AC Self Storage Solutions LLC of Newport Beach, Calif., acquired Storage Solutions of Corinth, a class-A self-storage facility in a Dallas suburb.

Acquisition debt financing of approximately 65 percent of the purchase price was secured from a major national commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) lender. The non-recourse loan has a 30-year amortization with two years of interest-only payments.

It looks like the CMBS lenders are coming back strong, said Troy Downing, president of AC Self Storage Solutions LLC. Loan terms are getting very close to where they were before the resets in the commercial lending industry, and we were very happy to see a smooth, efficient closing that went from loan application to funding in 35 days.

The purchase price was not disclosed, but the buyer indicated the facility traded just below an 8 percent cap rate based on current, not pro forma, numbers. Paul Darden, owner, and Bill Conerly, district manager, of the Paul Darden Co. of Dallas represented the seller.

Storage Solutions of Corinth, 3701 FM 2181, has 767 self-storage units and 97,325 net rentable square feet. Its approximately 90 percent occupied with residential and commercial tenants. AC Self Storage Solutions, LLC plans on upgrading the local property management using its own property management company, Westport Properties. In addition, AC Self Storage Solutions plans on implementing a tenant-insurance program that was not offered by prior ownership.

The acquisition is the companys second in 90 days. In mid-April, it made an all-cash purchase of 470-unit Rivergate Self Storage, a class-A facility in Murfreesboro, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville.

AC Self Storage Solutions LLC is an owner/operator of self-storage commercial real estate. Its focused primarily on acquiring stable, cash-flowing, self-storage facilities mainly in the Sunbelt and select areas of the United States that exhibit strong local demographics needed for successful income-producing self storage operations. The company is a joint venture between Axxcess Capital Ventures and Specialized Storage Management Holding LLC. The team is made up of professionals from diverse backgrounds in self-storage, commercial real estate, asset management, investment banking, technology and finance.

On July 26, the Texas Self Storage Association (TSSA) will host a webinar for its members on the states new self-storage lien law and other legislation that affects facility operators in the state. Presented by TSSA legal counsel Connie Heyer of Niemann & Heyer LLP, the webinar will take place 10 to 11:15 a.m. The cost is $25, and registration can be completed www.txssa.org/formstack.

Last month Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill that modernizes the states 30-year-old self-storage lien law. The TSSA played an active role in this years legislative session to support changes to the Chapter 59 foreclosure process affecting self-storage operators in the state.

The upcoming webinar will explain what Texas operators need to do to comply with the new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1. Attendees will learn:

• An overview of this years legislative session
• How a self-storage operations are affected by the change
• What must now be in lease documents as a result of the new law
• Other changes to existing laws or new laws that affect a self-storage operation

Heyer is considered an expert on Texas self-storage law. Together with Larry Niemann, she is co-author of the TSSA Goldbook, a guide to laws and regulations affecting the states self-storage owners and managers. The law firm of Niemann & Heyer is also the author of the current TSSA rental agreement and official forms.

California self-storage operator A-1 Self Storage recently donated money to the Surgical Weekend hosted by Fresh Start Surgical Gifts. During July 16-17, Fresh Start provided free reconstructive plastic surgery to more than 20 disadvantaged children suffering from physical deformities. The children, who come from around the world, were each matched with a surgeon and surgical team, undergoing a flurry of pre-exams, tests and orientation before their procedures.

Fresh Start transforms the lives of disadvantaged infants, children and teens suffering from physical deformities caused by birth defects, accidents, abuse or disease through the gift of reconstructive surgery and related healthcare services. The organizations surgeons, medical teams and other volunteers coordinate six surgical weekends per year.

A-1 Self Storage has 16 locations in the San Diego County area and more than 40 locations statewide. It is the self-storage division of the Caster Cos., a third-generation, family-owned company headquartered in South California since 1959. Caster Cos. develops and manages A-1 Self Storage, A-1 Car Storage and other commercial properties in California. Its portfolio includes more than 4 million square feet of real estate.

An employee at a self-storage facility in Sutherlin, Ore., discovered detonators for dynamite in a unit Thursday.

Julie Kennedy was cleaning out a delinquent storage unit at Stow Away Mini Storage when she came across a pack of suspicious sticks, which were later determined to be blasting caps for dynamite.

A bomb specialist retrieved the caps from the unit. Police said they will be disposed. The self-storage tenant was identified by police as Jody Martin. Police cited Martin for unlawful use of an explosive.

Police in Medford, Ore., arrested three men in connection with several burglaries of area businesses including a self-storage facility.

Multiple units at Table Rock Mini Storage on Table Rock Road were broken into last spring. Thieves stole a number of items including a firearm. Other businesses burglarized include four automotive shops and a charter school, where 21 laptop computers were stolen.

Three men have been charged with multiple felonies for the thefts, which occurred in late May and early June. Travis Norcross, 27, was charged with five counts of second-degree burglary, three counts of first-degree aggravated theft, two counts of first-degree theft and a count of theft by receiving. Brandon Lee Smith, 26, was charged with five counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree aggravated theft and two counts of first-degree theft. Brett Lee Woolley, 21, was charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree theft.

