Compass Self Storage, a member of the Amsdell family of companies, has acquired Safe & Secure Self Storage in Ft. Worth, Texas. It’s the company’s seventh location in the Dallas/Fort Worth market, according to a press release. The site was purchased by separate affiliates of Amsdell Group LLC and Compass Self Storage LLC and will be rebranded under the Compass name.

The property at 8500 S. Hulen St. comprises more than 68,000 net rentable square feet in climate-controlled and drive-up units. It includes access-controlled entry, truck rentals, and a retail center that sells moving and packing supplies.

"Our newest self-storage center offers our new residential and business customers easy access, security, and all of the moving supplies they would need for an easy moving and storing experience,” said Todd Amsdell, president. “We are proud to expand the Compass footprint further in this market, and always strive to make moving and storing with Compass Self Storage an easy process.”

Compass also recently opened a new facility in Sewickley, Pa. The property at 2404 Nicholson Road comprises more than 51,688 net rentable square feet of storage space in climate-controlled and drive-up units.

Headquartered in Cleveland, the Amsdell Cos. draws its roots from the family-owned construction company founded in 1928. Since its inception, the company has been active in several billions of dollars of real estate ventures, with a primary focus on self-storage. It has owned and operated more than 500 storage centers under various trade names in more than 27 states. It currently owns and operates properties in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

Live Oak Bank, which includes a self-storage lending division, has launched an online “Knowledge Bank” to supply general finance information for industry operators. Accessible from the self-storage page of the company’s website, the resource provides insight and tools on how to finance, manage and succeed as a business owner, according to a press release. Once registered, users have free access to lending case studies, videos and a loan brochure.

“The Knowledge Bank provides owners and operators the tools to create a thriving business,” said Terry Campbell, general manager of the company’s self-storage team. “We want to provide financing to those who exhibit a keen interest in self-storage while also giving them an opportunity to advance their expertise in the industry."

Founded in 2008 and based in Wilmington, N.C., Live Oak originally focused on lending to veterinarians before expanding to other healthcare-related industries and specialty areas such as self-storage. The bank provides small-business loans for acquisitions, new construction, refinancing and other real estate loans. Since launching its self-storage division in 2015, Live Oak has issued 150 loans to storage operators, the release stated.

 

Update 11/20/17 – Storage Pros Northborough has purchased a second Stor/Gard facility in the city for $2.7 million, also from SGI-Northboro. The facility at 160 Otis St. is near Massachusetts Route 9. It was last assessed at $1.7 million, and was sold in 2005 for $1.5 million, according to the source. The site will also be managed by CubeSmart and branded under its name.

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11/6/17 – Storage Pros Northborough, a division of Storage Pros Management LLC (SPM), which owns or manages 19 facilities in six states, has acquired Stor/Gard Self Storage in Northborough, Mass., a Boston suburb, for $6.3 million. The seller was SGI-Northboro LLC. The 81,000-square-foot property at 241 S.W. Cutoff sits on 6 acres on a major commercial roadway across from Northborough Crossing, an open-air shopping center atop a scenic hilltop, just off Massachusetts Route 9 and U.S. Route 20.   It was last assessed at $4.2 million, and sold in 1999 for $285,000, according the source.

The facility will be managed by self-storage real estate investment trust CubeSmart and branded under its name, according to a press release.

“We see significant value-add opportunity with this acquisition, in terms of physical and operational improvements, and market exposure, as well as by growing our Southern New England footprint,” said SPM CEO David Levenfeld. “The property had been operated on a standalone basis, and will now benefit from the revenue maximization, marketing and expense control facets of our platform, including our third-party management partnership with CubeSmart.”

Founded in 2007, SPM operates self-storage facilities in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Its portfolio consists of more than 1 million square feet of storage space.

It’s a reality in the self-storage industry that customers will sometimes simply abandon their property. Such an abandonment can take many forms. If a tenant is unable or unwilling to pay his bill, he might:

• Remove what he wants from the unit and leave the rest behind
• Forego any recovery of the property
• Sign an abandonment and release of his rights to the property in lieu of going to lien sale

In each of these situations, the facility operator is left holding the bag, responsible for managing the proper disposal of the abandoned property. Here are some procedures you should follow to prevent this from happening, or if it does, to legally empty the unit.

