RV and boat sales have grown rapidly in recent years, leaving owners with a clear problem: finding secure storage. In coastal cities like Savannah, Georgia, space is limited. Owners need a safe, reliable place to park their vehicles to protect them from weather and theft.
Great American Storage and RSG Development recently partnered to build a new storage facility in Savannah to solve this problem. We spoke with the leadership team about the project, their development strategy, and what this facility brings to the local market.
Q: What made Savannah, Georgia, the right location for this new RV and boat storage facility?
Val Schwartz: Honestly, the area told us what it needed. Coastal Georgia is a boater's and RVer's dream, but the places to actually keep those vehicles haven't kept up with the demand. More and more subdivisions and HOAs restrict parking an RV or boat trailer in the driveway, and overnight street parking often isn't an option either.
Our site on GA-30 in Port Wentworth solves that. You're right off Highway 21 and less than a half mile from exit 109 on I-95, about 11 miles from Savannah's Historic District and a half-hour from Tybee. You can grab your boat and be on the water before your coffee gets cold. When we studied the market, we couldn't find a comparable executive-level RV and boat storage facility in this part of the state. That gap is really the whole story.
Q: How did the partnership between Great American Storage and RSG Development come together for this specific project?
Val Schwartz: This one is easy to answer because Savannah isn't our first project together. We opened Great American Self Storage of Stratford in New Jersey on April 1st with RSG, following a groundbreaking on December 9, 2024. When a partnership works that well, you keep going.
RSG was founded in 2021 by Erik Johnson and George Hristodoulou specifically to build Class-A storage in markets with unmet needs, and they bring more than 30 years of combined real estate experience. They're fantastic at finding the site and doing the hard analytical work up front. Great American Storage is vertically integrated, so we develop, build, and operate. That last piece matters. We're not handing this off and walking away. Erik and George stay involved, and we continue to work as a team – leveraging the collective’s experience once we open.
Q: Security is a major concern for owners. What specific features will this facility offer to protect these vehicles?
Val Schwartz: This is the question we get most, and rightly so. People are storing something worth as much as a house in some cases. The facility is fully fenced and gated with a single controlled entry point, and it’s blanketed in cameras. There's no quiet corner where nobody's looking.
Our enclosed units will feature Bluetooth-enabled smart locks, so access is tied to you and tracked, and you're not fumbling with a padlock in the rain. The lighting is part of it too, with motion-activated and timed LED lighting throughout. A well-lit property is a less appealing property to anyone who shouldn't be there, and it makes a 9 p.m. pickup feel completely normal instead of nerve-racking.
And we have professional on-site management. There's a real person here who knows the property and knows the customers. Cameras are great, but cameras plus staff who notice when something looks off is a different level of protection entirely.
The design helps too. Wide drive aisles and generous turning radiuses mean you're not threading a 40-footer past someone else's boat. A lot of "damage" in storage isn't theft, it's a tight turn early on a Saturday morning. We designed that problem out.
Q: How does this Savannah location fit into your broader strategy for vehicle storage development across the country?
Val Schwartz: Our approach is pretty simple. We look for markets where demand is clearly outrunning supply and where the existing options don't match what people have invested in their vehicles. Port Wentworth/Savannah MSA checked every box: strong household incomes, real population and household growth projected over the next five years, terrific recreational access, and essentially nothing comparable already built.
We don't have one template we drop everywhere. We build for the market in front of us. Here, that means wide turning radii, easy interstate access, covered and fully enclosed options, and amenities designed around what RV and boat owners actually need.
The other piece is that we're not just dropping a building into a community and collecting rent. We want to be part of the neighborhood. That means being a good-looking, well-maintained property, hiring locally, and showing up for the community events and organizations that make this area what it is. Every facility we build, we want the town to be glad it's there. That's the standard, and Savannah is no exception.
Q: When do you expect to complete the facility, and when can people start reserving space?
Val Schwartz: We're opening in September, and we're genuinely excited. The facility will offer 281 spaces total, with a mix of covered stalls and fully enclosed units, including standard drive-up and premium options. So whether you've got a fishing boat or a Class A coach, there's a fit.
We're also adding the things that make life easier: a sanitary dump station just for customers, a large vehicle wash bay, ice, and solar integration to help us operate more sustainably.
We'll be sharing reservation details as we get closer to opening, but anyone interested can visit https://www.greatamericanselfstorage.com/storage-units/georgia/savannah/great-american-rv-storage-of-savanah-3502809/ to join the waitlist or give us a call at 770-341-5400. And if you've been wondering where you're going to put that boat or RV, we'd love to have you come take a look. We’re located at 150 Highway 30, Savannah, GA 31407.
Our discussion made it clear that location and security are the top priorities for this new development. The strategy behind this project focuses directly on what vehicle owners actually need in a high-demand market.
The need for secure vehicle storage will continue to grow as more people invest in RVs and boats. Facilities like the one in Savannah offer a practical, long-term solution to protect those investments.
To learn more visit GAStorage.com
