SBS Construction hired Roc Hughes as president of SBS Construction East on June 2, 2026, launching a formal expansion into the southeastern United States. Hughes, who spent his prior role as vice president of self-storage sales at Janus International Group, brings 24 years of self-storage sales and marketing experience to a Boerne, Texas-based general contractor that has built storage facilities nationwide since 1995.
Inside Self-Storage reported the appointment on June 8, 2026. The move matters because development pipelines are thinning in overbuilt Sun Belt metros while institutional capital still wants new product in supply-constrained corridors. Builders who can execute in the Southeast are following the money and the zoning map.
Why Is a Texas Builder Going East Now?
SBS Construction offers design-build, general contracting, and construction management services across self-storage, schools, churches, retail, and commercial developments. The company was founded in 1995 and has completed self-storage projects nationwide from its Texas headquarters.
The eastern division is not a rebranding exercise. It is geographic diversification at a moment when Yardi Matrix's Q1 2026 supply forecast shows completions slowing most noticeably in previously overbuilt markets like Atlanta, Tampa, Phoenix, and Orlando. Developers who spent three years flooding Sun Belt submarkets are looking for the next lane where entitlement risk is lower and rent growth has not been compressed by 2023-2025 deliveries.
SBS president Clyde Johnson IV framed the expansion as reputation-driven growth.
Our expansion into the Southeastern United States marks a major milestone for SBS Construction. This move positions us to strengthen industry relationships and deliver the high-quality work we are known for on a broader national scale. Attracting a leader of Roc's caliber is a testament to the reputation our team has built through years of commitment, professionalism, and execution.
That language tracks with how specialized self-storage contractors win work: repeat developer relationships, on-time delivery, and the technical fluency to build multi-story climate-controlled product without change-order blowups.
Who Is Roc Hughes, and Why Did Janus Matter?
Hughes spent his most recent chapter at Janus International, the global manufacturer and supplier of self-storage doors, hallways, and access-control technology. As vice president of self-storage sales, he led commercial strategy, operational alignment, and nationwide client relationships for a vendor that touches nearly every new build in the sector.
That background is not accidental hiring. SBS Construction East needs someone who speaks both developer economics and product specification. Hughes has spent a career inside the transaction chain that starts with site selection and ends with certificate of occupancy.
Modern Storage Media's June 2, 2026 coverage noted Hughes is based in the Atlanta area, placing SBS's eastern leadership in the geographic center of the Southeast development corridor. Atlanta, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and northern Florida remain active self-storage markets even as national starts fell 29% year over year in Q1 2026, per Yardi Matrix data cited across multiple industry reports.
What Does This Signal About the 2026 Construction Pipeline?
National self-storage completions are declining, but the work that remains is more selective. Radius+ and Yardi both describe 2026 as a market reset year: fewer deliveries, more discipline, and development concentrated in markets where barriers limit new competition.
SBS's expansion suggests builders expect continued ground-up activity in the Southeast even as starts contract nationally. The region still absorbs household migration, multifamily deliveries, and small-business formation that generate storage demand. Zoning friction is rising in some municipalities (Wetumpka, Alabama, considered extending a self-storage moratorium in June 2026), but that friction also protects existing supply and rewards operators who secure entitled land early.
For developers, a national contractor with a dedicated eastern president reduces execution risk on the projects that still pencil. For investors, it is a tell: the industry is not exiting development. It is professionalizing where development continues.
How Does SBS Fit the Broader Vendor and Builder Landscape?
SBS is not the only self-storage construction name scaling in 2026. The sector's vendor ecosystem, from Janus on the product side to specialized GCs on the build side, is consolidating expertise as projects grow more complex. Climate-controlled multi-story facilities, RV and boat storage bays, and adaptive reuse conversions all require contractors who understand storage-specific code, HVAC loads, and access-control integration.
Johnson's leadership team includes decades of superintendent experience on storage projects. Shawn Watts, an SBS superintendent with nearly 10 years of self-storage builds since joining in 2018, represents the bench depth that national developers expect when they award repeat work.
The Hughes hire connects SBS to the Janus client network Hughes spent years cultivating. In an industry where relationships drive bid lists, that is a competitive moat.
What Should Operators and Developers Watch Next?
Track where SBS Construction East announces its first groundbreakings. Hughes's Janus-era relationships skew toward institutional and regional developers who build at scale. If those names start appearing on SBS project lists in Georgia, the Carolinas, or Florida, it confirms that Southeast development is active enough to support a dedicated division.
Watch entitlement timelines in target submarkets. A builder expansion does not create demand. It services demand that already cleared zoning. Markets where moratoriums and conditional-use hearings are tightening will see longer pre-construction phases, pushing deliveries into 2027 even when capital is ready today.
Monitor steel and labor costs. Self-storage construction cost inflation moderated from 2022-2023 peaks, but tariff and labor pressure remain headwinds in 2026 industry commentary. Builders who can deliver on budget in the Southeast will win the shrinking pipeline of new starts.
The Numbers Worth Writing Down
- Appointment date: June 2, 2026 (effective)
- New role: President, SBS Construction East
- Hire: Roc Hughes, 24 years in self-storage sales and marketing
- Prior employer: Janus International Group (vice president, self-storage sales)
- SBS headquarters: Boerne, Texas (founded 1995)
- National context: Q1 2026 self-storage starts down 29% year over year (Yardi Matrix)
- Completions outlook: Slowing most in Atlanta, Tampa, Phoenix, and Orlando (Yardi Q1 2026 supply forecast)
Builders Follow the Entitled Dirt
SBS Construction's eastern expansion is a supply-chain signal, not a press release filler. When a Texas GC hires a Janus veteran to run a Southeast division in June 2026, it means developers in that corridor still have projects worth building and contractors worth hiring.
The national story is fewer starts. The regional story is better starts in better markets. Hughes's job is to make sure SBS is the builder those projects call first.
Sources
- Self-Storage Builder SBS Construction Expands, Appoints Roc Hughes as President of Eastern Division, Inside Self-Storage
- SBS Construction Expands With Roc Hughes as President of SBS East, Modern Storage Media
- Team - SBS Construction, SBS Construction
- Pipeline Elevates Yardi Matrix Self Storage Supply Forecast, Yardi Matrix
- National Self-Storage Market Update: Current Performance, 2025 Trends, and H1 2026 Outlook, Matthews Real Estate Investment Services