Posts filed under 'Industry Happenings'
On September 29, 2009, MiniCo Insurance will present a free webinar for new producers and other independent insurance agents who want to learn sales strategies for writing self-storage risks. The webinar “New Producers: Accelerate Your Sales Through Self‑Storage” will address topics to include the following:
Closing the sale
Distinguishing yourself with the facility owner
Utilizing the MiniCo network to make the sale
Leveraging MiniCo’s brand recognition to your advantage
There are over 59,000 self-storage facilities in the United States, and many will shop their commercial insurance coverage this year. MiniCo’s Customer Care Manager Keith McConnell, Underwriting Team Supervisor Chris Nelson, and Underwriter Christina Cullen will discuss in detail how new producers may leverage the company’s over 35 years of self-storage industry experience and strong name recognition among facility owners to get the competitive advantage in writing self-storage risks.
For more information or to register, visit www.minicoinsurance.com. Online registration is required for this free live event.
August 21st, 2009
Storage Opportunity Partners and Storage Pros Self Storage have acquired two self-storage facilities in southeastern Massachusetts, one in the Cape Cod town of Falmouth and one in Fairhaven, across the Acushnet River from the City of New Bedford.
The acquisition brings StorageOp’s holdings to 13 properties totaling 780,000 rentable square feet, 6,800 units and more than 950 outdoor parking spaces for rent in its initial target markets of New England and southeastern Michigan, all acquired within the last 28 months.
“Once again, our strong investor base and solid financing relationships have allowed us to further implement our acquisitions strategy in New England at a time when the capital markets continue to pose enormous challenges,” says David Levenfeld, co-founder and CEO of StorageOp. “We intend to continue our disciplined growth strategy within our core markets.”The Falmouth facility, located on State Route 28, has 79,495 rentable square feet in five two-story buildings featuring more than 30,000 square feet of climate-controlled space.
The Fairhaven facility has frontage on State Route 240, and consists of 41,500 rentable square feet in six single-story buildings. New ownership will update the Fairhaven facility, including the complete renovation of one of the six storage buildings to convert 6,100 rentable square feet into climate-controlled space. Budget Truck Rental will also be added at Fairhaven.
“We will realize immediate operational synergies by adding these two properties to our existing New England portfolio,” says Ian Burnstein, co-founder and COO. “Our scale allows increasing efficiencies to maximize facility performance at all Storage Pros locations.”
The properties will be rebranded Storage Pros Self Storage, and will be operated by Storage Pros Management LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of StorageOp that also offers third-party self storage property management services.
August 21st, 2009
Sovran Self Storage, Inc. (NYSE:SSS), a self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT), reported operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009.Net income available to common shareholders for the second quarter of 2009 was $6.3 million or $.28 per diluted share. Net income available to common shareholders for the same period in 2008 was $10.5 million or $.48 per diluted share. Funds from operations for the quarter were $.66 per fully diluted common share. One-time costs of almost $1 million associated with a first quarter covenant waiver, higher interest expense associated with the Company’s recent long-term financing, and increased customer move-in incentives were the primary factors leading to lower earnings for 2009’s second quarter.
Occupancy levels at the Company’s 385 storage facilities at June 30 improved to 82.5%, an increase of 360 basis points since March 31. Kenneth Myszka, the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer stated, “In a very challenging environment, we’re pleased to see our marketing and call center efforts take hold. During the quarter, we had a net gain of 9,400 customers on a same store basis, and while we made heavy use of incentives, this got our summer season off to a solid start.”
In early May, the Company announced it had breached a debt covenant with its lenders. David Rogers, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer commented, “During the quarter, we took the necessary steps to fix this problem and to improve our liquidity position. We became even more prudent regarding acquisitions and expansions, reduced the dividend on our common stock, and raised some equity through our DRIP and Stock Purchase Plans. We’ve gained sufficient room concerning the covenant restriction and, at June 30, we have in excess of $60 million in cash and permissible borrowings remaining on our credit line.”
August 8th, 2009
The Council of Insurance Brokers of Greater New York, Inc. (CIB), the leading professional independent insurance brokers association in the New York Metropolitan area, including Long Island and the Lower Hudson Valley, applauds Governor Paterson’s veto of S.3577 (Breslin) / A.4824 (Morelle), a bill to allow the Superintendent of Insurance to issue limited licenses to self-storage facility operators to sell insurance.In thanking the Governor for his disapproval of the bill, CIB President, Anthony Aquilino, said: “CIB was the only major independent insurance broker & agent organization to oppose this bill. We recognized that having untrained counterpersons sell contents coverage would only benefit the self-storage companies. Signing this bill into law would have adversely affected consumers who may already have such insurance coverage under their homeowners or renters policies.”
CIB Legislative Chair, Anthony Calafiore, added that: “CIB has consistently opposed efforts to expand limited licenses to sell insurance. An insurance professional needs to be properly educated and regulated by the State Insurance Department in order to serve the insurance needs of the public. This bill would fly in the face of such pro-consumer protections and would undermine the trust developed between policyholders and their independent brokers.”
