Update 4/30/15 – Kevin “Mike” Miller pleaded no contest on Wednesday to first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony in the case involving the death of his wife, Kelsey Miller. Miller admitted to police during questioning that he shot Kelsey in the left arm, head and chest, before cutting her body into pieces and depositing her remains in a self-storage unit he had asked a friend to rent, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Janice Lipovsky told the court during the hearing.

In exchange for Miller’s no-contest plea, prosecutors agreed to drop several charges including child abuse, illegally disposing human remains, illegally possessing a gun and possession of meth, according to the source. The state also won’t seek the death penalty, Lipovsky told District Judge Lori Maret.

Prosecutors believe Miller killed his wife after she refused to shoot him. Miller told the court he has colon and stomach cancer. After Kelsey refused to help Miller kill himself last Thanksgiving, he hit her with a baseball bat and shot her three times, according to investigators. He allegedly cut up her body in the shower of their mobile home and stored her remains in buckets and totes inside his Suburban vehicle before moving it all into the self-storage unit, the source reported.

Miller is expected to be sentenced to life in prison on June 2, according to the source.

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12/10/14 – Kevin Miller has been formally charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Kelsey, whose body was found on Sunday in a unit at a Big Red Self Storage facility in Lincoln, Neb. A judge set bond at $1 million, according to the source.

Authorities said Kelsey Miller was beaten and shot in the head. Police originally said Kevin Miller was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and illegally disposing of human remains.

A date for when Kevin Miller will appear in court was not reported.

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12/8/14 – The body of Kelsey Danielle Miller, 28, was found on Sunday inside a unit at Big Red Self Storage, 7001 Custer St., in Lincoln, Neb. Miller had been missing since Thanksgiving Day and was last seen alive on Nov. 27 at a shelter for domestic-violence victims, according to the source. Police have arrested the victim’s husband, Kevin Michael Miller, 33, on suspicion of second-degree murder and illegally disposing of human remains, according to Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong.

Police first arrested Kevin Miller last Thursday on suspicion of domestic violence stemming from an incident on Nov. 22, the source reported. They arrested him again on Sunday based on the murder charge, Peschong said. The couple was married for five years.

Police believe Kelsey Miller died in the couple’s home and then was transported to the storage unit. An autopsy was scheduled to be conducted on Monday.

In a court affidavit, Sgt. Luke Wilke said Kevin Miller had earlier asked a friend to rent a storage unit in the friend’s name. When the friend became suspicious, he checked the unit on Sunday and found a body inside with tattoos that matched Kelsey Miller’s. Peschong said the woman’s body displayed obvious signs of trauma. He did not provide details of her injuries.

The couple had two children together, a 1-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter. Kevin Miller, who primarily goes by Mike, has a teenage child from a prior relationship. All three children have been in foster care since Friday, the source reported.

A probable-cause affidavit filed last week indicates Kelsey Miller had sought domestic-violence assistance related to an alleged, ongoing pattern of abuse by her husband. According to the affidavit, Miller had bruises on her neck and told police she had been choked by her husband and was afraid of him, the source reported.

Miller didn’t report any assaults to police, Peschong said, and disappeared shortly after seeking services.

Kevin Miller was charged with misdemeanor assault in 2009 for allegedly hitting a man who owed him money. He was convicted of disturbing the peace and fined $300, according to the source.

The Space Place Self Storage Ltd. in Telford, England, is donating free use of a storage unit to a local first-responders team to act as the organization’s base. The volunteers of Telford & Wrekin Community First Responders (CFR) will use the unit to store equipment, fundraising tools and uniforms. The group includes trained individuals who perform life-saving treatments for people in their community prior to the arrival of an emergency ambulance.

“Without the company’s generous support, our team of 15 volunteers would have to store materials and equipment in their homes and garages, which, as you can imagine, is far from ideal,” said CFR spokesperson Steve Brown.

