A self-storage development in Winter Haven, Fla., was approved by city commissioners Monday. The board unanimously approved changing the future land use on 13 acres at the southwest corner of Pollard Road and Eloise Loop/Eagle Lake Loop Road from residential medium to commercial retail.

Residents living near the proposed site told the board they wanted assurance the developer, Jack M. Berry Inc., would only build self-storage on the proposed site. The city’s community and economic development director assured the board that is the developer’s intention.

Source:  The Ledger,  Winter Haven Commissioners Approve Land Use for Proposed CSX Center

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The completion of an acquisition by CapitaLand Limited of a major stake in Hersing Corp.’s self-storage business in Singapore has been delayed. Hersing operates StorHub Self Storage. The acquisition is now expected to be completed at the end of July.

Hersing requires more time to get regulatory approvals, including approvals from Housing & Development Board and Jurong Town Corp., the Head Lessors of the properties.

CapitaLand said in April it would pay S$39.2 million to acquire a major stake in Hersing's self-storage business. A joint venture company was created, with 62 percent owned by CapitaLand and 38 percent owned by Hersing.

The joint venture is expected to purchase Hersing’s StorHub Self Storage brand and four of its properties for S$60 million, and another S$3.2 million for the management. The properties are located in Toa Payoh and Changi.

Source:  The Business Times,  CapitaLand-Hersing JV Completion Delayed a Month to End July 

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A decision to allow or reject the additon of a pet grooming spa at Thunder Hill Self Storage in Wales, N.Y., was tabled by the town board June 8.

The Wales Town Board unanimously tabled the request from storage owners, who are seeking to amend its special-use permit to allow for the additional business to operate on the premises.

The pet grooming spa would be a one-person operation that grooms one to six dogs a day. One resident was concerned about the impact the business would have on the surrounding neighborhood, particularly increased traffic. A city representative said the business would have little impact on traffic or pose other adverse effects on the surrounding neighborhood.

After eight minutes of discussion, the board tabled the request and is seeking more information including proof of notification of surrounding property owners, as required from the applicant.

Source:  The East Aurora Advertiser,Wales Postpones Decision on Permit for Pet Grooming Spa

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Self-Storage Talk: Businessess for Tenants

A handful of small-business owners in Hawaii are setting up shop in self-storage units.

The low cost of self-storage, combined with security and convenience, is drawing many small-business owners to Dillingham Blvd. Self Storage. The Hawaiian facility boasts dozens of renters who run their offices or store merchandise in units. In fact, 60 percent of its current renters are small companies.

One renter uses a monogram machine to punch out logos for his monogram business. Other businesses include souvenir, slipper and pharmaceutical companies.

Many of these business owners were forced to downsize when the recession hit, leaving behind traditional storefronts and office complexes. Some facilities also offer amenities to their renters, including fax machines, conference rooms and shipping services.

Dillingham Blvd. Self Storage is zoned for mixed-commercial use. Tenants must have a business license and can rent month-to-month.

Source:  Hawaii News Now,Small Businesses Set Up Shop in Storage Lockers

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Representatives from four real estate investment trusts (REITs), including Strategic Storage Trust Inc., exuded optimism regarding long-term prospects for the self-storage, data-center, healthcare and land-development REIT sectors during a panel discussion in New York City last week.
 
Janice Ryan, vice president of business development for Strategic Storage Trust, and three other panelists spoke during a presentation titled “Examining Opportunities Within Alternative Investment Classes,” held Thursday as part of the seventh annual New York Non-Traded REIT Industry Symposium, hosted by the Information Management Network (IMN). Ryan was joined by John Carter of Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT, John Mark Ramsey of Cornerstone Healthcare Plus REIT, and Edward Fitzpatrick of Shopoff Group. All four were bullish about their respective niches, despite competition and other challenges.
 
Ryan said the self-storage sector does well in good times or bad, being a sector in which property ownership is so diffuse that Public Storage, the market leader, has only a 5 percent share. She cited the need to educate broker-dealers as a specific industry challenge.
 
IMN provides knowledge to investors in all fields of finance and commerce, offering a forum though which investors can exchange ideas, information and assistance.
 