Cleaning Deposit

One way to deter tenants from leaving property behind is to assess a cleaning deposit during the rental process. The amount can be as much one month’s rent, which can only be recovered if the tenant cleans out his space at the end of the lease. Surprisingly, a deposit has a high level of success in motivating tenants not to only clean out their units but to properly notify the operator of their intended departure.

Contract Provision

It’s important to address the possibility of an abandonment in your facility’s rental agreement. Although some tenants will tell you they’re abandoning the property, many don’t, so it’s important to have a fallback. Your lease should include some type of language to address the issue of abandonment and what will happen, such as:

This agreement shall automatically terminate if the occupant abandons the space. The occupant shall be deemed to have abandoned the space if the occupant has removed the contents of the space and/or has removed the occupant’s locking device from the space and is not current in all obligations hereunder. Abandonment shall allow the owner to remove all contents of the space for disposal. Occupant hereby waives and releases any claims or actions against owner for disposal of personal property resulting from occupant’s abandonment.

The issue of tenant abandonment is of such importance that many state statutes are getting into the act of addressing the situation as part of the operator’s statutory rights. For example, Massachusetts provides for the following:

Pursuant to Section 105R:9, in the case of an abandoned storage space, the operator shall have the right to take possession of the storage space after 14 days and dispose of any personal property in the storage space by any means so long as the operator has attempted to contact the occupant on two separate days, at least three days apart or, if unsuccessful, has attempted to contact the secondary or emergency contact, if one was provided, to discern whether the storage space is abandoned.

The Maine statute also provides a remedy:

“Abandoned lease space" means a leased space that the operator finds unlocked and empty or unlocked and containing personal property with a value less than $750, or a leased space possession of and all rights to which and any personal property within which have been surrendered to the operator by the occupant.

How to Proceed?

Unfortunately, without a clear written notice from a tenant or statutory permission, you can be left in a quandary when you find a unit for which payment hasn’t been made and in which some property remains. Can you dispose of the goods? Should you initiate the lien process? Are the remnants just “junk”? This becomes a business challenge.

Whenever there’s uncertainty about whether a unit’s contents have been abandoned, the simple answer is to proceed with statutory remedy to sell the contents via your lien rights. But when you discover property in the unit that has no perceived value, such as empty boxes or bags of garbage, it’s often appropriate to simply dispose of the trash. If you choose to take this option, you must photograph the unit and create an inventory of the items to avoid later claims that the unit was filled with valuable goods.

Business Records

The complication of dealing with business files found in storage units is completely different from the scenario in which an individual tenant has stored his own personal files and gone into default. You have no specific duty to individual tenants who assume the risk of loss to their own files when their unit goes into lien.

However, the rules are different when the tenant is a business storing records—commonly referred to as third-party records—on behalf of its customers, patients and clients. It’s in these situations that you must be ready to handle the property differently from a typical delinquent unit.

The concern about third-party records has been addressed over the last few years in legislative changes. For example, in Arizona and Nevada, it’s now required that self-storage operators include in their rental agreements a provision whereby tenants disclose if they’re storing any “protected property.” This is defined as “Documents, film or electronic data that contain personal information, such as Social Security numbers, credit or debit card information, bank-account information, passport information, and medical and legal records relating to clients, customers, patients or others in connection with an occupant’s business.” Arkansas joined the list of states to address abandoned business records this year.

Pursuant to these state laws, if the tenant indicates that such items are being stored and later defaults, you are first required to contact the tenant in an effort to return the property before moving to lien sale. Next, you should reach out to any additional contacts in the rental agreement.

