By Drew Whitney
After scoring two big wins in just two months, Dr. Eswar Yarrapareddy might be considered a lucky guy. In reality, this run of luck is the pure byproduct of an unwavering vision, true grit and dedicated hard work.
On Oct. 4, 2024, Eswar Yarrapareddy, who earned his PhD in mechanical engineering from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, stood alongside family, friends, colleagues and community members at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for his brand-new pride and joy, United Boat & RV Storage, in Cypress, Texas. The event culminated 2.5 years of planning, designing, building and priming the site as the cornerstone of Eswar’s burgeoning business in the storage industry.
He’d made sure this project met his own high standards for providing comfort and convenience for future tenants, adding in amenities above and beyond what is considered Class A RV and boat storage. And in doing so, he simultaneously set his project up as a shoe-in for the Toy Storage Nation Facility of the Month Award, which he garnered in November 2024.
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To qualify as a Class A site, Toy Storage Nation requires facilities to meet four criteria: providing full perimeter fencing, secure gate technology, paved surfaces and enclosed or canopied spaces to protect boats, RVs and other vehicles from the elements. In addition to the four requirements, the newly opened United Boat & RV Storage features a wash station, air station and dump station, along with 24/7 surveillance and electricity.
“We are very happy completing this Class A boat and RV storage facilities,” Eswar says, adding he relied heavily on professional feasibility studies to plan his project, and it’s already paying off.
“All the Class A facilities around here [Cypress, Texas] are full or near full,” he continues. “Our current tenants are coming from Class B or C facilities for better amenities, and so far we’ve received a very positive response from customers.”
The Covid Silver Lining
While the world went into hiding during the pandemic, like many others, Eswar, 45, locked down with his family, including his wife, Siri, 41, and his three daughters, Sanjana, Meghana and Spandana, now 16, 13 and 5, respectively. Although he was gainfully employed as a mechanical engineer, he took advantage of a little downtime to think about the bigger picture, pondering how he could fully secure his family’s future.
He had purchased a 6.2-acre lot in 2018, using 2 acres to erect a building and detention pond for his manufacturing business, with construction completed in December 2020. He contemplated how we could best profit from the remaining property, setting him on a research mission that eventually targeted RV and boat storage.
After completing a thorough feasibility study, he created a professional team–including a civil engineer, architect, building supplier and general contractor–to ensure the project moved forward seamlessly. Of course, there were hiccups along the way, but Eswar subdued them with compliance and patience.
“The local county asked us to put in a left turn lane to access the facility,” he says. “And then Hurricane Beryl put us a little behind. So the whole project took about 2.5 years from start to finish–from permitting to construction completion.”
The Big Reveal
When United Boat & RV Storage celebrated its grand opening, it invited the community to take a peek at its 119 enclosed units and roundup of amenities, occupying 68,580 square feet of storage on the 4-acre property. At the time, two months after its opening, the site was 25% occupied, and Eswar anticipated no vacancies within a year’s time.
United’s unit mix features 119 enclosed spaces ranging from 12x30s up to 14x50s. “The feasibility study gave good guidelines, but we probably could use more 12x30s and 12x40s,” he states, adding the configuration of the lot and market supply dictated the current mix, which also includes 20 open parking spaces.
The location factors greatly in the site’s future success, too. The area has experienced a building surge since the pandemic, constructing many new family homes not far away. Three facilities within five miles of the site are full, “but the Class B and C are not,” says Eswar. “I’m on the main street, very close to highways, 80 miles from the Gulf of Mexico,” with several popular lakes and Sam Houston State Park all within an hour’s drive.
Most important of all, the entire Yarrapareddy family of five plays a role in the success of United Boat & RV Storage. “My wife and three daughters help out on the weekends and the three girls spend a lot of time here during the summer,” says Eswar. “They are all well adapted to running the business!”
To learn more about United Boat & RV Storage, visit the website or watch the grand-opening promo video.
Interested in nominating a Class A RV and boat storage facility for the TSN Facility of the Month Award? Visit here.
