The Eugene, Ore., bomb squad removed a suspicious object from Down Town Mini Storage after an auction buyer found the object among an abandoned unit's contents. The buyer left the object at the front counter.

Facility staff immediately called police, who cordoned off the area until the bomb squad could arrive. The Metro Explosives Disposal Unit responded to the facility, which is in an industrial part of Eugene near Chambers Boulevard. The squad loaded the device into a special chamber for transport.

At the time of the source's report, police did not know whether the object is dangerous. If determined to be explosive, the bomb squad will destroy it.

1700 Curry Self Storage in Tempe, Ariz., sold for $893,750 to an investment company in Portland, Ore.  

The property, 1700 E. Curry Road, sits on roughly 3.5 acres. It consists of 159 storage units in six buildings totaling 27,550 square feet. The facility also includes 130 uncovered parking spaces for cars, boats and RVs.

Bill Alter and Denise Nunez of Rein & Grossoehme Commercial Real Estate negotiated the sale for the owner, an individual from Encinitas, Calif. The buyer plans to spend an additional $200,000 to renovate and modernize the facility.

Arizona-based Rein & Grossoehme specializes in the sale of investment properties and commercial leasing.

Austin, Texas-based self-storage aggregator SpareFoot recently participated in the Austin Startup Olympics and won $250 for Kure It, a kidney-cancer research non-profit organization, after taking home third-place honors.

This first-ever annual event brought together eight startup companies to compete for a monetary contribution to the charity of their choice. SpareFoot and other startups battled in a five-hour competition consisting of quintessential startup sports, including ping-pong, foosball, an obstacle course, flip cup, Pop-a-Shot, darts, shuffleboard and Connect Four.

Were excited to share Kure Its mission with a new audience, and grateful to SpareFoot for including us in such a unique fundraiser, said Kure It founder Barry Hoeven.

"When I heard about what Barry and Kure It were doing, I wanted to find a way to help. They've kept a focused effort on a big problem, said Mario Feghali, SpareFoot co-founder and chief operations officer. For those who have lost a loved one to renal cell carcinoma or any type of cancer, it's easy to feel helpless and lose hope. But I know that our contribution to Kure It will help those families and individuals dealing with kidney disease."

Founded in 2008, SpareFoot.com lists more than 5,000 self-storage facilities in its nationwide directory, which allows consumers to find, compare and reserve self-storage units online. Through multiple websites including SpareFoot.com, SelfStorage.com, Apartments.com and many others, SpareFoot helps self-storage operators find new tenants through a pay-for-performance model. The company is backed by Silverton Partners, FLOODGATE and Capital Factory.

Kure It raises money from the private sector and redirects those funds through competitive grants to kidney and other cancer researchers. The organization has raised more than $1 million. For information on how a self-storage company can participate, interested parties should contact director Karen Jones at 949.428.7081 or [email protected].

Metal-building manufacturer Nucor Building Systems recently promoted Ken Nichols to sales service manager for its Texas division. Nichols brings more than 15 years' industry experience to his new role. Previously, he served as district sales manager in the South Carolina and Indiana divisions.

Nichols has a bachelors degree in business administration, with a double concentration in management and marketing from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. He will be moving from York, Penn., to Texas with his family.

Launched in 1987, Nucor Building Systems is a manufacturer of metal building systems for diverse applications, including self-storage. The company serves industrial, commercial, warehouse, community, and agricultural markets, and has manufacturing facilities, sales representatives and more than 1,000 design-build contractors across the United States and Canada.

Phoenix-based OpenTech Alliance Inc., developer of INSOMNIAC self-storage kiosks, is creating the self-storage industry's first cloud-based computing platform. The Self Storage Cloud will be an "open" architecture that hosts a multitude of integrated software applications and services to help facility operators lower operating costs and increase revenue.

All self-storage operators, even those with only one facility, can use the cloud on a pay-as-you-go model. The cloud will provide access to several OpenTech software applications such as INSOMNIAC Online, LiveAgent!, LivePhone! and LiveVoicemail!, as well as services including identification verification, video conferencing, facility-content management and more.

The Self Storage Cloud will be housed at the IO data center in Scottsale, Ariz. IO provides modular data-center technology. The company services, designs, engineers and delivers data-center infrastructure for some of the world's largest enterprises, governments and service providers.

"We feel technology is quickly becoming a key competitive differentiator, and without the best tools available, self-storage operators and their onsite management staff will find it very challenging to compete," said Robert A. Chiti, president and CEO. "Our cloud platform will level the playing field and help all self-storage operators improve their operational efficiency."