CFRs are trained by West Midlands Ambulance Service personnel to provide treatment such as CPR, defibrillation and other life-saving techniques for various emergency situations. The volunteers respond to people in their rural communities within five miles of their base location, according to the organization’s website. CFRs rely on public funding to purchase equipment that aids in patient care. The volunteers include bankers, engineers, teachers and other professionals.

“When it comes to self-storage, it’s important to know your belongings are in the very safest of hands, and this couldn’t be more true for the Community First Responders, who rely on their stored items to quite literally save lives. We look forward to supporting the team in the months and years ahead,” said David Cole, director of The Space Place.

Founded in 2005, The Space Place is family-owned and -operated. It has a second storage facility in Leicester, England, according to the source.

Ashley Commercial Group (ACG), a full-service real estate firm specializing in construction, development and property management, plans to convert a historical building in downtown Cincinnati to self-storage. The company purchased the property at 151 W. Fourth St. in February for $3 million and was granted a variance by the city’s Historic Conservation Board to redevelop it for storage, according to the source.

ACG received permission to make changes inside the structure, but the company has pledged to maintain the building’s “historic and aesthetic integrity,” the source reported. The project will include some exterior alterations, including the installation of a garage door and replacement of an awning, the company revealed during a presentation this week to the board. Tenants will load belongings from the rear of the building off of Benham Alley, and the first floor is expected to remain available as retail space.

Two companies, Lynn Imaging and Pep Promotions, currently have open leases with the building, although Lynn Imaging vacated its space several years ago, according to the source. ACG expects the 91,075-square-foot structure to be vacant in 2016.

City officials believe self-storage is a good use for the historic structure because of an increase in the number of people moving downtown and a lack of storage options in the immediate area. The closest self-storage facility to the property is two miles away in Covington, Ky., the source reported.

“With the typical apartment unit containing less than 1,000 square feet, there is not a lot of room for extra personal property,” Cincinnati attorney Barrett Tullis wrote in a letter to the board. “The people moving downtown need a place to store their belongings. Ashley is seeking to fill this demand.”

Based in Edgewood, Ky., ACG specializes in construction services, development, property management and urban redevelopment projects.

Stop & Stor, which operates 15 self-storage facilities in New York, recently announced that it donated $66,000 to the New York City (NYC) Adopt-a-Highway Program last year. Since 2007, the operator has given $334,780 to the program.

Stop & Stor sponsors the cleanliness upkeep of seven highway segments in Queens along New York thoroughfares such as Belt Parkway, Grand Central Parkway, Long Island Expressway and Van Wyck Expressway. Other segments the company supports include one in Brooklyn along the Gowanus Expressway, one in Long Island along the Long Island Expressway, and one in Staten Island along the Staten Island Expressway.

"What began as a donation of $6,000 to this worthwhile program has grown to $66,000 in 2014. Our commitment to beautifying the neighborhoods of our great city has been unwavering, and we are very proud of that. We look forward to continuing our commitment to Adopt-a-Highway as an integral partner in its efforts," said Jeff Henick, chief operating officer for Stop & Stor.

The Adopt-a-Highway program is a tax-deductible opportunity for New Yorkers to give back to their community by ensuring clean roadways in NYC. All highways under the NYC Department of Transportation jurisdiction are included in the program. Individuals, companies and organizations can participate, and signs indicating who’s maintaining a particular area are placed on the adopted roadway segment.

The donation was made through Stop & Stor’s Charitable Fund, which supports causes including animal protection, the arts, education, humanitarian work and medical research, according to a company press release. The company has donated more than $1.8 million since it launched the fund in 2002.

Stop & Stor was founded in 1980 by the Henick and Morty Simon families. The company operates self-storage properties in Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, N.Y.

SurePoint Self Storage has acquired 2 acres of land near Cypress, Texas, on which it plans to build a new storage facility. Owners Jeff Bailey, Brian Cisarik and Robert Loeb plan to develop a three-story building comprising 123,000 square feet of storage space. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer, according to a press release. Located less than a mile south of U.S. Route 290, the facility will be the company’s third in the Houston area.

