Leadership Team
Brandon Grebe
CEO, Co-Founder
Lee Fredrick
Executive Chairman, Co-Founder
Tony Ollila
Partner, Director of Development
Luke Williams
Director of Finance & Accounting
Turning opportunities into results through a rigorous, detail-oriented process.
Lee and Brandon joined forces to launch GYS Development, rooted in a shared vision of building something meaningful in the self-storage space. What started with a few developments and acquisitions per year quickly evolved into a thriving venture.
The duo brought in David Harvey and launched GYS General Contracting, a full-service general contracting company that brought their developments — and those of their clients — to life with in-house control and execution.
The company was highlighted in Construction Today magazine for the early successes of its vertically integrated services — affirming the strength of their development and construction model.
A steady pace of 2–3 developments and 1–3 acquisitions per year, primarily in Texas and Colorado. By 2019, their disciplined approach had built a strong, private portfolio of 15 institutional-quality storage assets.
The team secured a 36-property, 2M+ square foot portfolio in Texas. This milestone led to a partnership with National Storage Affiliates (NSA) and the formation of the Blue Sky brand, elevating them into the REIT space.
Under Blue Sky, they scaled rapidly to 41 properties across multiple states. In July 2024, NSA acquired the entire Blue Sky portfolio — a landmark $438 million+ exit marking years of calculated growth.
Post-acquisition, the company re-emerged as Uplift Self Storage, focusing on its 28 privately held properties — along with adding 5 flex warehouse assets to its ownership and operation. Uplift has a refreshed brand reflecting a continued commitment to high-performance assets and an integrated approach.
Uplift continues to grow as a fully integrated real estate company — owning and operating self-storage and flex warehouse assets, Uplift is able to provide its services from land development to turn-key property and asset management.