Finally, you should contact “any appropriate state or federal authorities including, without limitation, any appropriate governmental agency, board or commission listed by the occupant in the rental agreement … ascertaining whether such authorities will accept the protected property and, if such authorities will accept the protected property, ensuring that the protected property is delivered to such authorities.” Only after these efforts are taken without result are you permitted to destroy the protected property “in an appropriate manner which is authorized by law and ensures that any confidential information contained in the protected property is completely obliterated and may not be examined or accessed by the public.”

There are even some states that address the issue of abandoned third-party records by industry. In North Carolina, the law specifically provides that if a lawyer improperly abandons his clients’ files, you must first contact the state bar before destroying them. Under this law, the state can directly take possession of the records without a court order.

It’s important for self-storage operators to review their rental agreements and state laws to address their responsibilities when dealing with abandoned property, especially third-party business records. At the end of the day, it’s always better not to assume a tenant abandonment, and instead treat such situations as tenant defaults that result in the enforcement of your statutory remedies.

Scott Zucker is a partner in the law firm Weissmann Zucker Euster Morochnik P.C. in Atlanta, which specializes in business litigation with an emphasis on real estate, landlord-tenant and construction law. Zucker is a frequent speaker at self-storage industry events, author of “Legal Topics in Self-storage: A Sourcebook for Owners and Managers,” and a partner in the Self-storage Legal Network, a subscription-based legal service for storage owners and managers. For more information, call 404.364.4626; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.wzlegal.com.

Customer service is a topic that has filled books, lecture halls and training manuals since the dawn of retail. While the concept is fairly simple, it’s taken on an almost Herculean life of its own.

What customer-service formula should you follow for your self-storage business? Whose cute acronym will make your operation the most successful? I like to keep my business as simple as possible. In fact, I would go so far as to say “stupid-simple,” as in the KISS theory: “Keep it simple, stupid.” Here are four tricks for keeping your service model stupid-simple.

Stupid-Simple Trick 1: Infusive Service

Self-storage is unique. We’re trusted with customers’ most valued possessions, but we only see most of these people for about 15 minutes, during the rental process. Then they move out a year later, and we see them for a few minutes again. The whole exchange can seem cold and unfriendly.

Since we don’t see our customers often, I like to use “infusive service.” Infusive means inspiring or influencing. Your goal is help customers see the awesomeness of your facility. Have you ever had a tenant compliment you on the cleanliness of your property? That’s a result of infusive service. From a passive act, you’ve inspired your customer.

Infusive service is essential in self-storage. While you might only see your customers two or three times during their stay, they might visit their unit dozens of times, so everything little thing you do can have a huge impact.

How do you increase infusive service? Look at everything the customer touches—figuratively and literally—and ask how you can improve that experience. Word your signage so you communicate your messaging in an entertaining way. E-mail tenants a few times before assessing a late fee. Pipe music into your loading areas. Spend $4 every Saturday and give away cold bottles of water. By doing little things over time and paying attention to details, you’ll build a store brand that will inspire customers. This infusive service is the essence of operating a finely tuned facility.

Stupid-Simple Trick 2: Interaction

The second trick deals with direct customer interaction. It’s typically what we imagine customer service to be.

When I took a college statistics class I learned two things: One, I hated college statistics; and two, the bell curve is widely applicable to the world. Imagine we had a bell curve to represent the self-storage customer base. On one side of the bell, you have the customers who love us no matter what we do. We could dump rats into their units and they would say, “Well, I was thinking about getting some pets.” On the other side of the curve are the people for which we can’t do anything right. They want a reduction in rent because their 10-by-10 unit is really 9 feet, 11 inches on a side. Guess what? These are also the people who are most likely to leave a bad online review. Yikes!

Your sweet spot is the people in the middle of the curve. Fortunately, this is also your majority. These are the customers who need the most attention. When they feel special and appreciated, they’ll post positive reviews, refer your property to others and be loyal tenants.

Stupid-Simple Trick 3: The Right Staff

The third trick for providing the ultimate customer service is to put the right employees in place. In my short storage career, I’ve seen the change in industry professionalism. I tend to hire a more energetic employee, even if he’s inexperienced, while other operators might prefer a more sedate but seasoned crew. There’s no wrong way, but hire for personality and attitude.