SurePoint has several self-storage projects under development in Texas, including a three-story facility on Spring Cypress Road in Cypress and a four-story structure in Richmond near Grand Parkway and U.S. Route 59. The company recently completed two new projects in the San Antonio area, with a third under construction. SurePoint-FM 1103 at 21586 IH 35 N. in Schertz opened in February. SurePoint-Shavano at 13326 N.W. Military Highway in San Antonio opened this week. The third location, on Bulverde Road at Roseheart, is set to open at the end of this year.

Cisarik and Loeb have been active in the San Antonio self-storage market since 2001 when they built Castle Hills Self Storage. They opened Austin Highway Self Storage in 2003 and purchased majority ownership in 3009 Self Storage in 2010. The facilities have been rebranded under the SurePoint name.

Update 4/29/15 – Less Mess Storage Inc. (LMS) has released financial results for its abbreviated four-month year that ended Dec. 31, 2014. The transitional move aligns the company’s fiscal calendar year with its self-storage subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and Poland. Operational earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $2.3 million on an annualized basis, which would equate to a 6.6 percent increase from the previous year and a 12 percent increase at constant exchange rates, according to a press release. Self-storage occupancy across the company’s holdings was more than 80 percent.

Overall, the company reported a loss of $138,423 during the four-month period, compared to a loss of $1.3 million for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, 2014. The loss was attributed primarily to costs incurred during its self-storage acquisitions last year and previous business unrelated to storage.

With the fiscal adjustment behind them, LMS officials believe the company is now poised to take advantage of a favorable European self-storage market. "International growth of the self-storage market is obviously becoming a more important topic for conversation,” said Guy Pinsent, president and CEO. “Self-storage started in North America in the ’60s and has grown exponentially. Self-storage was established in the U.K. in the ’80s and has grown to over 1,000 stores since then. We see the same trend developing in Western Europe and especially in Germany, which borders Poland and the Czech Republic. With just a fraction of the market penetration we are seeing in other regions, the self-storage market in Central Europe is poised to grow rapidly over the next decade."

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12/31/14 – Less Mess Storage Inc. (LMS) is changing the end of its fiscal year from Aug. 31 to Dec. 31 to align with the financial year-end of its self-storage subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and Poland. As a result of the change, the company will have a four-month transition year that begins Sept. 1 and ends Dec. 31, 2014.

The company submitted its intent to change it fiscal filing date on Dec. 16 and 17, but issued a fiscal 2014 year-end report on Dec. 16 under its previous closing date.

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12/18/14 – Less Mess Storage Inc. (LMS), a Canada-based self-storage operator with facilities in Prague and Warsaw, Poland, has released financial results for its fiscal year, which ended Aug. 31. The report reflects the company’s first 125 days as a self-storage business after its transition from a mineral-exploration company, which operated as DGM Minerals Corp.

The company said no income was realized for the majority of the year due to transaction fees and expenses related to its purchase of five self-storage assets in the Czech Republic and Poland. Overall, it tallied $1.55 million in sales revenue, which would project to approximately $4.5 million for an entire fiscal year, officials said. That annualized figure represents a 9 percent increase from fiscal 2013 revenue.

Operational EBITDA for the period was $743,646, which would annualize to approximately $2.2 million during a normal year, officials said. LMS reported cash on hand of nearly $1.7 million.

"We are encouraged by these early results from our self-storage business. Self-storage has been growing steadily year after year in Poland and the Czech Republic, and these numbers confirm this continuing trend,” said Guy Pinsent, president and CEO. “We also expect our numbers to improve significantly in future reporting periods, as the company starts to report full periods as a self-storage company, and without the transaction and high-bond interest costs included in the current period.”

Less Mess owns and operates five self-storage properties—four freehold, one leasehold—encompassing more than 180,000 square feet of net rentable space. The company reported $4 million in revenue in 2013. Though its records office resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, it also has a headquarters in Warsaw and offices in Prague. Its common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the stock symbol "LMS."

