Atlanta officials have imposed a 150-day moratorium on issuing permits for self-storage facilities in its BeltLine Overlay Zoning District, an area designated for economic development and neighborhood revitalization. The temporary ban was urged by councilmember Joyce Sheperd, who has also introduced legislation to permanently prohibit self-storage from being built within a half-mile of the BeltLine corridor, according to the source.

The March 20 move comes weeks after a joint venture paid more than $4 million for a property on which it intends to develop a 120,000-square-foot storage facility in South Buckhead. Though the project was approved last year, the land is just off Peachtree Road along a future section of the BeltLine, the source reported.

“Storage-facility uses are incompatible with the purposes and intent of the BeltLine,” Sheperd wrote in the moratorium. “The Atlanta BeltLine project is transforming the city of Atlanta by improving the quality of life for all residents ... Transit-oriented development and mixed-use developments around the Atlanta BeltLine are imperative to promote pedestrian-oriented communities and future transit ridership.”

The Atlanta BeltLine Zoning Ordinance was adopted in February 2007. The district “provides a unique opportunity to bring together neighborhood revitalization, new development and workforce housing organized around a 22-mile corridor of transit, trails, open space, historic resources and public art,” according to the city’s website.

Update 3/31/17 – Moncap LLC of Scottsdale, Ariz., has purchased the Ahwatukee parcel from 1784 Capital Holdings for $1.8 million. The new owner plans to build a 104,000-square-foot storage facility, according to the source.

Moncap was represented in the transaction by Matt Rinzler, a broker with Insight Land & Investments, a Scottsdale-based real estate firm. Denise Nunez, senior vice president for commercial real estate company NAI Horizon, helped broker the deal, a source reported.

“A hidden gem, it will serve well as a community self-storage project that will benefit from the expansion of [Arizona State Route] 202 just south and the extension of Chandler Boulevard to the west of this location,” Nunez said.

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9/7/16 – The Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee voted 9-1 to recommend the planning commission approve the self-storage project proposed by 1784 Capital Holdings. The committee viewed the project favorably despite some continuing opposition from nearby residents, according to the source.

“My opinion, the committee believed the proposed commercial use was less obtrusive than many of the other commercial possibilities for the site,” committee chair Chad Blostone told the source. “Also, the developer made significant improvements to the design of the building. He split the building into two, lowered both, and added architectural features and landscaping not required by the city.”

The report didn’t indicate when the planning commission would discuss the project.

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8/18/16 – 1784 Capital Holdings is seeking approval to build a three-story self-storage facility in Ahwatukee, Ariz. The Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee will discuss the proposal for the 2.78-acre vacant plot at an Aug. 22 public meeting. The property at the intersection of Desert Foothills Parkway and Marketplace Way has been vacant for 32 years, according to the source. Although zoned commercial, it requires a special-use permit for self-storage. 1784 Capital is also seeking an exemption to the city’s ban on structures higher than one story.

The company had previously introduced the proposal but later withdrew it so it could hold additional meetings with residents about the facility’s design, the source reported. The building would comprise nearly 104,000 square feet over the three floors, one of which would be below ground.

“The use will provide a low-intensity, low-traffic-generating buffer to the adjacent residential uses, while providing convenient storage options for nearby residents and businesses,” according to a June 10 letter to neighbors written by Jessi Thornton, a planner with Withey Morris PLC, the law firm representing 1784 Capital. In the original documents filed with the city, Thornton said the storage development would be an improvement for the neighborhood and eliminate a “magnet for unsafe activities and general nuisance.”

The proposed maximum height of 25 feet is lower than the two 30-foot-high, single-story supermarkets nearby, she noted. “The proposed low-intensity commercial use is much more compatible with the adjacent residential than the more intense commercial uses that are permitted,” Thornton said.

The developer might also seek a waiver from the city that requires storage facilities to have a guard onsite. The documents stated the requirement was “indicative of outdated self-storage models and facilities.” The facility will have video cameras posted inside and around the building and won’t include manager housing. “Extensive security measures negate the need for an onsite residence,” according to the documents.

The design has also taken nearby housing into consideration. Reflective glass won’t be used in windows that face homes, and the site’s entrance will be placed on the building’s west side, opposite the houses, the documents stated.

Founded in 2013 and based in Scottsdale, Ariz., 1784 Capital acquires, develops, constructs and owns self-storage facilities. Its subsidiary, 1784 Solar LLC, provides short-term construction financing for solar projects in Canada and the United States.

The Inside Self-Storage (ISS) Store, an e-commerce website providing research and education products for industry professionals, is now selling two custom data reports from real estate firm Colliers International Valuation and Advisory Services LLC. The reports are the first to be released under a new partnership between the companies. The “Self-Storage Custom Expense Report” provides income and expense analysis around a property address, while the “Self-Storage Custom Cap-Rate Report” provides a high-level view of self-storage capitalization-rate expectations for a specific address.

The “Self-Storage Custom Expense Report” will be produced on demand based on a specific U.S. address. Colliers will use property information provided by the customer to research and analyze the typical income and expenses of comparable self-storage facilities. The report offers a comparison against national data as well as income and expense metrics from six self-storage facilities as close in proximity and type to the subject property as possible. This report will run eight to 10 pages.

The “Self-Storage Custom Cap-Rate Report” will also be produced on demand based on a specific U.S. address supplied by the customer. It addresses applicable cap rates for specific properties and regions using the Colliers Rating System, which uses eight performance and property metrics to rate a facility as class A, B or C. The report includes an appropriate cap-rate range for the subject property, sections on national and local cap-rate trends, and information from six comparable properties hand selected by Colliers. This report will run 18 to 20 pages.

Customers can order directly from insideselfstoragestore.com. Due to the customization involved, buyers should allow up to three business days for fulfillment. Finished reports will be delivered in PDF format to customers via e-mail.

Colliers International Valuation and Advisory Services is a division of Colliers International Group Inc., a global commercial real estate services firm employing more than 16,000 professionals across 554 offices in 66 countries. The company offers a variety of services for investors, business owners and developers. These include consulting, market research, real estate intermediation for sale and rent, mortgage lending assistance, project management, property management, and valuation.

Conceived as a central hub that allows self-storage owners, operators, developers and investors to obtain cutting-edge information and resources, the ISS Store is owned and operated by ISS, a dynamic services provider that has served the self-storage industry for more than 25 years. The brand includes ISS magazine, the ISS Expo and Self-Storage Talk, the industry’s largest online community.

Dainton Self Storage, which operates 13 facilities in England and Wales, raised £15,411 over the past year for Macmillan Cancer Support, a charitable group that serves those diagnosed with cancer. Including donations from customers, the company surpassed its original goal of £5,000, according to the source.

To raise the funds, staff from the company’s properties in Heathfield, Ipplepen, Paignton and Torquay, England, organized or participated in several activities, including a mini-car rally and charity football match, and a pledged climb of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Aisles, located in Scotland.

Dainton also sponsored the “Big Noise Chorus” event on July 10 at Ugbrooke House, a historical estate in Chudleigh, England. More than 1,000 people attended the musical extravaganza, the source reported.

Vince Hall, manager of Dainton Self Storage in Scorrier, England, raised funds through a free performance on Sept. 3 at The Moor in Falmouth, England. The tribute act included songs by Nat King Cole, Matt Munro and Frank Sinatra.

“We promise to put the money they have raised to very good use,” said Bridget Hill, fundraising manager for Macmillan. “All of the money we spend comes from voluntary donations, and without people like you and your customers, we would have nothing to spend. I am delighted that you smashed your fundraising target.”

The amount raised by the storage company equates to providing a Macmillan nurse to a patient for three months or stocking four of its centers with information and booklets for a year, Hill added.

“While we are a large, growing company, the nature of our business means that we operate with a very small team; so for the Dainton staff and their customers to raise over £15,411 makes me incredibly proud,” said Paul Maddicott, managing director of Dainton. “Most of us will have a family member or friend affected by the disease during our lifetime, and we know how important the support of Macmillan is both practically and emotionally. Thank you to everyone who supported and helped us to raise this money."

Established in 2002 by Maddicott, Dainton Self Storage is the operating brand for self-storage and moving specialist Dainton Group Services. Based in Newton Abby, England, the group also includes Dainton Portable Buildings and Dainton Removals.

We live in a world of many cultures. A “culture” is a social group of which a person feels a part, whether based on heritage, race, gender, class or interest.

Think about the cultures you serve as part of your self-storage operation. I use the word “serve” here intentionally because ours is a service-oriented business. You build your company by providing great service. Part of that is treating customers the way they expect and deserve.

Everyone, no matter which culture they belong to—or the culture you think they belong to based on the way they look, act, talk or dress—wants the same basic things. They want to be understood by others and treated with respect. They don’t want their time or money wasted. If your fallback behaviors and policies ensure customers are handled per these standards, you’ll be ahead of the game.

You’d think this would be easy, but it isn’t. Many companies create policies and encourage behaviors that go against these values. Don’t let yours be one of them. If you want higher conversion rates, customers who are willing to pay a premium to rent with you, lots of referral business, and tenants who are more tolerant of rent increases, you’ll need to increase your cultural proficiency—the ability to interact effectively with people different from yourself. This may be the most valuable set of behaviors you and your company develop.

