If you're looking at a high-growth market, like Dallas, Nashville and Charlotte, to place a self-storage facility, you might need to zero in a little closer, according to Nick Walker, executive vice president, Capital Markets, Self-Storage for CBRE.

"I would say that you get 70 to 80% of your tenants [in self-storage] in a three-mile radius," Walker said on CBRE's "The Weekly Take" podcast. "And it used to be a lot tighter than that."

Walker says the navigation features on smartphones have expanded the map for storage facilities. People will hit the blue dot on the map, even if it isn't the closest facility.

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Leslie Shaver

Les Shaver has been covering commercial and residential real estate for almost 20 years. His work has appeared in Multifamily Executive, Builder, units, Arlington Magazine in addition to GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum.