MCSS Development & Investment LLC, a joint venture between Rivergate Cos. LLC and SJM Partners Inc. with a focus on self-storage, has promoted Tyler Heckaman to vice president of development. Heckaman joined Rivergate in 2017 as an acquisitions associate, a position he’ll retain. In his new role, he’ll specialize in sourcing and identifying acquisition opportunities, project underwriting, target market research, and data analytics, according to a press release.

Heckaman earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. A native of Miami, he previously served as an intern within the Rivergate family of companies.

The company also recently sold five of its South Florida properties to Jernigan Capital Inc., a merchant bank and advisory firm serving the self-storage industry. MCSS now operates six locations in the state, totaling more than 700,000 square feet.

MCSS was formed to acquire and develop urban-infill self-storage facilities in high-value locations nationwide. The company has 2 million square feet of self-storage in various stages of development and lease-up. Active markets include Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Northern California, South Florida and Washington, D.C. The partners have developed more than 60 storage facilities over the last 25 years.

Rivergate is a real estate holding company that focuses its efforts and resources on active joint-venture partners. The company is led by founder and managing principal Jay Massirman, who has more than 30 years of real estate experience.

SJM has more than 35 of experience in construction, design, development, leasing and management of commercial, residential, retail and self-storage. It has developed 4 million square feet of self-storage in New York and Washington, D.C.

Guardian Storage, which operates 25 self-storage facilities in Colorado and Pennsylvania, is executing a company-wide donation drive through Nov. 30 to support local shelters. The operator is partnering with national nonprofits One Warm Coat and Knock Knock Give a Sock to collect and distribute clean, gently worn coats and new socks of all sizes, which will be accepted at any Guardian location. It’s the first of many initiatives under the company’s new philanthropic program, Guardian Gives, according to a press release.

“We are excited about our upcoming coat and sock drive to help kickoff our Guardian Gives program and hope the community will support us,” said Steven Cohen, Guardian’s founder and president. “There are currently 39 million Americans living in poverty and struggling to pay their bills and support their families, many unable to provide basic essentials like a warm coat and socks. With the help of our partners and local communities, our goal is to provide 2,500 pairs of new socks and 2,500 gently worn coats by the end of the program.”

One Warm Coat distributed more than 500,000 coats across North America last year to children, women and men, said Beth W. Amodio, its CEO and president. “It’s because of our incredible volunteers that so many people receive the gift of warmth each year. The health effects of extreme cold are life-threatening. Thanks to Guardian Storage’s efforts, many people in their surrounding communities will be safe and protected this winter.”

Guardian is also giving back in other ways. Its employees volunteer time and resources to support dozens of community events and nonprofits such as The Education Partnership, Kids in Need Foundation, A Precious Child, local food banks and more. Facilities also host free document-shredding and electronics-recycling events, and offer free conference space to community members. In addition, the operator has a partnership with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to plant community gardens, the release stated.

“Children and families have always been a priority at Guardian,” Cohen said. “We believe strong families come from strong communities. Our new Guardian Gives program will be supported by three major giving pillars: educating our youth, neighbors in need and green communities. We’re introducing Guardian Gives as a way to remind the community that when we come together, positive change can be made.”

Established in Pittsburgh in 1987, Guardian operates 18 locations in the greater Pittsburgh area, with a new property under construction in North Strabane, Pa., and six locations in Colorado.

One Warm Coat is a national nonprofit that provides free jackets to any person in need and raises awareness of the vital need for warm coats. Over the past 27 years, it has worked with volunteers to give away more than 6 million coats.

Founded in 2014, Knock Knock is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Manhattan, N.Y. It received the “2019 Award for Humanitarian Service” from Urban Pathways, which provides services and support to the state’s homeless.