There are three simple rules to attain excellent cultural proficiency. Let’s explore them below.

1. Don’t Be an Idiot

That sounds harsh, but the reality is businesses often give such poor customer service or have such weak systems in place that their frontline employees come off like fools. This is true of many self-storage operations. In fact, it’s so prevalent that when customers contact you, they have their guard up and assume you’re an idiot, too.

Your challenge in the first few seconds of your interaction with a customer is to show him you’re not an imbecile. You can see the point at which he realizes he’s speaking to a real person with some empathy and manners. He’ll take a sigh of relief and relax. Make this moment happen for your prospects and your conversion rates will grow. Find a way to pass the “idiot hurdle” and you’ll win.

2. Assume Everyone Is Smarter Than You

If you have trouble with this one, you need to take a long period of self-reflection to discover why. Face it: You have no idea who will show up in your office. The lady in the sloppy t-shirt and dirty jeans might be a neurosurgeon who just finished cleaning out her garage. The old gray-haired man with the thick accent might be a retired university professor who has been to 27 countries helping local engineering firms create earthquake-resistant buildings. The kid in the saggy jeans and backward ball cap may have just developed the next search-engine app that will eventually replace Google.

Assume every customer is smarter than you. Treat him with respect. Show him you’re there to serve him and make the hassle out of a move, organization project or other life change. When you look at positive self-storage reviews online, you’ll see almost all of them are about how well the customer was treated and how kind and helpful the employees were.

Assuming everyone you deal with is smarter than you will protect you from whatever bias you might hold. We all make some cultural assumptions; but any prejudice we have mustn’t impact our cultural proficiency. Poor proficiency in this area is very bad for business.

3. Show Everyone You ‘Get’ a Little Something About Them

Having good cultural proficiency allows you to build large and solid referral networks within a culture. Showing you “get” a little something about a person will not only encourage him to do business with you but to refer others to you as well.

The town I live in is home to the University of Missouri, which has had close ties with educational institutions in South Korea for many years. Thus, there’s a robust community of Koreans here. Many are graduate students, teaching assistants, medical students and so on.

I once ran a bottled-water delivery dealership. It was important for us to find referral networks to build our business, so I learned things about the Korean culture that could be easily be used by my delivery drivers and salespeople to create a good relationship with these customers.

First, many Koreans enjoy tea. Tap water in this town doesn’t make good tea. When demonstrating how to use the bottle cooler, we made sure to mention how good tea turns out when using our water. Second, Koreans generally remove their shoes at the front door rather than wear them in the house. When entering the home of a Korean customer, we also kicked off our shoes at the door. These two simple actions, coupled with not being idiots and treating the customers like they were smarter than we were, created a powerful and long-lasting referral network and excellent profit.

Find something you share with your customers. If a Harley Davidson owner shows up to store his motorcycle with you, show that you appreciate or understand the motorcycle-riding culture. You might say how much you love the sound of a Harley. You might relate a story about an experience you had on a motorcycle. You might talk about other customers who store their bikes with you and why your facility is so good for storing these prized possessions.

If someone shows up with a kayak on the roof of his car, talk about being out on a river or a lake, or the joy of being so close to the water. You can do this. It’s easy.

As you show people you’re not an idiot and treat them like smart people, they’ll reveal something about themselves with which you can relate. Of course, you must be careful not say something insensitive about a person’s perceived culture; but you’ve already shown you’re not an idiot, so I’m not worried.

When you take a culturally proficient approach to your self-storage sales, your interactions with customers will be more enjoyable, and you’ll feel happier. Plus, your rental conversion rates and net operating income will soar.

This article is part of an ongoing series on self-storage sales. The author will present a four-hour workshop on sales skills at the Inside Self-Storage World Expo, April 10-13, in Las Vegas. For details, watch www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com.

Tron Jordheim is business-development manager for the Store Here Self Storage third-party management platform. He’s consulted for many self-storage companies and spoken at industry events in Canada, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Prior to joining Store Here, he spent 15 years as director of the PhoneSmart call center and chief marketing officer of StorageMart. For more information, visit www.storehere.com or www.selfstorage.management.

Compass Self Storage, a member of the Amsdell family of companies, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the expansion of its facility in Fate, Texas. The addition was made by possible by separate affiliates of Amsdell Group LLC and Compass Self Storage LLC, according to the source.

The company purchased the property at 159 Riding Club Way in October 2014 and began the expansion in May 2016. The site features climate-controlled and drive-up units as well as truck rentals.

