Rare items belonging to legendary orchestra leader Guy Lombardo have been locked inside two self-storage units in South Fort Myers, Fla., for about 40 years even though his family would like the items to be archived and put on public display. The family has been unable to agree on or find a suitable person or entity to care for the collection, which includes about 100 manila envelopes stuffed with original band orchestrations handwritten by Lombardos brother Carmen; about 40 boxes of 35-millimeter film reels; and several large reels of 16-millimeter film containing episodes of the bands television show, which aired in the 1950s.

Before Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest, the man most associated with New Years Eve celebrations was Lombardo, who formed a band partnership with his three brothers, Carmen, Victor and Lebert. Earning the nickname Mr. New Years Eve, Lombardo became synonymous with the holiday when the orchestra entertained radio and television audiences annually between 1928 and 1977. The band first appeared on radio in 1928 and on television beginning in 1956. Lombardo is credited with popularizing Auld Lang Syne as the New Years signature tune.

After Lombardos death in 1977, the legacy and rights to the orchestras music and memorabilia passed from brother to brother, according to the source. The last surviving brother, Lebert, died in 1993. At that time, all rights to the orchestra were passed on to Leberts three children, none of whom are in the music business.

Leberts daughter, Gina Lombardo, has spearheaded efforts to find a new home for the storage items but said the process has been difficult. Discussions between interested parties and the family have stalled, the source reported.

Part of the problem has been determining if the items should remain together as an archived collection or separated, Gina said. There has been some discussion about putting the items on loan to a university, but the family is unsure if they should go to a academic institution in the United States or Canada. Guy Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, but became a U.S. citizen in 1938.

Most of the people who have contacted Gina Lombardo about the items are primarily interested in typical celebrity memorabilia like awards, she said.

U-Haul International recently purchased six self-storage facilities in the United States and a warehouse in Canada that will be converted to self-storage. The facilities total more than 356,700 square feet of net rentable space in more than 2,000 storage units with additional vehicle-parking spaces.

The acquired facilities are in Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The warehouse is in Ajax, Ontario. No financial terms were disclosed.

The acquisitions include:

• 301 Robins W. Parkway, Warner Robins, Ga.Formerly The Spare Room Storage, the property is on a 4.2-acre lot and includes 12 one-story buildings. It comprises more than 70,000 square feet of net rentable self-storage and in more than 430 storage units.
• 239 Station St., Ajax, Ontario, Canada.The 38,400-square-foot warehouse currently has truck rentals and U-Box pods, and will soon offer self-storage services.
• 409 Highway 9 S., Marlboro, N.J.The facility encompasses 60,640 square feet in five two-story buildings and four one-story buildings with 487 units, 37 of which are climate-controlled. There are also two one-story buildings with 14,595 net square feet of retail space available for rent.
• 4101 Pepsi Place, Chantilly, Va.The 66,412-square-foot block building is a former Pepsi bottling plant. Then 9.27-acre property features a one-story building with six dock-high doors and 20-foot to 25-foot ceilings. Currently, the property will be leased from the previous owner following a close of escrow no later than Dec. 31, 2014.
• 2990 S. 20th St., PhiladelphiaThe property features 14 one-story buildings containing 752 self-storage units in 63,900 net rentable square feet. The property also has 18 RV-parking spaces.
• 2175-2185 South Road, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.The former La-Z-Boy furniture property encompasses 6.99 acres with two single-story block buildings totaling 33,370 square feet of net rentable self-storage.
• 3307 U.S. Highway 17-92 W., Haines City, Fla.Formerly Century Self Storage, the property consists of five one-story buildings and one two-story building containing an office and manager's apartment. The facility offers 387 storage units as well as boat- and RV-parking spaces. The 57,375 feet of net rentable space is on 6 acres.

Established in 1945, U-Haul has more than 36 million square feet of storage space at more than 1,000 owned and managed facilities throughout North America.

Update 1/2/14 The Tournament of Roses Parade float entered by self-storage real estate investment trust Public Storage Inc. won the Grand Marshals Trophy for excellence in creative concept and design. The parade took place yesterday in Pasadena, Calif.

Called Adventures in Space, the float appeared to television viewers and parade attendees as a single structure with three aliens traveling aboard a spaceship. However, the top of the spaceship opened 45 feet into the air revealing the aliens were driving three individual vehicles. During the parade, all three alien floats drove down a ramp descending from the front of the primary float and re-boarded the mother ship from a ramp at the rear of the float. It was the first time a float disassembled and reassembled as part of the parade, Public Storage officials said in a press release.

Each piece of the float also represented a letter in an alien alphabet. When assembled on the mother ship's control board, the letters spelled out a secret message that was decoded as Well Treat Your Stuff Like Its Our Stuff!, which is a company slogan. That particular animation earned Public Storage one of only two extended airtimes during the two-hour broadcast.

Photos of the float are viewable on the companys blog post, Public Storage Float Photos: Behind the Scenes.