The CEO and founder of Boardwalk Development Group LLC, a private-equity investment company focused on self-storage, received a “2019 Top Entrepreneur Award” last month from the Atlanta chapter of TiE (The IndUS Entrepreneurs) Global, which supports entrepreneurs through funding, mentoring and networking. Rajen Sheth, who’s been with Boardwalk since 2015, and other winners were honored at “TiECON 2019: Built In Atlanta,” an annual conference for entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses, on Sept. 27. The event was held at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia in Dunwoody, Ga., and hosted by the Atlanta CPA Alliance, a provider of accounting, consulting and tax services.

The TiE awards are based on a company’s culture, innovation, leadership, profitability, revenue growth and sustainability. To be considered, recipients must have been in business since 2015 and earned a minimum revenue of $2 million, but no more than $100 million, according to a press release.

“I am truly honored to be awarded TiE Atlanta’s ‘Top Entrepreneurs Award.’ I owe this award to the encouragement I received from my parents, the support of investors, many of whom are TiE charter members, and to the TiE Atlanta organization,” Sheth said. “Without TiE, I would never have had the guts to become an entrepreneur.”

Sheth has 15 years of experience as an owner and manager of commercial real estate assets. In 2007, he founded ValueSpace Storage Fund I, a self-storage investment fund focused on acquiring existing storage assets in Metro Atlanta. The brand was sold in 2015 to SecurCare Self Storage, a participating regional operator of National Storage Affiliates Trust, a self-administered and -managed real estate trust headquartered in Greenwood, Colo.

Sheth was also a founder and managing director of Insight Capital Management LLC where he was responsible for co-managing a value-oriented investment fund focused on investing in stocks of publicly held companies. Prior to that, he founded Infiniti Ventures LLC, a consulting, venture capital and mergers, and acquisitions advisory firm.

Sheth earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and a master’s from the University of Southern California. He served on the board of the Georgia Self Storage Association for three years and is a member of the Real Estate Investment Advisory Council. He’s also a charter member of TiE Atlanta and served as its treasurer in 2007.

TiE Atlanta provides access to funding, educational programming and mentoring by local and global leaders. Since its founding in 1998, it has raised more than $1.5 billion in venture funding for Atlanta-based entrepreneurs who run public and private companies and have generated more than $2 billion from acquisitions. It’s also a top-five chapter of TiE Global, the world’s largest entrepreneur organization with more than 60 chapters in 20 countries and 10,000 members.

Boardwalk is a real estate development, acquisition and management firm based in Suwanee, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. The company owns and operates Boardwalk Storage in the Southeast on behalf of its shareholders.

Source:
Boardwalk Development Group, Website

 

A&A Self Storage, the only female-owned independent storage operator with facilities in Central London, has opened a Regent’s Park location in the northwest of the city that offers “bespoke units,” flexible mini-warehouse space that can be customized to meet individual customer requirements of 250 to 5,000 square feet. The 35,000-square-foot facility can offer up to 450 units, with spaces starting as small as 8 square feet, according to a press release.

Owned by founder and managing director Susie Fabre, this facility is the fourth in the A&A portfolio. It features a monochrome, art-deco design. Amenities include keycoded, 24-hour unit access and individually alarmed units.

“A&A Self Storage is delighted with the launch of our new Regent’s Park store, which will deliver in-demand storage to local residents, businesses and entrepreneurs in the surrounding area,” Sabre said. “As an independent business, we strive to offer a personal service and a genuine mother’s touch that gives our clients an effortless experience in using self-storage facilities … A&A Self Storage can offer flexible and genuine storage solutions.”

Founded 1995, A&A also has self-storage locations in the Kentish Town, Kings Cross and Watford areas of London. Its portfolio comprises more than 125,000 square feet of rentable space.

Source:
Bdaily News, London's 'First and Only' Female-Owned Self Storage Provider Opens New Camden Site

Update 10/9/19 – Overland Park officials have struck an agreement with Sky Real Estate on new deadlines for the Metcalf Crossing mixed-use project. The developer is required to clear the vacant hotels off the site by Nov. 30, and redevelopment work must begin by February. The self-storage facility, which is slated to be built off Marty Lane, must be complete by December 2020, according to the source. The city council approved the new deadlines on Monday.