“With the expansion of this Compass Self Storage property, we are proud to be the one-stop-shop for the moving and storage needs for our customers. We know this additional space will let us better serve our current and prospective customers in this great community,” said Scott Campbell, district manager.

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 15 states.

Old Barn Self Storage in Grass Valley, Calif., erected artwork on its hillside earlier this month in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, which was celebrated yesterday by U.S. residents. Facing Highway 20/49, the 16-foot-high painting titled "Fallen Soldier" was created by local artist Steve Liserra. It features the phrases “all gave” and “gave all,” connected by the word “some.” It also contains what’s commonly called “the soldier’s cross,” which shows a helmet and inverted rifle inside empty boots. Liserra added metal dog tags hanging from the rifle that appear to be swinging in the wind.

"We hope with this project to encourage people to continue to show respect to our military and their families," facility manager Lloyd Young told the source.

The art is also a personal tribute for Liserra and Young, who both served in the armed forces. Young joined the U.S. Army Infantry in 1971 and continued in the Army Reserves, while Liserra served in the National Guard beginning in 1969, the source reported. "I owned those boots. I had that rifle,” Liserra said.

Young and Liserra previously collaborated on another hillside work of art depicting the raising of the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima to honor World War II veterans. Old Barn also regularly displays art depicting cows, flowers and other motifs, including those that reflect holidays such as Father’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day.

Locally owned and operated, Old Barn Self Storage has served Grass Valley and neighboring Nevada County, Calif., communities since 2005.

Strategic Storage Growth Trust Inc. (SSGT), a public, non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on self-storage acquisition and development, has released its financial statement for the whole of 2016 as well as the quarter that ended Dec. 31. For the year, SSGT increased same-store revenue 20.9 percent, with net operating income (NOI) growing 44.7 percent, compared to 2015. For the quarter, same-store revenue increased 24.1 percent, with NOI growing 77.6 percent, compared to the same period in 2015.

Same-store occupancy was 89.8 percent at the end of the year, up from 79.3 percent the previous year. The REIT also reported growth in same-store annualized rent per occupied square foot, showing an increase of 7.3 percent ($9.60) year over year. For the quarter, same-store occupancy hit 88.9 percent, which was up from 80.5 percent the previous year. Quarterly growth in same-store annualized rent per occupied square foot increased 15.1 percent ($11.34) year over year.

"We are pleased to report continued revenue and NOI growth for our same-store year-over-year comparisons in both the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2016," said H. Michael Schwartz, chairman and CEO. "Additionally, our new Certificate-of-Occupancy self-storage facility in Phoenix, which was acquired in May 2016, continues to outperform our expectations, finishing the year at 63 percent occupancy."

After factoring operating and other income expenses, SSGT reported a net loss for the year of about $5.4 million. The REIT took in more than $9.2 million in self-storage rental revenue and $73,000 in ancillary operating revenue during the fiscal year.

SSGT focuses on the acquisition, development, redevelopment and lease-up of self-storage properties. Its portfolio currently consists of 16 storage facilities in seven states comprising approximately 1.3 million net rentable square feet in 11,000 storage units. The company is sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management LLC, a diversified real estate company with a managed portfolio of 104 self-storage facilities in Canada and the United States. Its managed properties comprise approximately 7.7 million rentable square feet.

Ross Township, Pa., officials have approved plans for a Beyond Self Storage facility to be built on a 2-acre parcel in the 7200 block of Old McKnight Road. NorthPoint Development intends to construct a three-story, 93,000-square-foot structure that will resemble an office building, according to the source. Site work is expected to begin this spring.

Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the plan on March 20. The design will feature glass and metal, as well as an EIFS (exterior insulation and finish system) consisting of faux red brick and smooth metal panels, according to project manager J.J. Jenkins. “We're trying to bring class-A facilities to the market, and the look and design of the building is one of the ways we do that,” Jenkins told the source.

The facility will offer 581 climate-controlled units, with all loading and unloading inside the building, Jenkins said. Hours of operation will be 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a facility manager present during daylight hours. The facility will have two elevators and up to 30 security cameras.

“The developer was very accommodating to the neighbors' concerns, and we were able to deliver something for the township that is both beneficial to the developer as well as the neighborhood,” commissioner Steve Korbel told the source.

Northpoint launched the Beyond Self Storage brand last year. It has one operating facility in Lenexa, Kan., with several projects underway in the Minneapolis and St. Louis markets.

Based in Kansas City, Mo., and founded in 2012, NorthPoint is a development, management and leasing firm that’s principally focused on the industrial, multi-family, senior-living and self-storage markets in the Central United States. The company has $2.1 billion in raised capital and operates 28 million square feet of industrial properties, thousands of multi-family apartment units, and numerous developed or managed senior-living communities.