(Update 3 years later) OC lose up to 2500 RV Storage Spaces

[2bzy2c]

7-13-2018 Update -

I am resurrecting this old thread to update everyone on the impact of the closure of El Toro RV Storage has had on the industry.

While it took quite a bit longer for the actual closure of El Toro to happen, it did in fact close in 2015 Article in OC Register

What was surprising, was the impact initially was virtually nil. Very few people panicked, and most of the 2200 RV's did find a home, even if only temporary.

It wasn't until the summer of 2016 when the RV Storage problem hit the fan. Myself and other fellow RV storage operators were overwhelmed with calls from frustrated people seeking storage for their RV. We were sold out, and most all other storage facilities had no vacancy. We stopped putting people on the waiting list as we simply were not experiencing any vacancies at all, and none were expected. Resale prices on the storage condos doubled in value.

The partial solution found by some were private parties advertising RV storage on vacant lots, the side of their house, and other solutions. However, California being California, the various cities soon put a stop to that via code enforcement.

Fast forward a few years to today, with the surge in RV sales, and the overall recovery of the economy, the calls I am getting from some people are not frustrated, but now they are angry, bordering on scared. Some just bought a new RV, and cannot find storage. They cannot park it on the street or at their house (in some cases).

Granted, this is probably a Southern California anomaly, compounded by the lack of storage facilities, and the rapid growth of the RV industry, coupled with the El Toro closure. It is a recipe for extreme frustration for many.

As a developer of RV storage condominiums, we do have the solution, but it takes 3 years, from lot purchase to construction completion. In California, some areas can take over 4 years. Further, land values in Orange County are near 4 million an acre. Way too expensive to even consider building in Orange County. The solution? It is looking like RV storage may be limited to areas outside of Orange County, such as Riverside and other more inland areas. Even those areas are getting prohibitively expensive, never mind the red tape the cities require for building and the time required for entitlement.

It is a true problem, that may only be solved by the next recession or $6 per gallon gas.

-End Update


Background

Upon the closure of the El Toro Maine Base in Orange County in 1999, the existing landing strips were turned into the nations largest RV storage lot, with 2500 RV’s parked on the runways. A sorely needed commodity in the Orange County area, since the high cost of land made it unfeasible to allocate 2 million dollar an acre land for the storage of RV’s

Recent Developments

Early in November, 2013 All Star Services the operator of leased land held by the City of Irvine and Lennar Corp / Five Point Communities, gave their 30 day notice that they would no longer manage the 2500 space RV storage lot located on the old abandoned El Toro Air Field . The monthly lease amount paid by All Star Services was $147,000 per month. This covered about 60+ acres, mostly on the old airport runways. The 30 day notice takes effect December 1st, 2013

On November 27th, 2013, the City of Irvine gave Lennar Corp and Five Point Communities approval to build an additional 4600 homes in exchange for Lennar to complete the Great Park project also located on the runways.

This means the RV's stored there will have to be moved in very short order. This will cause a significant problem for Orange County California RV owners.

Solution?

The only solution is to build more storage, however, in Orange County, to find raw land costs at least 1.5 million an acre and up depending on the location. No matter how you try to pencil it out, it does not work financially, unless you are willing to charge $600 per month to park an RV on a dirt lot.

The Future

As it looks right now, existing RV storage costs will certainly rise. How much is anybodies guess, but needles to say, higher costs are pretty much a certainty.

As present, I have spoken to a few RV owners, and they are planing to store their RV's inland, such as Riverside and LA County, where land prices are are reasonable. That seems to be the only solution at the moment. Not very convenient, but any port in a storm I guess.

The RV storage operators in the inland areas of Southern California are seeing this as a bonanza. They now have a captive market, with higher profits soon to be realized.

Disclosure

I also built an RV storage facility in Beaumont. We are just about full. This will not benefit me much since we do not offer rentals, our facility only sells RV storage.

I hope all the RV'ers take this to heart and make plans soon to move elsewhere before the "RV-Maggedon" hits all of us.

Video of the November 26th City Council Meeting on the RV Storage issue.

Ted Deits

[time2roll]

Mine is now in Ontario for a few years. We launch direct from storage... packing the car, transfer and roll.
Car sits in storage until we return.

[bikendan]

am1958 wrote:
The reasons to stay out of California just keep on building...

How far would you need to travel before land becomes affordable?

Just head inland. Much more affordable.

[2bzy2c]

30-40 Miles. Likely the Riverside area to include Moreno Valley, San Bernardino,
Banning, Norco and into the desert areas like Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs.

[am1958]

The reasons to stay out of California just keep on building...

How far would you need to travel before land becomes affordable?

[Alxcook]

This is no longer an Orange Country problem, this is a Southern California problem. It might be cheaper to lease out a commercial space that has a large garage door that an RV can fit. I have seen some in the Corona area that you can rent for $1400 a month, and you can put two RV's in. Indoor storage along with front office space. In the back area, still enough room to b able to work on your rig as well.

[2bzy2c]

I am resurrecting this old thread to update everyone on the impact of the closure of El Toro RV Storage has had on the industry.

While it took quite a bit longer for the actual closure of El Toro to happen, it did in fact close in 2015 Article in OC Register

What was surprising, was the impact initially was virtually nil. Very few people panicked, and most of the 2200 RV's did find a home, even if only temporary.