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9/11/19 – Overland Park officials are becoming cautious of changes to the Metcalf Crossing mixed-use project. Since the original proposal was made more than a year ago, the size of the self-storage facility has grown to 114,000 square feet and the office to 14,250 square feet. The city council has voiced frustration over the direction of the proposal and this week balked at replacing the original retail components with a five-bay Charlie’s Car Wash. It delayed a decision on the development until Oct. 7, according to the source.

Council members appear unhappy that the plan is moving further from city’s desire for pedestrian-friendly, walkable areas. During a meeting on Monday, some officials voiced doubt that the office component would ever be built.

“I’m very, very, very disappointed,” councilmember David White said in addressing the developer. “I have absolutely no confidence the office will ever get built. I think you’re going to dumb it down and essentially going to put an industrial area right next to a residential area. That’s not what we promised those people.”

“I just can’t see an office tenant moving into a building that’s next to a storage facility and a car wash,” added councilmember Paul Lyons. “Had I known that this was going to go down this path, I would not have supported the [tax-increment financing].”

Demolition of the existing hotel structures was originally scheduled to begin later this month, but city staff indicated that appears unlikely, the source reported.

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4/19/18 – Overland Park officials have scheduled a public hearing on June 4 to give residents the opportunity to comment on the special sales tax and redevelopment plan connected to the Metcalf Crossing self-storage, hotel and retail project. Among the topics discussed will be the Community Improvement District (CID), which would initiate a 1 percent sales tax within a defined geographic area, according to the source.

The CID would be set up as a “pay-as-you-go” system for development costs. The tax would be collected over 22 years, the source reported.

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3/23/18 – The Overland Park City Council has approved the rezoning and special-use permit required for the $39 million Metcalf Crossing project to move forward. A final review and vote must still be held before the existing hotel structures can be razed and replaced by the mixed-use development. Though city officials view the project favorably, multiple council members expressed some apprehension toward the business uses, including the self-storage facility, which is expected to be constructed first, according to the source.

The council also voted to designate the site a tax-increment financing district to help Sky Real Estate cover some expenses. The district is expected to provide about $2.6 million to pay upfront for demolition, land acquisition and site preparation, the source reported. A special, 1 percent sales-tax district designed to raise another $3 million in public financing will be discussed at a later date.

Despite their apprehension about the mix of businesses, council members acknowledged the project will be a welcome improvement to a site riddled with crime and vandalism. Councilmember Curt Skoog called the property an “open wound.” Between 2010 and mid-2016, nearly 7,000 incoming police calls were related to activity on the property, according to a study commissioned by Sky Real Estate. Of those calls, 238 arrests were made, mostly for drug-related crimes and traffic warrants. The hotels had nine times the arrests of others in the city.

“I think that since it is a safety concern, we should be investing in this area,” said councilmember Gina Burke. “I just hope that we get the entire project and not just the storage facility.” Fellow councilor Dave White also said he wasn’t “looking forward to only having a storage facility.”

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1/10/18 – The Overland Park Planning Commission recommended approval on Monday for Sky Real Estate’s mixed-use project. The 77,250-square-foot storage facility is expected to be built north of the 108-room hotel. The permitting process is anticipated to extend through the spring, with a ground-breaking in the summer, according to the source.

The retail-center component of the project is expected to comprise 8,600 square feet, while the sit-down restaurant and fast-food eatery are planned for 5,600 and 2,500 square feet, respectively.

“This is one of the most troubled sites in Overland Park,” Korb Maxwell, an attorney representing the developer, told the commission. “So, bringing forward a bright new future for it that has development like you see here—first-class, high-quality, modern, class-A retail, hotel and storage—seems like an excellent use given its location.”

Commissioner Mike Flanagan was among the planners who agreed with Maxwell’s assessment, calling the site “one of the key intersections in the city” that’s needed “some improvement for many years.”

