Collectors store boats, wine, and even Ferraris in these high-end storage units, coming to Greenville this year
Lee Janik launched The Vault almost two decades ago near Lake Erie in Ohio. Since then, the high-end private storage concept has taken root in Janik’s chosen hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Now The Vault is expanding into several markets throughout the Southeast, with plans for one in Greenville.
TOWN asked Janik to tell us more about The Vault’s rapid growth, and how clients are using their storage condominiums to build collections and connections.
Behind The Vault
What is The Vault? It’s a unique concept.
We offer gated, secure, climate-controlled, luxury storage condominiums for high-net-worth individuals.
How large is each unit?
Each one is 1,000 square feet, but they’re modular, so we can expand them to meet the client’s needs. Several owners have two units, another has three. They’ve got HVAC, running water, and owners can upfit them at their discretion. Some install kitchens, some install full bars, some do car lifts, and some even install golf simulators. I have a bourbon and cigar lounge in mine.
How did you come up with this idea?
We started in Ohio in 2006 near Lake Erie, where the lake was frozen about seven months a year, so people wanted a way to store their luxury boats. I’m a career builder and developer and started this concept with about a half-million square feet in Ohio, and it sold out fairly quickly.
When did you come down South?
We moved to Charleston in 2016, and the first one in the South is here in Charleston. We completed it in 2025. We’re launching another one on Daniel Island later this year, along with locations in Atlanta and Asheville.
Any plans for the Upstate?
We’re launching 38 units in Greenville now, slated to be completed in the third quarter of 2026. Already, 15 are sold. It’s located at 50 Gladys Drive near Haywood Mall.
Are the units in high demand?
We’ve already sold out of all 29 units here in Charleston, and we’re now a team of eight in eight cities, with eight or nine more a year in the plans.
Tell me about your typical owner.
They’re all very high net worth, everywhere from their early 30s all the way up into their 70s. They own planes, they own cars—one owner has 14 Ferraris, another has almost 30 classic Cadillacs—but mostly, they enjoy community. It’s storage, sure, but it’s also a gathering place, because owners get to know one another, and forge new friendships and even business relationships.
Is a Vault unit a rental or a real estate investment?
It is absolutely an investment. They’re considered condos. However, they cannot be rented out to others. Some owners build offices for a quiet workspace, but you won’t find businesses like landscaping companies or trucking companies in there.
What’s the most unusual use for a unit you’ve seen?
I’ve got two [units] pending in Daniel Island—one customer wants to store a 5,000-bottle wine collection, and another wants to buy one for his $3 million Valhalla Center Console [boat], and another for his wife’s clothes, complete with a catwalk around the unit.
Find out more at whythevault.com.