Source: GlobeSt.com, Niche REITs Like Their Prospects

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Trachte Building Systems Inc., a provider of customized buildings for the self-storage industry, hired three new employees and promoted two existing staff members.
 
Michelle Nampel joined the company’s production and inventory-control team. She is responsible for analyzing production and material requirements, and working with manufacturing and engineering departments to ensure customer orders ship on schedule.
 
Joel Howard joined the engineering staff as a structural engineer, responsible for reviewing and approving structural designs for Trachte customers.
 
Lois Taylor was hired as a marketing communications specialist, serving not only Trachte, but subsidiaries Trac-Rite and Fire Facilities. She will support sales efforts through the creation of print, digital, tradeshow and other marketing materials.
 
The role of marketing manager Steve Hajewski has been expanded to include the supervision of the marketing activities of Trachte, Trac-Rite and Fire Facilities.
 
Don Zeal, who formerly managed Trachte’s production and inventory-control team, has been promoted to production manager. In his new role, he will further implement lean business strategies and adjust workflow to maximize efficiency.
 
Trachte Building Systems, an ISO 9001:2008-certified company, designs, manufactures and erects a full line of pre-engineered and customized steel self-storage systems, including single- and multi-story, portable storage, interior partition and corridor, and canopy boat/RV.

       
[From left to right], Michelle Nampel, Joel Howard, Lois Taylor, Steve Hajewski, Don Zeal

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Self-storage is fast becoming the go-to storage place in Singapore for residents, business owners, collectors and non-profit organizations.

Low-cost monthly rental rates, convenience and temperature control are attracting residential and commercial renters, and more self-storage operators on coming on board to provide services to this growing market.

According to an article in Asia One News, the number of self-storage facilities has grown to 20 in all, up from just two in 2003. The first self-storage operator in Singapore, StorHub Self Storage, has seen its customer base grow rapidly since opening in 2003. Revenue jumped to $13.4 million in the same period. Extra Space Storage, EBC Self-Storage and Store-It! Self Storage have all opened facilities.
 
Attracting Renters

The low cost of a storage unit versus traditional office or warehouse space, which can easily cost upward of $2,000 a month, is self-storage’s main attraction for many small-business owners. Other benefits include the quiet atmosphere, access hours and short-term leases.

Anthony Leong rents a unit at an Extra Space Storage to store his merchandise, but also spends several hours a week in his unit working or brainstorming for his business. With racks of fabric and a makeshift table, the self-storage unit has essentially become a second office for the entrepreneur, who supplies Italian fabrics to tailors in the region.

Many of the storage spaces are air-conditioned, and have abundant security measures including keyed-entrance gates, video surveillance systems and even biometric fingerprint technology. This is critical for Brad Ng, a wine trader, who stores his stock in a self-storage unit. The owner of Beautiful Wine, an import and distribution firm for fine wine, also counts on the humidity and temperature controls at the Boon Keng facility of Extra Space Storage, which has 249 storage units devoted to wine storage.

Business owners aren’t the only ones finding taking advantage of the growing self-storage market in Singapore. Nazri Aris stores his collection of 300 superhero comics and toys in a self-storage unit. Non-profit organizations are also finding storage units can cut back on expenses.

The non-profit youth organization Circus Outreach stores its tricks of the trade—unicycles, plastic saucers of various colors, spinning reels and balance boards—at a self-storage facility. Circus Outreach conducts school workshops for at-risk youth, and also performs at festivals.

The circus items once filled up space of the group’s office before being moved to StorHub Self Storage in 2006 when renting the office became too expensive. The props are stored in a 60-foot, air-conditioned unit. Because the facility is open 24 hours a day, the group has round-the-clock access to the props. StorHub also has high-tech security with passwords and biometric fingerprint technology.

Sources: 
Asia One News,  It's Boom Time for the Self-Storage Industry
Asia One News,  Everything's Coming Up Roses for Wine Trader
Asia One News,  Circus Puts Things Away When it Isn't on the Road
Asia One News,  A Special Home for Superheroes
Asia One News,  Low-Cost Start for High-End Fabrics

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With successful franchise locations throughout Australia, Canada and the United States, PODS (Portable On Demand Storage), has expanded into the United Kingdom with its first franchise in Leeds, England. The Leeds operation is scheduled to begin around Aug. 1.
 