A request by Sky Real Estate for tax-increment finance and community-improvement district incentives is expected to be reviewed by the city council’s Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee on Jan. 31.

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10/11/2017 – Developer Wes Grammer of Sky Real Estate LLC submitted a proposal last week to build a mixed-use project in Overland Park, Kans., that will comprise self-storage, a hotel, and retail and restaurants. The plans for the property at 7240 Shawnee Mission Parkway include demolition of an existing Ramada Inn, according to the source.

The three-story storage facility facing 62^nd Street would comprise 25,750 square feet. It would be east of a four-story hotel, which would face Shawnee Mission Parkway. An additional three structures, ranging in size from 5,000 to 6,100 square feet, would be placed along the southern edge of the parcel.

The storage facility will require a zoning change. Icon Architecture and engineering firm Olsson Associates have been contracted to work on the proposal, which will be heard by the Overland Park Planning Commission next month, the source reported.

Last spring, Sky Real Estate filed a zoning request for another self-storage project in the state. Grammer faced opposition to converting an empty warehouse in the River Market neighborhood of Kansas City, Kan. The property at 417 Grand Blvd. sits on a corner across from the Arabia Steamboat Museum and east of the historic City Market, a farmer’s market that also contains restaurants and retailers.

The former chief development officer for Legacy Development, Grammer is also converting the seven-story American Electric Co. building in St. Joseph, Kan., to 140 apartments.

Sources:
KSHB, Overland Park Approves Non-Discrimination Ordinance, Development Agreement
Shawnee Mission Post, Overland Park Officials Sour on Plans for Metcalf Site Once Touted as Textbook Case for Tax Incentives
Shawnee Mission Post, Overland Park Sets Public Hearing on Community Improvement District Sales Tax for Metcalf Crossing
Shawnee Mission Post, Overland Park Council Advances Proposal to Redevelop ‘Open Wound’ Property at Metcalf and Shawnee Mission Pkwy
Shawnee Mission Post, Overland Park Planning Commission Advances Mixed-Use Plan for Former Shawnee Mission Parkway Ramada Site
Shawnee Mission Post, Developer Files Proposal for New Hotel, Storage and Retail on the site of Overland Park Ramada

In reviewing self-storage rental agreements, I frequently see a line asking the tenant to list “authorized users” of the unit. When I press facility operators about this, they say they it’s because they only allow one named occupant on the rental agreement, but when they rent to spouses, significant others or families, everyone wants equal access to the space. Authorized access becomes their solution for offering entry to more than one person.

Permitting only one tenant to sign the rental agreement isn’t the problem. In fact, there are good reasons for that. Collecting the names of others who are authorized to have access, on the other hand, implies you perform a service you don’t actually provide, which could lead to a misunderstanding or lawsuit between you and your renter.

What do I mean? Allowing for authorized access to the unit suggests you’re the gatekeeper to the space. It’s like saying you check all the people coming and going from the facility every day to make sure only the customer and his authorized persons are entering his unit. Unless you have some sign in/out procedure to get into a building, this simply isn’t the case.

Further, by asking for the names of authorized users, you’re inferring that you’ll prevent anyone who isn’t approved from entering the unit. In reality, with today’s access-control and automation technology, you aren’t personally checking who’s coming and going. Also, your gate hours may exceed attended office hours. How are you ensuring only authorized parties are entering when there are no employees on site?

Finally, what are you willing to do for authorized parties? Do you cut the lock if they want into the unit and don’t have a key? When you allow tenants to name authorized users, you’re indicating that you’ll get those people into the unit upon request. This is where confusion can cause lawsuits.

Duty of Loyalty

This all comes down to contract law. One party agrees with another to have some relationship between them. In your case, you’re accepting rent in exchange for allowing a certain person to use a portion of your facility. That person, the tenant, should be the only one to whom you owe a duty of responsibility.