The float was designed by Charles Meier and built by Paradiso Floats. Meier developed the concept for the float 20 years ago while he was still in high school. The theme for this years Rose Parade was Dreams Come True.

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12/27/13 For the first time ever, self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) Public Storage will enter a float into the annual Rose Parade (officially the Tournament of Roses Parade), held in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1. The event boasts more than 40 million U.S. viewers, who in 2014 will see the Public Storage 45,000-pound float titled "Adventures in Space," which features three fun-loving aliens.

A rendering can be viewed at huertaquorum.com. Real-life photos are available on the blog post, "Public Storage's Rose Parade Float Is a Labor of Love." 

The creation of the float is a company-wide effort, with employees from 33 regional offices decorating a section that will be shipped to Pasadena. Public Storage has 5,000 employees in 39 states.

Each piece of the float represents a letter in an alien alphabet that employees decorated with flowers. When assembled on the mother ship's control board, the letters spell out a secret message that will lead three whimsical aliens to arrive at the parade on New Year's Day. The message will be discovered as the float's animation unfolds. This still-secret animation has earned Public Storage one of only two extended airtimes in the two-hour, five-mile-long parade.

The colorful float will feature chopped gold petals, 200 pounds of red lentils, 13,000 lime green button chrysanthemums and 52,000 carnations in a variety of neon hues, according to the Public Storage blog. Approximately 10,000 roses will be used on the skirt of the spaceship including varieties such as Hot Lady, Topaz, Star 2000, Miracle, Voodoo, Super Green, High & Magic and Cool Water. Each rose must be placed in an individual water vial, the company said. Several hundred green apples, half oranges and purple cabbages will also provide whimsical accents. More than 200 gallons of glue will be used to hold it all together.

Started in 1890, the Rose Parade is a festival of flower-covered floats, marching bands, equestrians and the Rose Bowl college football game. It takes place on Jan. 1 unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case it takes place on Jan. 2. It is produced by the non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.

Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed REIT that primarily acquires, develops, owns and operates self-storage facilities. The company has interests in more than 2,110 self-storage facilities in 38 states with approximately 135 million net rentable square feet. It also has 188 facilities in seven European countries operating under the Shurgard brand name.

OpenTech Alliance Inc., a Phoenix-based provider of self-serve kiosks, call-center services and other technology for the self-storage industry, has released a new version of its Web/mobile rental and payment solution. Called INSOMNIAC Online V2, the cloud-based service features a new pay-per-rental pricing model.

The new version is designed to help self-storage operators present an easy-to-use online method for customers to rent a unit or submit a payment, company officials said in a press release. Enhancements include a simple user interface, real-time inventory-control settings and sales features, dynamic lease creation, channel-specific pricing, coupon codes, and customizable survey questions.

The new inventory and sales features will enable facility owners to strategically market available units by size, type, price or level of occupancy, OpenTech officials said. The dynamic-lease-creation function collects specific information for addendums/waivers that are incorporated into a customers final lease package.

Other additions include social media reviews, insurance and protection policies, the ability for customers to pre-order retail merchandise online to be picked up at the facility, an auto-pay option, and delivery of access codes configured for specific gate time zones.

"From an online shopper's perspective, when they enter a facility's Web/mobile site, it is the same as if they entered the front door of the facility office, except they may be in their underwear, said Robert Chiti, president and CEO. Not having a way for them to do what they came there to do, such as rent a unit, may cause them to move on to a competitor's online office. I am not saying everyone wants to rent a storage unit online without visiting the property, but there are some people that buy cars, shoes, jewelry and even find their soul mate online. These people do it all online, so renting a storage unit will seem pretty natural to them."

The INSOMNIAC Online V2 service integrates with property-management software and access-control systems operators may already be using. The cost of the service is $25 per rental.

OpenTech provides several models of INSOMNIAC self-serve kiosks as well as a range of self-storage rental solutions including the INSOMNIAC Live! Call Center, INSOMNIAC Online Web and mobile applications, LiveAgent! software products, and the INSOMNIAC ILock Security System, all available through the company's Self-Storage Cloud.

By Mark de Stefanis

Usually anything that occurs on Friday the 13th is associated with bad luck. Now, lets spice it up by telling you its an IRS announcement. However, this is good news for self-storage owners.

In September, the IRS issued the long-awaited Final Tangible Property Regulations. The complex set of regulations provides self-storage owners the opportunity to write off certain repairs, improvements and routine maintenance. Furthermore, a proposed set of regulations were also issued that allow a write-off equal to the adjusted basis of retired assets. As we revise our systems to accommodate the new rules, taxpayers can transition without fear of an IRS challenge for the next two years.

The new regulations are part of a process that started more than six years ago to align court decisions with treasury regulations. They were effective as of Jan. 1, 2014, and include a number of safe harbors that allow taxpayers to deduct costs that meet certain criteria, protect against audit scrutiny and reduce capital gains taxes. None of the new rules modify the benefits associated with a taxpayers ability to accelerate depreciation on improvements using a cost-segregation study.

