Store Your World Launch: A new era for accessible industrial storage investing

By Neale Petersen

November 28, 2025

Commercial

The launch of Store Your World in Somerset West marks a major inflection point for South African investors hungry for real assets that deliver stability, yield and long-term value. At a time when markets are noisy and economic cycles feel unpredictable, this new model - offering direct ownership of individual storage units, cuts through with something rare: clarity, simplicity, and powerful fundamentals.

The event brought together investors, developers, analysts and industry leaders to unpack the vision behind Store Your World. It was anchored by four key voices: Schalk van Wyk the MC and one of the Fairmile visionaries shaping the project’s entrepreneurial foundation., Neale Petersen, who framed the macro investment context; Gerhard Nel, who outlined the innovation and business model; and Dawie van Wyk explained the tax structures that strengthen investor returns.

This is the story of an industry poised for lift-off — and a project designed to let everyday investors participate in a sector historically reserved for large funds and private equity players.

Setting the Stage: Why this moment matters

‍Neale Petersen placed the launch into the broader economic and property landscape.

The world is overflowing with investment noise, crypto, stocks, offshore structures, gold, private equity and endless “alternative” schemes. But in periods of transition, he reminded the audience, property regains its shine. Especially now.

A turning economic tide

‍He highlighted the forces shifting beneath South Africa’s investment landscape:

Interest rates are easing, unlocking affordability and confidence.
Business sentiment is stabilising across infrastructure, logistics, manufacturing and property.
Private sector leadership is rising, especially in regions with governance that works.

And then, there’s the Western Cape, the powerhouse of South African property performance.

Why the Western Cape Is the engine

‍With unmatched governance, safety, service delivery and continued semigration, demand for residential, industrial, logistics and storage space is outperforming every other region.

Industrial and storage assets, have emerged as the hidden champions, delivering reliable yields, recession-proof occupancy and low operating risk.

Which made the timing of this launch offering accessible ownership in a high-demand, tech-enabled storage facility particularly compelling.

Introducing a Visionary – Schalk van Wyk

‍Before diving into the project’s details, the audience heard from Schalk van Wyk, one of the entrepreneurial forces behind Fairmile Development Hub.

With two decades of entrepreneurial experience, Van Wyk has built a reputation for transforming real estate through:

transparent, ethics-driven opportunities
streamlined marketing and sales ecosystems
purpose-led development
platforms designed to democratise access to high-quality property investments

His work underpins Fairmile’s mission: to create developments that are commercially powerful, socially relevant and investor-accessible. Store Your World is a direct expression of that vision.

Unlocking a high-growth asset class - Gerhard Nel

‍With Fairmile’s vision established, Gerhard Nel, the driving force behind the Store Your World development and operating model, took the audience into the operational heart of the project and its groundbreaking innovation.

A market with massive upside

‍Globally, self-storage is a USD 60 billion industry and still growing.
South Africa’s slice of that market? About USD 400 million. Less than 1%.

The biggest US operator has 3,000 facilities. South Africa’s largest has 55. “There is enormous headroom for growth, and the demand fundamentals are already here,” Nel emphasised.

Semigration, densification, e-commerce, small business proliferation and downsizing all drive constant storage demand, in good times and bad.

A sector closed to ordinary investors - until now

‍Self-storage assets have always been locked up in:

listed REITs
private equity funds
large family offices

Store Your World changes that. Units starting from R159,000 make this an accessible on-ramp to commercial property ownership, something unheard of in traditional industrial real estate where entry points usually begin in the millions.

The development challenge and breakthrough

‍The team had to rethink the entire model to make this possible:

No bank would fund a massive development without long-term leases.
No precedent existed in South Africa for selling individual storage units.
Comparable sales didn’t exist.

So Nel and his team treated it like a large-scale property development:

secure rights
build to spec
sell individual units based on capitalised rental income
introduce centralised rental pooling
integrate proptech for full automation

This enabled them to deliver expected gross yields of 11–12% and net yields around 10%, with extremely low operating costs of ~10% (compared to 25–30% in standard commercial real estate).

Technology that redefines storage

‍Store Your World isn’t a row of old garages. It’s a digitised, automated, AI-enabled industrial storage platform, including:

mobile onboarding
biometric and QR access
AI-monitored CCTV
solar solutions
climate-controlled units (Phase 2)
specialty storage for wine, documents, valuables
automated auction integration for delinquent units
door sensors, app alerts and remote management
free Wi-Fi, loading bays, and co-working space via Regus partnership

The entire user experience, from booking to payment to access runs through your phone.

A proven model, already gaining traction

‍Before launch, 110 units were sold, with more booked on the night. Construction begins in early 2026, with occupation set for 2027.

The Tax Edge – Dawie van Wyk

‍He covered the crucial tax mechanics supporting investor performance, focusing on Section 13quin allowances available to commercial property buyers.

Key insights included:

Investors qualify for a 5% annual deduction of 55% of the value, effectively 2.75% per year on the purchase price of their storage unit or asset
Because Store Your World is newly constructed, buyers benefit from the full deduction, not the reduced 55% base applied to second-hand assets.
When reinvested, the tax savings add 1 - 2% to the effective yield, pushing a 10% return closer to 12%.

Unlike residential incentives, where investors must buy five units or more, this applies from the first unit.

Van Wyk made it clear:

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“It won’t be the reason you invest, but it’s icing on an already compelling cake.”

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A new door opens for everyday investors

‍For years, storage has been one of the most profitable, resilient and scalable asset classes, but completely inaccessible to the ordinary investor.

Store Your World has changed that. The launch showed a powerful alignment of:

a strong macro cycle turning
the country’s top-performing region
a proven global asset class
leading-edge technology
accessible entry pricing
robust rental pooling
favourable tax treatment

You don’t see all those forces converge often. This is storage reimagined. This is ownership redesigned. This is property investing, reinvented for the modern era.