By allowing authorized access, you divide that duty of loyalty. If you’ve ever dealt with a couple going through a divorce, you know the awkward position you’re in when each party makes demands on you instead of fighting with each other. This happens daily at self-storage facilities when a tenant ends a relationship, as the now estranged parties often share a unit.

Now, because you’ve collected the name of a person or people who are authorized to access, you’ll find yourself faced with that former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend demanding you allow him/her into the unit because “you know” they’re supposed to have access. We also see domestic-relations attorneys threatening storage operators with contempt of court if he allows one party in and not the other because of mutual restraining orders issued at the beginning of many divorce cases. When you only have a duty of loyalty to one party, this ceases to be an issue.

Simple Solution

Self-storage is a relatively simple business—until we do things to screw it up. Authorized access is one of the things we do to complicate it.

The solution is to abolish the term “authorized access” from your rental agreement. Don’t represent that you’re the gatekeeper, that you have the ability to let people in if they don’t have keys or a gate code, or you control who comes and goes from the unit.

The easy answer to that husband and wife who want to rent a unit together is, “We only allow one occupant to sign the rental agreement; however, this is a lock with three keys. As long as you know the gate code and have a copy of the key, you can come and go equally.” This simple solution avoids an enormous amount of unexpected, uncompensated liability to you. It leaves you with a duty of loyalty to only one tenant per unit.

Finally, don’t confuse authorized access with alternate contact. I’m all in favor of collecting alternate contact information, even if it isn’t required by your state statute. I steer away from the term “emergency contact” because some tenants claim that nonpayment of rent doesn’t qualify as an emergency. They then say we’ve violated their privacy when we send said contact a copy of the default notice. Instead, refer to these as “alternate contacts” and define it in the rental agreement on the grounds that you can contact the alternate, so there’s no misunderstanding.

This column is for the purpose of providing general legal insight into the self-storage field and shouldn’t be substituted for the advice of your own attorney.

Jeffrey J. Greenberger is a partner in the Cincinnati law firm of Greenberger & Brewer LLP. Licensed to practice in Kentucky and Ohio, he focuses primarily on representing the owners and operators of commercial real estate, including self-storage. His website, selfstoragelegal.com, contains legal opinions and insights as well as an article archive. To reach him, call 513.698.9350; e-mail [email protected].

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Update 10/8/19 – Storage Giant is receiving its third award of 2019, now being recognized as the “Best Domestic Storage Provider 2019 South Wales” in the Build Real Estate & Property Awards by “Build” magazine, a quarterly digital publication dedicated to the global construction and property markets. The award showcases firms and individuals who’ve shown “excellence and tenacity in ensuring their clients find and fabricate their dream homes and properties,” according to its website.

Voting for this year’s campaign opened on Jan. 7 and closed on Aug. 30. The online nominations came from magazine subscribers, website visitors, social media followers and clients, and nominees were then asked to submit supporting material to the judges for further consideration. The “Build” research team gathered information independently from publicly available sources and assessed all the material. Final judgment is based on client dedication, innovation, business growth, longevity, online reputation, client feedback and business performance, the website stated.

“I’m very pleased to see Storage Giant recognized in the Build Real Estate & Property Awards, hot on the heels of two international award wins earlier this year, from Acquisitions International,” Williams said. “Storage Giant is going through a very exciting period of growth, mostly through development of its own stores, but also sometimes via carefully selected acquisitions. We have acquired various self-storage businesses over the last few years, but we much prefer to develop our own stores, as we learn so much from each one [that] we develop.”

Williams called Storage Giant’s success a lesson for other entrepreneurs, who shouldn’t be discouraged from following their instincts during times of uncertainty. “With careful business planning, smart use of technology, an agile business approach, and a sharp customer focus, fledgling businesses can thrive,” he said.

Over the past year, Storage Giant has focused on expanding existing facilities, including its locations in Bristol, Cannock and Telford, England; and Swansea, Wales.

“Build” is part of AI Global Media, a business-to-business digital-publishing house launched in 2010.