PODS, a moving and storage company, provides portable-storage containers and related services. Its containers are constructed of a steel frame and come in two sizes. Containers are stored at a PODS secure storage center until needed and delivered to the consumer upon notice.
 
Founded in 1998, Clearwater, Fla.-based PODS provides moving and storage services to a population of more than 240 million consumers. To date, the PODS network has completed more than 250,000 long-distance relocations, exceeded 1 million deliveries, and has more than 140,000 PODS containers in service. The company is considering additional expansion into Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and other countries.

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Smart Storage Concepts, a subsidiary of Smart Marketing Concepts Inc., has become the newest marketing partner to join the INSOMNIAC Self Storage Network (ISSN) from OpenTech Alliance Inc. The company has developed a real-time reservations engine self-storage operators can embed into their websites, allowing consumers to reserve units or make payments.

Smart Storage Concepts is also using the same reservation technology to power its new USavestorage.com portal, where independent self-storage operators can sign up to be the only facility in their area to be on the site.

Based in Phoenix, OpenTech is the developer of the INSOMNIAC line of self-stoage kiosks and the INSOMNIAC Live! call-center services.

Smart Storage Concepts is a provider of reservations technology and Internet-marketing strategies for small to mid-size self-storage operators. The collaborative partnership with OpenTech integrates the company's centralized reservations system with many of the industry’s property-management systems, providing real-time rate and revenue management, and allowing instant generation of customer confirmations. A showcase of the system is set up on the OpenTech website through June 30 so self-storage operators can test it.

ISSN was developed so self-storage operators can easily market their available inventory of empty units through third-party marketing companies on a secure, real-time network without requiring self-storage managers to spend hours keeping different systems updated with inventory and pricing changes. Consumers get a confirmed reservation or rental similar to the way they purchase an airline ticket on Orbitz.com or reserve a hotel room on Hotels.com.

When a consumer makes a reservation through the website of an ISSN marketing partner, it’s stored directly in the facility’s property-management software. OpenTech doesn’t currently charge a fee for self-storage operators to join the network, and an INSOMNIAC kiosk is not required.

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Is the Future of Self-Storage Software Online?

SpareFoot Inc., provider of an online self-storage finder at SpareFoot.com, has publicly released its new SpareFoot Booking Widget, a free Web application that allows self-storage operators to accept real-time reservations on their own websites and generate more tenants. The widget installs on a self-storage operations website in minutes, and instantly gives operators the ability to accept reservations and convert online visitors into customers.
 
SpareFoot estimates more than 95 percent of visitors to a typical self-storage website do not rent a unit, and that a major factor in this low conversion rate is the absence of a simple online reservation mechanism. The booking widget solves this problem, allowing consumers to view unit-by-unit inventory and pricing and make a reservation in three easy steps. The widget also helps operators analyze the effectiveness of different online marketing channels by automatically identifying how each new tenant found their website.
 
John Williamson of 1st Choice Storage in Austin, Texas, claimed to have experienced a 500 percent increase in his online conversion rate by using the widget on his website at 1stchoicestorage.net. We had been using the reservation system that came with our inventory-management software, but no one ever reserved a unit with it, Williamson said. The booking widget's simple, intuitive interface offers a much improved user experience and helps us convert more customers on our site.
 
The booking widget is completely free to all self-storage operatorsthere are no monthly, setup or per-reservation fees involved. Users of facility-management software by Centershift Inc., Domico, SMD Software and QuikStor Security & Software can display real-time pricing and inventory from their software on the booking widget. Operators using other management software can also use the widget through SpareFoots simple account-management interface.

Founded in 2008, SpareFoot compares itself with Expedia.com, making it possible for self-storage customers to find and compare the best U.S. deal on self-storage via the Web. SpareFoot has 5,000 storage listings nationwide. The company generates revenue from transaction fees paid by those who list their space.

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