August 8th, 2009
Mobile storage business owners are feeling the affects of the recession as are most small businesses around the country. On August 12, 2009, MiniCo Publishing will host a free webinar for mobile storage and self-storage professionals entitled “Three Great Ways to Increase Mobile Business in a Recession.” The webinar will offer tips to help mobile storage business owners identify creative ways to increase their bottom lines during the current recession including the following topics:
· Working with disaster relief organizations
· Long-distance shipping
· Social media mastery for mobile storage operators
James “Dusty” Rhodes, Vice President of Franchise Operations for SMARTBOX; Buck Ramsey, Director of Mobile Storage and Moving Services for Hide-Away Storage; and Derek M. Naylor, President of Storage Marketing Solutions, will be the presenters for the event. The webinar will be moderated by Poppy Behrens, Publisher, MiniCo Publishing, and sponsored by the 2008 Mobile Self-Storage Association annual conference exhibitors and sponsors.
The Mini-Storage Messenger Self-Storage Webinar Series offers informative monthly webinars free of charge to self-storage professionals and other individuals. Registration is required for webinars in this series. Register online at www.ministoragemessenger.com.
MiniCo Publishing, a division of MiniCo, Inc., publishes the “Mini-Storage Messenger,” the leading monthly trade magazine covering the global self-storage industry. Other publications include “Self-Storage Now!,” “Mobile Self-Storage Magazine,” “RV & Boat Storage Today,” “Self‑Storage Canada,” the “Self-Storage Almanac,” the “Self-Storage Development Handbook,” and the “Self‑Storage Buyer’s Guide.”
Since 1974, Phoenix-based MiniCo, Inc. has been a self-storage leader providing superior specialty insurance programs, informative publications and valuable products and services created expressly for the self‑storage industry.
August 6th, 2009
Safeguard Self Storage has expanded its online reservation capabilities by adding online rental and instant online quote capabilities. Smart move in an increasingly competitive environment where consumers are going online to comparison shop. Consider the benefits:
- Instant, online convenience
- Guaranteed availability
- Free lock with online rental
- No credit card required
- Reservation guarantees a specific unit, price and available special for 7 days
- Reservation can easily be converted to a rental on the website
- No commitment required
- Quoted price and available special expires after 7 days
- Can easily be converted to a reservation or rental the website
“At Safeguard, we recognize that people need storage solutions that fit their needs and their lifestyle–and, for a lot of people, that means shopping for and renting a storage unit online. That’s why we have introduced an e-commerce system on our website that allows customer to rent, reserve or simply receive a quote,” says Safeguard’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Linde A. Miscio. “Providing easy-to-use tools and services that helps customers get the information they need to make their storage decisions is what Safeguard is all about and we will continue to look for ways to introduce additional online services.”
August 2nd, 2009
More self-storage transactions are closing… According to CoStar, Granite Investment Group sold the 91,594-square-foot industrial self-storage building at 5951 East Firestone Boulevard in South Gate to Nova Development for $8.57 million, or approximately $94 per square foot. The 1988 property was converted from a warehouse building to self-storage site in 2004. It offers 800 internal units and 82 RV/boat parking spaces outside. The facility is 85 percent occupied.
April 5th, 2009
Despite the credit crunch, self-storage properties are still selling. A private investor sold a 15,200-square-foot Exact Self Storage located in Ocean Shores, Wash., for $1.2 million. Marcus & Millichap’s Seattle office, marketed the property for the seller, a private investor. The storage facility is a 73-unit stabilized self-storage facility located on approximately 0.7 acres and was built in 2003.
April 1st, 2009
On April 8, 2009, self-storage expert RK Kliebenstein, President of Coast-to-Coast Storage, will present the free webinar “How to Make Money in Self-Storage,” part of the Mini‑Storage Messenger Self-Storage Webinar Series. In today’s economy, self-storage operators are looking for strategies to generate more revenue, cut expenses, and increase equity. RK Kliebenstein will share his insights on topics including increasing rents, creating greater value through equity growth, and controlling expenses.
With over 20 years of experience in the self-storage industry, Mr. Kliebenstein is a frequent speaker at industry events and is the co-author of the books “How to Invest in Self-Storage,” “How to Make Money in Self-Storage,” and “How to Make More Money in Self-Storage.” The webinar will be sponsored by Coast-to-Coast Consulting and moderated by Poppy Behrens, Co‑Publisher, MiniCo Publishing.
The Mini-Storage Messenger Self-Storage Webinar Series offers informative monthly webinars free of charge to self-storage professionals and other individuals. For more information or to register, visit www.ministoragemessenger.com. Online registration is required for this free live event.
MiniCo Publishing, a division of MiniCo, Inc., publishes the “Mini-Storage Messenger,” the leading monthly trade magazine covering the global self-storage industry. Other publications include “Self-Storage Now!,” “Mobile Self-Storage Magazine,” “RV & Boat Storage Today,” “Self‑Storage Canada,” the “Self-Storage Almanac,” the “Self-Storage Development Handbook,” and the “Self‑Storage Buyer’s Guide.”
Since 1974, Phoenix-based MiniCo, Inc. has been a self-storage leader providing superior specialty insurance programs, informative publications and valuable products and services created expressly for the self‑storage industry.
March 28th, 2009
Transactions are still happening in the self-storage industry, despite the credit crunch and the possibility of a prolonged recession. Wolf River Partners, a Wisconsin-based management company, acquired a self-storage property at 3815 Clark Ave. in Cleveland from CRZ3 LLC for $1.075 million or $30.71 per square foot. This was a Class C self-storage building that was originally built in 1926. It’s located in the industrial area of the city.
March 27th, 2009
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