OpenTech products and services include seven models of INSOMNIAC self-storage kiosks ranging in price from $5,500 to $18,000, the INSOMNIAC Live!  call center, and the INSOMNIAC Self Storage Network for online storage reservations and rentals. The company will exhibit at the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas, March 14-16, in booths 525-529. Show details can be found at www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com.

The board of trustees for CubeSmart, a self-storage real estate investment trust, declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per common share for the period ending March 31.

The dividend is payable on April 16 to common shareholders of record on April 5. The board also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.484375 for the 7.75 percent Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares payable on April 16 to holders of record on April 1.

CubeSmart owns or manages 477 facilities across the United States and operates the CubeSmart Network, which consists of approximately 825 additional self-storage facilities.

Arenhall Corp. has begun construction of Littleton Storage Solutions, a 500-unit, 76,960-square-foot self-storage facility at 509 Great Road in Littleton, Mass. The facility will consist of a three-story, climate-controlled building and other single-story buildings. The land is across the street from the Littleton Police Department.

We are taking advantage of the light winter we have had so far to get a jump start on the project and hope to have it completed by fall if 2012, Sherri Brown, Arenhall's district manager, told the source in an e-mail.

The Littleton Planning Board approved the site plan Sept. 8, 2011, for a self-storage facility, guardhouse and office. The site plan also includes a requirement to create public trails for recreation such as horseback riding and bicycling, and to convey a conservation restriction to the Littleton Conservation Trust.

Arenhall owns six self-storage facilities in Massachusetts and southern Maine.

Littleton is 40 miles northwest of Boston.

A Chambersburg, Pa., man must pay $300 in fines and about $150 in court costs for putting two cats in a pet carrier and leaving them in a locked self-storage unit at Affordable Mini Storage in Chambersburg for four days in August 2011.

Trumaine Curtis, 28, was found guilty last week of three animal-cruelty charges during a summary trial. He was found not guilty on three other cruelty charges.

Humane Police Officer Floyd Hessler of Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter told the source he was called Aug. 29 to Affordable Mini Storage at 700 Loudon St. Facility owner Amy Mahon told him an employee had been checking the units and heard cats crying. The employee eventually discovered the noise was coming from Curtis' unit, which he started renting Aug. 25. The employee cut the lock and found the animals in a small pet carrier.

"It was extremely hot in there and it was stinky," Mahon told the source. "The cats were very skinny, they smelled terrible, very dirty."

Hessler testified he found no water in the pet carrier. There was some food, but the cats had urinated and defecated on it. While inside the carrier, the cats were unable to do anything but lie in their own waste.

A few days before he was called to Affordable Self Storage, Hessler was called to Curtis' apartment, where he recently was evicted for not paying rent, to investigate an allegedly abandoned pit bull and cat. Curtis testified he, his wife and daughter had relocated to a motel that didn't allow pets, which is why he rented the storage unit.

The judge called Curtis' treatment of the cats "inexcusable" when issuing the fines. Hessler pushed for the judge to consider sentencing Curtis to jail time and to pay restitution to the animal shelter, but these requests were denied.

All three cats fully recovered fully and were adopted. The dog also recovered and was taken by a rescue group.

Residents in Lyndon Township, Mich., expressed concerns last week about a proposed self-storage development they believe could have a negative impact on the area.

The townships planning commission tabled a request on Feb. 16 for a special-use permit from Ronny Hamama. The developer hopes to build a self-storage facility with an office and managers residence on six acres at 9750 Stofer Road. The area is currently zoned rural residential.

The facility would include eight buildings, completed in three phases. The first phase would include up to 380 storage units. The plans also call for a 6-foot fence made of an opaque material and landscaping to blend with the surrounding community. The facility would be open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

About 35 residents attended the planning commission meeting, which lasted more than two hours. Attendees expressed concerns over increased crime and traffic, and the potential negative environmental impact to the local watershed. Residents also had concerns about how the self-storage development would impact their homes property values.

Hamama assured residents the facility would be harmonious with the surrounding area and traffic would be minimal. He said the facility will attract vacationers who visit nearby North Lake. Hes also initiated a feasibility study to determine the viability of the proposed development.  Hamama owns North Lake Country Store and the adjacent gas station.

The townships planning commission will revisit the proposal at its March 8 meeting. There are currently three self-storage facilities in the surrounding communities of Chelsea, Dexter and Scio Township.