154 Self-Storage Facilities and 34 Business Parks nationally. Amsdell also led the Secondary Offering raising approximately $400 Million. U-Store-It Trust grew to 400+ properties by 2006.
• New York State Common FundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1995Formed first of seven Joint Ventures with New York State Common Fund after ending joint venture with Sovran Self Storage. This partnership enabled Amsdell to operate over 50 stores nationally and was a key growth driver for U-Store-It.
• Sovran (now Sovran Self Storage, NYSE: SSS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1990Joint Venture Partnership formed in the 1990s with Sovran (now Sovran Self Storage, NYSE: SSS) dba Uncle Bob's Self Storage. This partnership enabled U-Store-It to grow to 14 facilities during the early joint venture period.
• CBREcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCBRE manages commercial space leasing for Airport Executive Park and Emerald Corporate Park. CBRE's commercial real estate platform is used for listing and managing available office and warehouse space at Amsdell's business park properties.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Public Storage: The largest publicly traded self-storage REIT in the U.S. with thousands of facilities. Public Storage is the dominant benchmark for self-storage operating economics, scale, and capital-markets dynamics that Amsdell/Compass competes against.
• Extra Space Storage: Major publicly traded self-storage REIT with thousands of locations, formed in part via merger with Life Storage. Directly comparable to Compass Self Storage on facility count, customer base (residential + business), and ancillary offerings (moving supplies, truck rental).
• CubeSmart: Public self-storage REIT operating over 1,200 facilities. Competes head-to-head with Compass in many of the same U.S. metros and is a direct acquisition competitor for self-storage portfolios.
• Life Storage (now part of Extra Space): Former standalone public self-storage REIT acquired by Extra Space Storage. Direct operating model comparable to Compass — owned and operated facilities with residential and business customers.

Direct peers

• National Storage Affiliates Trust: Public self-storage REIT that grew via a participating regional operator (PRO) structure of independent operators — a model conceptually analogous to how Amsdell has historically scaled via JVs (Sovran, NY State Common Fund). Highly comparable to Compass in operating philosophy.
• Sovran Self Storage (Uncle Bob's Self Storage): Former JV partner of Amsdell in the 1990s (when it grew U-Store-It to 14 facilities). Sovran/Uncle Bob's is a direct self-storage operating peer that historically shared infrastructure and customer overlap with Amsdell's portfolio.
• U-Haul International: AMERCO subsidiary providing trucks, trailers, and self-storage (U-Haul Moving & Storage). Competes with Compass in both the truck-rental and self-storage categories, particularly for residential moving customers.

Others

• CBRE Group: Global commercial real estate services firm and Amsdell's leasing partner for Airport Executive Park and Emerald Corporate Park. Comparable as a commercial real estate services peer, though the relationship is partner rather than direct competitor.
• JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle): Global commercial real estate services firm comparable to CBRE. Adjacent to Amsdell's commercial real estate ownership/leasing business and representative of the institutional commercial real estate services layer Amsdell interfaces with.

Emerging players

• W. P. Carey: Diversified net-lease REIT that has historically invested in industrial and self-storage real estate. Comparable to Amsdell's commercial real estate investment and ownership strategy, including prior ability to access public capital markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Amsdell Companies