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2/27/19 – Storage Giant Ltd., which operates nine self-storage facilities in the United Kingdom, received two Business Excellence Awards from “Acquisitions International,” a monthly digital-business magazine. The company won in the “Best Commercial & Domestic Self-Storage Facilities 2019 - England & Wales” and “Small Business of the Year 2019” categories. The awards recognize impressive, growing businesses worldwide, according to a press release.

“I’m very pleased to see Storage Giant recognized by the Acquisitions International Awards. The company has always been a labor of love for me, and I am proud to be a local employer in the Midlands, Oxfordshire, Wales and across Britain,” said Storage Giant founder Simon Williams. “Businesses across the U.K. are working hard to create stable, useful, profitable firms [that] add value to the local economy and create employment within their communities, and it is pleasing to be recognized as one of these in an international forum.”

In addition to self-storage, Storage Giant provides office space. The company has new sites under development in Kingswinford and Oldbury, West Midlands, England, and a mixed-use retail scheme under construction in Bristol, England. It plans to develop 11 more storage facilities by 2020. Storage Giant is also adding 47,770 square feet of self-storage to five of its properties.

“The Storage Giant Story is one of steady, managed growth, and I remain ambitious for its continued success,” Williams said. “I established the firm at a time of economic uncertainty in the U.K., but the success of Storage Giant shows that with careful business planning, smart use of technology, an agile business approach, and a sharp customer focus, obstacles can be overcome and business can thrive.

Over the last eight years, Storage Giant has delivered an average annual year-on-year increase of 28.4 percent revenue and 31.3 percent EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), according to Simon. The revenue forecast exceeds £5 million over the next 12 months, the release stated.

Founded in 2007, Storage Giant is based in Newport, Wales. It operates four self-storage facilities in England and five in Wales.

Source:
South Wales Argus, Newport’s Storage Giant Wins a Pair of International Business Awards

 

JD.com Inc., a China-based online retailer, has launched a valet self-storage service in Beijing. Jingxiaocang, operated by company affiliate JD Logistics, will allow customers to manage their storage experience, including item pickup and delivery, through the JD Express Delivery mini-program on the WeChat mobile app. Though currently limited to the local market, additional cities such as Guangzhou and Shanghai are expected to be added, according to the source.

Jingxiaocang targets residential and commercial customers, offering short- and long-term storage options. The service will make use of JD.com’s existing network of fulfillment warehouses, though the company also plans to develop “specialized, temporary warehouses based on different categories of goods” and needs, such as clothing, document storage and wine storage, the source reported. JD.com maintains a network of approximately 600 warehouses comprising more than 15 million square meters, according the company website.

“The new service has been launched in response to clear market demand for convenient and reliable storage services,” company officials said in a Sept. 30 blog post. “JD has seen demand for storage solutions rise exponentially, particularly as rents in China’s first- and second-tier cities continue to increase every year. This is in contrast to many personal storage providers in China, which typically have to partner with third parties, such as real estate companies, and therefore struggle to provide a convenient and high-quality service.”

“JD is known among Chinese customers for reliability, trust and speed,” added Bing Fu, head of strategy and innovation at JD Logistics. “Initial customer feedback shows us that consumers are excited about this service, and [we] believe it can fill an unmet need in the storage market.”

JD Logistics uses its parent company’s advanced technology platform to offer supply-chain and logistics services to businesses across a wide range of industries. Among the company’s innovations is a fully automated business-to-consumer warehouse in Shanghai and a “smart store” in Indonesia powered by artificial intelligence. “We are currently developing our own drones delivery and automatic delivery robots,” according to the company website.

JD.com is China’s largest online retailer and its biggest overall retailer, as well as the country’s biggest Internet company by revenue, according to the website. It offers everything from fresh food and apparel to electronics and cosmetics. Its nationwide fulfillment network covers 99 percent of China’s population.

Sources:
Capital Watch, JD Launches New Self-Service Storage
JD.com Corporate Blog, JD Expands Open Logistics With New Storage Service