Rows of orange doors, a gate code and a drive aisle wide enough for a moving truck: that is a self-storage site, and it is one of the simplest things to build in steel. We build mini-warehouse and storage buildings in Catoosa for owners who want a clear price per rentable foot and a delivery date they can put on a loan draw schedule. The frame is repeatable, the panels are plain, and most of the real thinking is in the site plan and the slab.
Catoosa sits on historic Route 66, roughly 14 miles northeast of Tulsa, which puts a storage lot within easy reach of the people who rent from it. Households and small businesses in a freight town need somewhere to park a trailer, a boat, a set of tools or a pile of inventory. The Tulsa Port of Catoosa, at the head of navigation for the McClellan-Kerr system, counted 70 tenants and more than 3,200 workers in October 2019, and each of those workers is a possible renter.
We lay out unit mixes, door sizes and drive aisles, then price the building as a bare shell or as climate-controlled space. If you have a parcel and a rough budget, we can tell you how many units fit and what each one costs to build. For an overview of the building itself, see our page on self-storage metal buildings.
Storage is a numbers game, so start with the numbers. A typical site gives up a share of its acreage to drive aisles, a retention pond and setbacks, and what is left becomes rentable buildings. We ask for the parcel survey, the zoning letter and a note on any floodplain line before we draw a single unit. A lot that looks big can lose a quarter of its area to a drainage requirement.
Access matters as much as size. A moving truck needs a turning radius, and the fire official wants a lane that a ladder truck can use. Put the office and gate where renters can see them from the road, and keep the unit doors facing the aisle, away from the street. We sketch two or three layouts and show the unit count for each, so the choice is made on paper and not in the field.
Most storage owners start with pre-engineered metal buildings, because the frames arrive from the manufacturer with the engineering done. Some add a taller bay for RVs and boats, and that is where a clear-span building earns its keep, since a vehicle cannot park behind a column. Operators who run several sites will find more in our self-storage operators page.
If you plan to add buildings in phases, ask us about building expansions and additions at the start. A frame can be designed with an open end wall so the next building bolts on without tearing anything out. Phasing lets you fill the first buildings with renters before you pay for the last.
The port is the biggest reason industrial users look at Catoosa. In February 2026, Mecad USA announced a 32,000 square foot manufacturing plant and headquarters there, put at $13.4 million with about 300 jobs expected. Separately, PSO handed more than 2,000 acres of its Inola River-Rail site, which has both barge and rail access, to the Port Authority in October 2019 for development sites.
Big sites like these do not build storage, but the people who work on them do need it, and so do the contractors that serve them. Parts, pallets, tooling and seasonal gear all need a dry place. A railroad also links the area through Owasso to Tulsa and beyond, and you can read about that side of the market on our Owasso page. We do not claim any link to the port projects. We build storage for the people around them.
We schedule and coordinate the site work, slab, steel erection, panels, doors and electrical, and we inspect each step before the next trade starts. The concrete partner pours the slab, the erection partner sets the frame, and we make sure each has what it needs. Units come with roll-up doors in the sizes you order, plus lighting and a gate or keypad if you want one.
Corridors and office space are optional. Many owners build a small office with a restroom at the front and leave the rest as plain bays. If you want heat and cooling in some units, tell us early. Insulation, a vapor barrier and a vented roof all change how the building is framed and priced.
A storage building is long and low, which means a lot of wall area facing the wind. The engineer picks the frame, girts and bracing for the local wind load, and the foundation has to hold down against uplift as well as carry weight. That is where anchor bolts and foundations come in: bolt size, embedment and layout are set by the engineer, and the slab edge has to be formed to match. A bolt that is a half inch out of place costs a day to fix.
Because the owner is comparing quotes, we show the foundation as its own line. Soil, frost depth and the width of the building all push it up or down. We would rather you see a clear number now than a change order later. The other big lines are the doors, which add up fast on a building with dozens of them, and the paving around the buildings.
The steel is usually the longest wait, so order it as soon as the permit path is clear. While the manufacturer fabricates, the site crew clears the lot, sets the pad and forms the foundations. Anchor bolts arrive ahead of the frame so the slab can be poured to the final layout.
A simple storage building goes up quickly once the frame is on site. Panels and doors follow the frame, and the electrical and gate work wrap things up. We build the schedule backward from your opening or your loan draw and flag the dates when a decision from you is needed. Late door selections and late site plan changes are what usually slip a project, so we ask for them early.
Tell us the parcel, the number of units you want and your target opening. We will return a layout and a price. If you are also looking at a bigger site, see our Tulsa page.
That depends on the lot and your budget. Many owners start with a building that fits their first loan draw and add a second once units are filling. We can show you a phased plan where each building is a self-contained project.
Not for every unit. A mix of plain drive-up units and a smaller number of heated and cooled units is common. Climate control adds insulation, HVAC and a tighter envelope, so it costs more per foot and rents for more.
We prepare the drawings and support the submittal, and the local building department reviews it. Zoning and site plan approval come first, so we ask for them before ordering steel. Requirements vary, so we check with the department on your parcel.
A good deal. The frame, girts and foundation are all sized to the wind load for the site, and a long low building catches a lot of it. The engineer sets those numbers, and we make sure the bolts and slab match them.
Yes, and it is easier if you plan for it. We can leave an end wall open and size the slab for an extension. That keeps the next phase from costing more than it has to.
Tell us about the site, the building and the schedule, and we will set up a review of scope, schedule and permitting.
See the services, building types and industries we plan and manage across Oklahoma.