Commercial Storage in Aurora, CO: Drive-Up Units for Tools, Stock and Supplies

Most small businesses in Aurora outgrow their space before they are ready to pay for a bigger one. The van fills up, the garage turns into a warehouse, and the spare room has been inventory for a year. A storage unit is often the middle step between working out of your home and signing a commercial lease. Lockaway Storage rents commercial storage in Aurora on a month to month basis, and the setup suits trades, online sellers and anyone who needs to load and unload often.

At a Glance

• Lockaway Storage Aurora at 1563 Jasper St, north of East Colfax near Chambers Road, offers commercial storage with drive-up units in 10x10, 10x15, 10x20 and 10x30 sizes depending on availability, all on the first floor.
• Rentals are month to month and can be started online, and you open the gate and your unit from a Bluetooth enabled smartphone within the posted access hours.

Why Drive-Up Matters More for a Business Than for a Home

A homeowner might visit a storage unit a few times a year. A business visits it constantly. A contractor swaps tools between jobs, an online seller restocks every week, and a landscaper reloads equipment before the sun is up. When you visit that often, the route from your vehicle to the unit is the part of the rental you notice every day.

Drive-up units sit on the outside of the building, so you can back a truck or van right up to the door. There are no hallways, elevators or carts to manage, and the unit at Lockaway Storage Aurora is on the first floor either way. For heavy or awkward items such as saws, pallets of product, ladders or boxed equipment, loading straight from the vehicle can save real time every trip, and over a month that adds up.

Indoor units are inside the building, which gives more protection from the weather than a drive-up door. They can make sense when what you are storing is lighter and you visit less often. Records, sample inventory and smaller products are common examples. Neither type is climate controlled at this location, so if your stock is sensitive to heat or cold, ask us how to pack and store it before you commit.

What Contractors and Tradespeople Usually Keep in a Unit

Trades are the most natural fit for drive-up commercial storage, because equipment is bulky and you are often loading in a hurry. A few patterns come up again and again.

Tools and equipment you do not need every day. Specialty tools, extra ladders, spare generators and seasonal equipment take up truck space you would rather use for the current job.

Materials between jobs. Leftover tile, flooring, fixtures and supplies from a finished project are worth keeping if another job is close. Storing them off site keeps the garage clear and keeps the materials from getting mixed with your family's belongings.

Staged material for a larger job. If you are collecting fixtures or cabinets for a remodel, a unit gives you a dry, organized place to hold them until the crew arrives.

Overflow from the vehicle. If your truck or van is your whole shop, a unit lets you leave the long term tools in one place and carry only what the day requires.

For most of this, a 10x10 or 10x15 drive-up works for a single tradesperson, and a 10x20 or 10x30 makes sense when you are holding larger equipment or materials from several jobs. Our storage unit size guide is a good way to picture what fits before you pick.

Online Sellers and Inventory: Keep It Counted and Reachable

Online sellers have a different problem. The inventory is smaller than a contractor's equipment, but there is a lot of it, and it needs to be found quickly when orders come in. A few habits help more than any particular unit size.

Label boxes by product and quantity on the outside, and keep an inventory sheet that matches what is physically in the unit. Leave a clear walkway to the back of the unit so you are not moving a wall of boxes to reach the item at the bottom. Group fast moving products near the door, and put slower stock at the back.

Think about how often you will visit. A seller packing orders daily may find a drive-up unit with room to stage boxes more useful than a smaller indoor unit. A seller who restocks monthly and ships from home may be fine with a 5x10 or a 10x10 indoor unit, since a monthly visit does not need a truck at the door. Size for the volume you have now plus a modest buffer for the next season, and revisit it as the business grows.

What Cannot Go in the Unit

Commercial use does not change the rules about what a storage unit is for. The Aurora location does not allow combustibles, firearms, living things, food or illegal items, and that list matters for a lot of trades. Fuel, solvents, certain paints and propane are common examples that people assume they can keep with their equipment. If you are unsure whether something counts, ask the team before you load it rather than after.

A storage unit is also a place to store things, not to work from or run a shop out of. If you need workspace, that is a different type of rental. Keeping that distinction clear helps you pick the right option from the start.

You will also want to talk about coverage. Items in a storage unit generally need to be covered by insurance, and business equipment and inventory can be worth more than people estimate when they are packing. Ask our team about the options and check what your own business policy already covers.

Choosing a Size Without Overpaying

The temptation is to rent the biggest unit you can justify. A better approach is to start with what you are storing today and add a margin for the next quarter.

A short way to decide: measure or list your largest item, since it sets the minimum width and depth. Add what you need to be able to walk around. Then ask whether you will load and unload often. If so, spend a little extra on a drive-up unit with room to stand inside. If you rarely go back, a smaller indoor unit with tightly packed boxes can do the job at a lower cost.

Because rentals are month to month, a size that turns out to be wrong is not a trap. Ask the Aurora team about switching units if your volume changes, and keep the rental sized to the business you have now.

Access, Paperwork and Getting Started

Business renters often need access outside of a normal workday, so the way you get in matters. At the Aurora location you open the gate and your unit with a Bluetooth enabled smartphone, with no key to carry, and access works within the posted access hours. Because the property is gated, fenced and well lit, you are not fumbling with keys at the door at the start or end of a long day. Online bill pay also keeps the monthly payment off your to do list.

To start, look at the live unit list for Aurora, choose a size and rent online. If you would like to talk through the details first, call the team at (720) 790 3700. You can also see how commercial rentals work across the company on our commercial self storage page, which covers the basics of renting for a business.

If you are still working out whether the property is easy to reach from where your jobs are, our guide to storing in Aurora near Colfax and Chambers explains how the neighborhoods around Jasper Street connect to the main roads.

Lockaway Storage Aurora is built for people who need their tools, stock and supplies to be easy to reach. Pick the size you need today, rent month to month, and change it as the business changes.