At times, hiring is difficult and there may be occasions when you’re under the gun. Nevertheless, take as much time as you need to find the right people. Teaching someone how to use the computer and operate the store is the easy part. Teaching them how to deal with customers is the hard part. If you want someone to treat your customers right, hire someone who’s friendly!

Stupid-Simple Trick 4: Guiding Principles

The fourth stupid-simple customer-service trick is to teach your employees guiding principles and give them the power to self-manage. Every company needs “rules,” but I cringe at that term. It stifles creativity and encourages people to look at things in only one way.

The worst work culture you can create is one governed by fear, where employees are afraid to fix a customer-service situation because of an angry boss. Empower your staff to solve problems as they arise. Here’s an example.

One day I was working the desk when a customer entered the store. He wanted a late fee waived because his wife had been getting the e-mails. As it was our policy to charge the fee, I informed him it was his responsibility to keep his e-mail address up-to-date, and I wasn’t going to waive the fee. He then told me his wife was sick and hadn’t told him the rent was due. Still, I said the fee would stand. He decided it was a matter of principle to get this fee waived, and even threatened to move out. Then, after 10 minutes of arguing, I had a realization. This wasn’t who I was and not how I wanted to do business. I stopped and sincerely apologized to the customer. I waived the $15, and two-plus years later, he’s still paying $400 per month for his unit.

Guiding principles are in place to help you make good decisions. Once in a while, it makes sense to break the rules to provide the best service you can.

Dealing with customers is rewarding and exhausting. However, we’re in the business of helping people in need. At times, they need you to be on your A-game. I urge you to post the following customer-service quote from Mahatma Gandhi somewhere so you can see it on a regular basis. It’s one of my favorites:

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises; he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.”

Rick Beal is the district manager and part owner of Cubes Self Storage in Salt Lake City. His goal is to help a historically slow-changing industry embrace new, innovative ideas. His professional motto is “Storage is a business of inches not miles.” He can be reached at [email protected]. Connect with him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/storagerick.

A joint venture between Clark Investment Group (CIG) and Post Management Self-Storage recently converted an industrial warehouse in North Bergen, N.J., into a GoodFriend Self-Storage facility. The two-story building at 4301 Tonnelle Ave. comprises 89,800 square feet of climate-controlled space, according to a press release issued by Talonvest Capital Inc., the boutique real estate adviser that brokered the financing.

CIG and Post Management have partnered on multiple self-storage investments in the New York City metropolitan area, the release stated. The North Bergen facility is the first GoodFriend location in New Jersey. The property features high ceilings, interior loading areas, loading dock platforms and video cameras.

The partnership recently refinanced the property with a $13.4 million conduit loan secured through an unidentified global investment bank with which Talonvest has a relationship. It’s a 10-year, non-recourse loan with two years of interest-only payments, according to the release.

Founded in 2010 and based in Orange County, Calif., Talonvest structures debt and equity for self-storage and commercial real estate investors and developers nationwide. The principals of the firm have more than 80 years of combined experience.

Based in Wichita, Kan., CIG is a private real estate development and investment company, which specializes in self-storage. Its portfolio includes more than 7 million square feet of industrial, hospitality, office, retail and storage assets. It has interests in 150 properties spanning 23 states. It also provides equity capital to the storage industry.

Founded in 1997, Post Management operates the GoodFriend Self-Storage brand. Its owned portfolio comprises more than 500,000 net rentable square feet between one facility in Connecticut, one in New Jersey and seven in New York.

SpareFoot, an online marketplace for self-storage consumers, has added a search function to help users find storage facilities that offer moving-truck rentals or free use of a truck at move-in. The new website feature is different than discounts already offered to consumers through SpareFoot’s partnership with Penske or instant quotes on full moves provided through the platform by Bellhops, according to a press release.

"Often, storage consumers don't know until it's too late that many storage facilities offer a free or discounted truck rental," said SpareFoot CEO Chuck Gordon. "In fact, over 30 percent of the facilities in our network have trucks available to rent. Consumers can check two big items off their to-do list with one vendor, which streamlines the process and can save them both time and money."