Boxly, a startup business specializing in valet self-storage services, recently launched in Melbourne, Australia. The company uses an online platform that allows customers to schedule free item pickup, maintain an image catalog of stored bins and bulky items, and schedule delivery of items to their home.

Similar to other valet-style storage operators, Boxly offers by-the-bin storage targeted at urban residents who don’t have adequate home storage. Customers pay $12 per month to store a minimum of two bins and $6 per month per bin for additional boxes. Prices for bulky items vary but start at $6 per item per month, according to the company website. Home delivery is $20 for as many bins as the customer needs returned. The company will also ship to anywhere in the world for added fees.

Co-founders Ronan Fenton and Misha Saul believe valet storage will fill a void for customers who don’t need large amounts of storage space but have seasonal or infrequently used items that clutter their homes.

“I think it generally fits into the idea that property prices are rising in major capital cities, living quarters are getting smaller, businesses have less space, and smaller apartments are getting built,” Saul told the source. “If you go skiing or camping once or twice a year, that’s really bulky stuff, and it’s taking up half your wardrobe space or just sitting in a corner. You wouldn’t think about putting it in storage, but now you’re able to have them outside of your home but always having it at your fingertips. We’re about making that experience a lot more affordable and also in a very hassle-free way.”

Boxly follows SpaceWays, which launched valet-storage services in Sydney earlier this year. Boxly plans to eventually serve other metro markets in Australia and New Zealand, according to the company website.

Sovran Self Storage Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT) that operates the Uncle Bob's Self Storage brand, recently acquired a storage facility in Jacksonville, Fla., for $6.5 million from Beach Blvd. Investment LLC. The property was formerly managed by self-storage REIT CubeSmart.

Built in 2013, the facility at 14130 Beach Blvd. features 83,500 square feet of storage space. It’s Sovran’s ninth storage site in the Jacksonville area. The acquisition is part of the company’s strategy to increase market share and grow its brand, Diane Piegza, vice president of investor relations, told the source.

The selling price was nearly twice the property’s assessed value, according to Duval County public records. The property last sold in 2008 for $1.4 million, the source reported.

Sovran operates more than 500 self-storage facilities in 25 states. The company ranked No. 5 on the Inside Self-Storage 2014 Top-Operators List, which ranks the industry’s top 100 operators by net rentable square feet. Sovran’s portfolio comprises more than 34 million square feet in more than 305,000 units.

Inside Self-Storage (ISS) is now collecting information for its 2015 Buyer’s Guide, the industry's largest, most comprehensive directory of product and service suppliers. Containing hundreds of listings from the most respected self-storage vendors, the Buyer’s Guide allows users to search by company name, product/service category or geographic region. It also includes a directory of self-storage associations. Listings include detailed information such as company descriptions and websites as well as phone numbers and other critical contact information.

Participation in the guide is free for users and suppliers. Published each year in the August print edition of ISS magazine, it’s available year round on the ISS website under “Directories” in the top navigation bar.

To be listed in the guide, suppliers need to complete the online form. If a company has been included in a past guide, it can simply revise its existing listing rather than submit a new one. Companies new to the Buyer’s Guide can create a new listing.

Questions about the 2015 ISS Buyer’s Guide can be directed to ISS Editor Amy Campbell at [email protected]. Submissions for the print edition will be accepted no later than May 13.

By Kenneth Carrell

In many regions of the country, a typical self-storage site is about four acres or more. This gives the owner a good-sized facility through which to generate revenue. However, once you move into cities, those nice big parcels disappear. It’s difficult if not impossible to find a tract of land big enough to build a storage facility that’ll offer a good return on investment. Instead, you might find a suitable site, but it’s on an acre or less. Should you move on or seriously consider the smaller footprint?

Smaller-sized lots can actually be great self-storage development opportunities. They can save on the overall construction costs and offer an opportunity to charge higher rental rates due to less competition in urban areas. If you’re considering a small parcel for your next facility, follow these design guidelines to get the most from your project.