It wasn't until the summer of 2016 when the RV Storage problem hit the fan. Myself and other fellow RV storage operators were overwhelmed with calls from frustrated people seeking storage for their RV. We were sold out, and most all other storage facilities had no vacancy. We stopped putting people on the waiting list as we simply were not experiencing any vacancies at all, and none were expected. Resale prices on the storage condos doubled in value.

The partial solution found by some were private parties advertising RV storage on vacant lots, the side of their house, and other solutions. However, California being California, the various cities soon put a stop to that via code enforcement.

Fast forward a few years to today, with the surge in RV sales, and the overall recovery of the economy, the calls I am getting from some people are not frustrated, but now they are angry, bordering on scared. Some just bought a new RV, and cannot find storage. They cannot park it on the street or at their house (in some cases).

Granted, this is probably a Southern California anomaly, compounded by the lack of storage facilities, and the rapid growth of the RV industry, coupled with the El Toro closure. It is a recipe for extreme frustration for many.

As a developer of RV storage condominiums, we do have the solution, but it takes 3 years, from lot purchase to construction completion. In California, some areas can take over 4 years. Further, land values in Orange County are near 4 million an acre. Way too expensive to even consider building in Orange County. The solution? It is looking like RV storage may be limited to areas outside of Orange County, such as Riverside and other more inland areas. Even those areas are getting prohibitively expensive, never mind the red tape the cities require for building and the time required for entitlement.

It is a true problem, that may only be solved by the next recession or $6 per gallon gas.

[2bzy2c]

Highway 4x4 wrote:
Well, there is going to be lots of parking spaces at SONGS and it's a well guarded parking area.

Yep. And well lit. Everything glows at night.

[time2roll]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Onofre_Nuclear_Generating_Station

[CKNSLS]

Highway 4x4 wrote:
Well, there is going to be lots of parking spaces at SONGS and it's a well guarded parking area.

And SONGS IS? (Something you sing?)

[Highway_4x4]

Well, there is going to be lots of parking spaces at SONGS and it's a well guarded parking area.

[CKNSLS]

Smitty77 wrote:
San Diego City also has their ban on overnight parking for 'Over Sized Vehicles' that has passed the City Council. Requires a permit to park in front of your own home for no more then 72 hours. Very flawed regulation, and one that I predict will be sporadically enforced. (As written, a pick up truck with raised wheels and a lumber rack - would be 'Over Sized'. I truly doubt that they will be sited. They will target the RV's and boat owners.) Another question asked that resulted in non response of our area Representative: What happens if you are coming back from a RV trip, and come home on say a Friday night. How would you get a 'permit'. Very difficult on extended trips, to pin down the exact day of return, too many things can cause early or later date returns.

And yes, the local storage lots have very much appreciated the ability to start spiking up the fees for storage.

All of this, to go after those that are illegally slept overnight in their rigs on the public streets and parking lots. At least that was the story. But adding more heads to the overnight traffic enforcement to start citing vehicles for not having the permits, is a clear 'revenue grab' from the City, IMO!

And congrats on the 90% sell of your condo RV parking. I followed your story with interest, and salute you on riding out the down years.

Best to all of us who do not have legal off street parking in California:)!
Smitty

I have no doubt with very high rents and property values in the greater San Diego area that some people were living in their RVs.

You know-it's the few who spoil it for every one else.

[Smitty77]

San Diego City also has their ban on overnight parking for 'Over Sized Vehicles' that has passed the City Council. Requires a permit to park in front of your own home for no more then 72 hours. Very flawed regulation, and one that I predict will be sporadically enforced. (As written, a pick up truck with raised wheels and a lumber rack - would be 'Over Sized'. I truly doubt that they will be sited. They will target the RV's and boat owners.) Another question asked that resulted in non response of our area Representative: What happens if you are coming back from a RV trip, and come home on say a Friday night. How would you get a 'permit'. Very difficult on extended trips, to pin down the exact day of return, too many things can cause early or later date returns.

And yes, the local storage lots have very much appreciated the ability to start spiking up the fees for storage.

All of this, to go after those that are illegally slept overnight in their rigs on the public streets and parking lots. At least that was the story. But adding more heads to the overnight traffic enforcement to start citing vehicles for not having the permits, is a clear 'revenue grab' from the City, IMO!

And congrats on the 90% sell of your condo RV parking. I followed your story with interest, and salute you on riding out the down years.

Best to all of us who do not have legal off street parking in California:)!
Smitty

[lfcjasp]

Someone once asked me where we parked our MH and was surprised we had it backed into our driveway. Was it legal they asked and I said apparently as there are RV's parked in a lot of folks' yards in our neighborhood. We couldn't live anywhere that didn't allow us to park our rig on our property (or have a vegetable garden or a clothesline) !!!

[2bzy2c]

Huntington Beach is not that RV friendly. In fact, before I built my current project, I spent three years searching for a city to provide RV storage. Almost every OC city turned me down. I went to 15 different Cities.

Reason: In general, RV storage, or Self Storage does not provide sales tax revenue for the city, therefore they don't want it.

Here is a City Council Meeting from June, 2010, where the City of Huntington Beach shot down a RV Storage project. The neighbors near the proposed storage lot were not all that thrilled about the idea either.

For what it is worth, just a week before this meeting, there was a fire in a nearby RV storage lot where four RV's burned to the ground. Talk about bad timing.


Video of Meeting