De Minimis Safe Harbor Election

A de minimis safe harbor has been established for all costs paid to acquire, produce or improve a unit of real or personal tangible property up to maximum of $500 per item (taxpayer without audited financial statements). This safe harbor can be used for the purchase of a computer, printer, cash register, tablets or other costs that improve a unit of property as long as the item does not exceed the maximum threshold.

If the taxpayer is a self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) for which an audited financial statement is required, the benefit soars to a write-off of $5,000 per item. There's no limit to the aggregate amount that can be deducted. Caution: If you elect to capitalize and depreciate the costs, you may incur unnecessary capital gain taxes.

Routine Maintenance Safe Harbor

Under the new regulations, an amount paid for routine maintenance on a building is deductible if its recurring and anticipated over a 10-year period to keep the building structure or system in ordinary efficient operating condition. Routine maintenance activities include inspection, cleaning and testing of the building structure or each building system, and the replacement of damaged or worn parts with comparable and commercially available replacement parts. Activities are routine only if the taxpayer reasonably expects to perform them more than once during a 10-year period. Factors to be considered while determining whether maintenance is routine include the recurring nature of the activity, industry practice, manufacturers recommendations and the taxpayers experience with similar or identical property.

No matter how well the facility is laid out with posted warning signs, pavement directional arrows and pipe bollards placed in high-risk areas, buildings still get hit, doors are dinged, partitions become dented and replacement parts are required. Prior to the issuance of the new regulations, each time a self-storage owner replaced a panel or door, he had to capitalize and depreciated the property over a 39-year period. Now, if he can support that these purchases are routine due to the nature of the replacement, the costs may be deducted.

Small Taxpayer Safe Harbor

A small taxpayer is able to deduct building repairs, maintenance and improvements up to the lesser of $10,000 or 2 percent of the adjusted basis of the buildings For example, a five-year-old facility that originally cost $1 million has an adjusted basis of $17,400.

• 39-year period minus 5 years = 34
• 34 divided by 39 = .87
• 1,000,000 multiplied by .87 = $870,000
• 2% of $870,000 = $17,400

Of note, if the taxpayer has more than one facility in the legal entity structure, he may split up the properties and potentially double the safe-harbor amount.

If the taxpayer spends more than maximum allowed, hes not eligible. This safe harbor will prove to be useful if the amount spent is greater than the maximum threshold under the De Minimis Safe Harbor Election rule of $500 and the taxpayer does not qualify for the Routine Maintenance Safe Harbor.  

Qualifying Partial Disposition

If the taxpayer needs to replace a major component such as a roof or HVAC system, the proposed regulations allow him to write off the adjusted basis of the qualifying property. In the past, we were required to depreciate both the new and old components for the remaining life (up to 39 years). By taking the write-off immediately, youll reduce your taxable income and have more money on hand for the replacement.

Also, all costs associated with the removal of the legacy roof or HVAC system do not require capitalization since they dont enhance the value of the replacement. There are specific procedures and elections that must be followed in terms of identifying the basis of the retired property, which your accountant must follow.

Cost Segregation

Cost segregation has long been used by self-storage owners as a competitive advantage. The benefit of a properly completed cost-segregation study will translate into a significant reduction in federal and state income taxes.

Self-storage facilities make ideal candidates for cost-segregation studies due to the vast amount of site work. Improvements such as paving, sidewalks, storm-water drainage, curbing, fencing, etc., are specifically identified as a separate asset category with a reduced life (15 years) compared to a building, which is recovered over 39 years. Furthermore, there are other systems that can be depreciated over five- and seven-year periods, such as site lighting, movable partitions, security, access gates, computerized locking or alarm systems, etc.

The IRS encourages owners to use cost segregation by allowing them to modify the recovery period through the automatic-change procedure. The best thing about this is it allows the taxpayer to claim catch-up depreciation. This is the depreciation that could have been claimed in prior years had cost segregation been used since the original placed in-service date.

How much can you save with cost segregation? An owner of a 45,000-square-foot, single-story facility with depreciable costs of $62 per square foot (total of $2,790,000) can expect as much as 30 percent to be allocated to shorter recovery periods (15, seven and five years) instead of recovering the entire amount over 39 years. The tax affected reclassification is discounted at 6 percent, which yields a benefit of $130,000 over 15 years. The $130,000 represents additional investment income as a result of the deferment of taxes.

A brief discussion with your accountant could unlock the tremendous benefits available under the new and existing regulations. Doing it improperly may be costly.

Mark de Stefanis is president of Construction Cost Recovery Inc., headquartered in White Plains, N.Y. The firm specializes in such services as cost segregation with a focus on self-storage. To reach him, call 914.740.1995; visit www.ccrtaxaudit.com .