Make (and Save) More Money

A smaller storage facility in the just the right spot can be a great investment. Urban areas often have less competition, so you can charge more per square foot. Plus, there’s typically a huge need for self-storage in these areas By taking a site that’s about an acre in size, you can still build a nice-sized facility that’s large enough to turn a profit.

For example, Scott Storage in Whittier, Calif., is on a 0.9-acre parcel of land. However, its innovative design, which includes three stories, helped the property attain 83,000 square feet in overall size and 59,000 square feet of net leasable space. The facility opened in 2010, leased up in less than a year and has been full ever since.

The cost of a site in an urban setting is normally higher than one in the suburbs—if it’s the same size. But lots in the suburbs are generally bigger, so the costs start to match. Then there are the construction costs. Because you won’t be building as big a structure in an urban area, your price per square foot for construction will be more, but it’ll cost you less to build the facility, since it’s smaller.

Most jurisdictions now require storage buildings to look more like office buildings or retail and even to match other properties in the area. This could mean decorative windows and façades, specialty materials and even vibrant colors. Smaller buildings will cost less to dress up than larger ones.

Adding Floors

One of the easiest ways to add more square footage and great design is to build up. Building multiple stories will provide the square footage you need, give the property more presence and create ample space for signage. Operators often believe it will be harder to rent units on upper floors, but this is really no longer the case. Once customers are in the elevator, it doesn’t matter if they have to go to the second floor or the 22nd.

In the case of Scott Storage, three floors were deemed appropriate due to a setback requirement. Since the building was so small, it only needed one elevator. However, other developments might require two, and it doesn’t hurt to add extra stairs. Often, if a person only has one or two boxes to store and he’s closer to a set of stairs, he’ll use them to get to his unit.

The number of floors you can add to your project will be limited by building codes and zoning requirements. In most jurisdictions, you’ll be limited to four floors. If you can go higher, remember your construction costs will go up substantially, since you’ll have to implement a higher grade of construction.

Another factor to consider is how many parking spaces will be required. When building additional floors, the number of parking spaces and even elevators you need could change. Scott Storage was required to have 11 parking spaces. Including more parking can cut back on your overall rentable square footage.

Consider Access

Building access is critical on smaller sites. Since you don’t have a lot of room, you need to make unit access as simple as possible. I sometimes put the building up against the property line on one side and then include a central access to the upper floors. This allows me to maximize the square footage. However, for convenience, it really helps to have a drive aisle around the structure, allowing entrance to ground-level units.

A project currently under construction in Newark, Calif., includes both a drive aisle around most of the building and a portion on the property line. The ground-level ceiling height is about 16 feet, which allows cars and trucks to drive under a portion of the building.

Another important point is to allow for loading spaces. Tenants need a spot to unload, and they’ll want it to be as convenient to their unit as possible. Scott’s Storage includes a central loading zone right next to an elevator. This helped the project lease up very quickly.

Build a Nice Office

Another important design consideration when building on a small site is the management office. Just because you have less room doesn’t mean you can skimp on the office. You still need everything you would otherwise require on a large site. Plus, in an urban environment, there are additional services you can offer that will increase your revenue.

One service that can be useful to customers is a postal station that includes P.O. boxes, shipping, packaging, etc. This ancillary center can turn into a real moneymaker, since businesses can make use of the physical address, a place to store their products and the ability to ship packages without having to lug them to another location.

Small sites offer a lot of advantages to those looking for urban self-storage development opportunities. Even though the property is on a smaller footprint, you can still get the square footage you need to make it profitable through creative design. Although your new property may have fewer units than a sprawling facility, you’ll likely have less competition and can charge higher rates. Adding ancillary profit centers can add even more revenue. All in all, small sites can work to your advantage if you just plan ahead.

Kenneth Carrell is the principal architect at ARE Associates in Lake Forest, Calif., an award-winning architectural firm specializing in the self-storage industry. For more information, call 949.305.4752; visit www.areassociates.com.