Life member SSAA 2022

David Blackwell received the coveted SSAA Life Membership Award for his exceptional contribution to industry over many years.

David Blackwell received a standing ovation when it was announced he had received a Life Membership of the SSAA at the Convention’s Awards dinner.

It is a well-deserved award, as David has been involved in self storage for more than thirty years. A chance meeting with Jim Miller in the early 1990s saw David learn about self storage.

This work led David to develop forms of financial analysis that proved the strength of self storage and set the stage for years to come. David was instrumental in educating financial lenders about the asset class to provide comfort when lending. He established appropriate valuation methodology that the banks could understand and accept, and that was not an easy task.

David joined the SSAA as a service member and soon brought his understanding of the industry to a role on the Board. With the assistance of other board members, David recruited SSAA’s first CEO and worked tirelessly to ensure the SSAA focused on educating self storage operators on industry best practices. After two years on the committee, David took on the role of president in 2003. One of the most important initiatives during his tenure was the transition from part-time association executive to a full-time management structure.

In 2007 David authored the Technical Information Paper – Valuation of Self Storage, published by the Australian Property Institute and Property Institute of New Zealand, setting the standard for self storage valuations across Australasia. In 2008, 2010 and 2013, in association with the SSAA, David authored the seminal series of Demand Studies, surveying and reporting on user motivations, attitudes and behaviours. David has guided the next generation of self storage valuers to great success while building a broad acceptance of self storage as a mature, standalone asset class. His tireless efforts in mapping the performance of our industry and upholding the high standards of self storage have strengthened the sector into what it is today. David understood the importance of industry statistics and in the midst of the global financial crisis, he developed the Blackwell Storage Index - the first of its kind to track industry performance.

“His advocacy for sharing knowledge and building a culture of collaboration across the industry has been for the benefit of all.

Today it is known as the widely referenced Urbis Storage Index. His advocacy for sharing knowledge and building a culture of collaboration across the industry has been for the benefit of all. As we move forward as a mature highvalue asset class, we thank David for his tireless work with financial and property institutions. In 2020, David stepped aside from Urbis and now has more time to pursue his passion for fly fishing and spending more time with his young grandchildren. To be there on the night of the Convention to receive this accolade meant cutting short his fishing trip, but this one, was not going to get away. David, you have landed the big one, congratulations on your Life membership of the SSAA. l