SpareFoot.com helps consumers find and reserve self-storage units, with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability and exclusive deals. With a network of more than 12,000 storage facilities ranging from mom-and-pop operations to real estate investment trusts, the company reaches prospective storage renters though partnerships with brands including SelfStorage.com and Penske Truck Rental.

Business owner John Dugan has opened a facility in Cicero, Ill., that will be managed by self-storage real estate investment trust CubeSmart and branded under its name. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Nov. 9 for the property at 1331 S. 55th Court. The event was attended by town representatives, business owners and residents, according to the source.

“It is always amazing when we have new businesses coming to Cicero because that brings new jobs and more economic development,” said Frank Aguilar, director of community affairs and special projects for the town. “We are excited to have CubeSmart storage, and we look forward to working with them in the future.”

Property features include video cameras, and a retail center that sells moving and packing supplies. Customers can also purchase tenant insurance. As an added amenity, customers can opt to have staff accept package deliveries on their behalf.

“The response we have received from the people of Cicero has been tremendous,” Dugan said. “This project took a few years, but I am happy that we are able to contribute to the business sector of Cicero, and we look forward to having a fruitful relationship with the people of Cicero.”

CubeSmart owns or manages 910 self-storage facilities across the United States. Its operating portfolio comprises more than 60.5 million square feet.

Clark Storage LLC received initial zoning approval on Tuesday to build a self-storage facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa. With a unanimous vote, the planning commission agreed to rezone 8-plus acres for the 500-unit project that would be located near the northwest corner of S. 35th Street and U.S. Highway 275, according to the source.

Prior to the vote, company owner Henry Clark told commissioners the area needs more storage. He also addressed some of their concerns, assuring them the property’s lights won’t shine onto nearby houses and that it will have security measures including a gated entrance and video cameras. The site will also contain a retention pond for drainage.

Clark hasn’t asked for any tax-increment financing from the city, and claims the property will bring in more taxes than the land’s current use.

To move forward, the project needs a conditional-use permit from the Council Bluffs Zoning Board of Adjustment. If approved, it’ll go before the city council.

Family-owned Clark Storage operates two facilities in Glenwood and two in Shenandoah, Iowa.

 

Brothers Chris and Sean Murphy, who own Mamaroneck Self Storage and Murphy Brothers Contracting Inc. in Mamaroneck, N.Y., have been chosen as the 2018 honoree of the local chamber of commerce and will be recognized for the distinction during a Jan. 12 dinner and dance at the Beach Point Club. Registration for the event, which begins at 6:30 p.m., is $100 per person.

The Murphys have been long-time members of the chamber, according to the source. “Chris and Sean Murphy, along with their entire team, are very supportive to our chamber and the local community, and we are fortunate to have Murphy Brothers Contracting in our village,” said Susan Fuller, chamber president.

The brothers launched their general-contracting firm in 1979. The company constructs and renovates custom homes and builds commercial projects in the Westchester Hudson Valley region and Fairfield County. It also owns Murphy Brothers Millworks.

Mamaroneck Self Storage opened in 2015 with numerous green initiatives, including DOW Powerhouse Solar Shingles, which are a combination of roof shingles and a solar-panel system. Designed by Kim Martelli, owner of KTM Architect, the 40,000-square-foot facility also includes heat-recovery ventilators, a high-efficiency variable refrigerant flow cooling and heating system, and energy-efficient windows.

Earlier this year, the Murphys received two awards for the development of their storage project, including the “Westchester County 2017 Earth Day Award” and The Best of BOMA [Building Owners and Managers Association] Westchester County's Signature Award in the "Reposition/Repurpose” category. They’re looking to expand the facility by incorporating a drop-off center, packing and mailing services, and a “white glove” packing and moving service related to the proposed Village of Mamaroneck MAKER Zone, which supports sustainability of the area’s manufacturing district.

“Mamaroneck will always be ‘home’ to us. It’s got everything, plus the nicest people in the county,” said Chris Murphy.