None of the businesses employed surveillance video. Not all of the stolen items have been recovered.

Stor-N-Lock Self Storage in Rock Hill, S.C., recently sold to a private investor for an undisclosed amount.

Stor-N-Lock Self Storage has 745 non-climate-controlled units totaling approximately 85,850 square feet. The facility also has a two-bedroom apartment on site. The property offers additional onsite expansion with a total of 6.9 acres. Opened in 1976, Stor-N-Lock Self Storage is located 23 miles south of Charlotte, N.C., and 60 miles north of Columbia, S.C..

Dale C. Eisenman, president and broker in charge of Midcoast Properties Inc., represented the seller.

By Rich Morahan

Self-storage locks with construction and keyway mechanisms provide as much protection and deterrent as other high-tech security items. But for many operators dazzled by the latest technology, locks are just an afterthought. Instead, the lock, particularly a high-security one, should be at the front and center of every facilitys marketing program.

Bill Green has used high-security cylinder locks for more than 10 years at Double J Court Self-Storage in Wickenburg, Ariz. He capitalizes on this in his marketing program. When prospects call, Green and his managers discuss the features of the facility by noting their security first, Let me tell you about our lock system

Double J Courts lock system is the only flush-mount deadbolt-cylinder system in the facilitys market. Green and his team have built their sales message around the locking system, noting its drill- and pick-resistant keyway and unique registered, non-duplicatable key.

Green doesnt emphasize gates or alarms or cameras in his presentation. I tell them we stop thieves at the door. Cameras record crime. This lock stops crime, he says. The lock mechanism is built around 11 rotating disks and a unique key with more than three million usable key combinations. The system was invented early in the last century and continues to prove itself in industries such as trucking, vending and gaming.

Because theres no fast, safe way to bypass the lock, the system Green uses is master-keyed. With three million usable key combinations, Green knows only his master key and the customers registered key can operate the lock. Customers acknowledge the presence of a master key in the lease, and naturally its stored offsite under management control.

In some areas, safety may be a reason to restrict after-hours facility access, but the cylinder system sets a high level of security at the door that works against the odds of potential thieves. Green allows 24-hour access to his site. With the doors secure, we can let them come and go.

During his years in Wickenburg, a resort area in North Arizona, Green has met resistance to a high-security master-key system only once or twice, but then hes also had opposition regarding copying IDs or asking for pictures of renters. If theyre hesitant, maybe theyre not the kind of customers we want, he says.

Security Under the Freeway

Sometimes necessity can create an advantage. Because Hollywood Self-Storage is located under and adjacent to one of Californias many freeways, the local fire marshal required the owners to install a master-key system to provide fast, easy access in any type of emergency or threat situation. Co-managers Roberta and David Colburn have turned this necessity to their advantage.

David, who managed apartment buildings before this facility, builds his marketing around the lock. When I explain how the lock works and the security benefits, our new customers are pleased. Weve never lost one because of the lock, and weve never had a break-in, he says.

Hollywood Self-Storage uses disk locks and padlocks with a hardened steel shackle rather than a cylinder lock. The virtually pick- and drill-proof keyway provides nearly the same level of security as the cylinder lock without requiring new latches. Used in a cylinder-lock system or with padlocks, high-security locks are not passive technology on display, but tools that provide the final barrier against a thief while creating a marketing advantage.

Make the Sale

A high-security lock does require one thing most security devices dontan active and knowledgeable sales team. High-tech security devices such as cameras and access-control gates appear to sell themselves. To get the benefit of a high-security lock system, however, facility management needs to make a commitment to train staff and promote it.

Consider your investment in high-tech security equipment. Without a barrier at the door, access-control systems such as cameras and door alarms can still be compromised. Cameras reassure prospects and customers and deter thieves, but they only record crime, not prevent it. Door alarms announce crime after the fact. Even with a tough padlock or disk lock, a self-storage slide bolt can be cut with a bolt-cutter. Only a cylinder lock stops crime at the door.

As high-tech security becomes more practical and cost-effective, hardware in the form of high-security locks, particularly cylinder locks, is even more important to balance and complement a facility security program. Security is only as strong as its weakest link. No matter how sophisticated, electronic security needs a backstop. Settling on a $5 backstop for a security system is short-sighted and dangerous.

Consider Cylinder-Lock Systems

Both a medium- and a high-security flush-mount cylinder-lock system provides a security level that complements costlier components such as access control, cameras and door alarms. Because the lock inserts into the door, bolt-cutters are useless.

A tubular-cylinder lock uses a circular six or seven pin-tumbler mechanism and a round tubular key. With enough key combinations (typically from 20,000 to 60,000) and quality manufacturing, the lock is much more difficult to pick or drill than a padlock or a disk lock with a standard flat key. Although there are battery-operated tools on the Internet that can supposedly pick a tubular lock, most of these tools are used on vending machines, which guarantee a payoff.

In addition, a drill with diamond tip can drill out the mechanism, but because drilling takes time and makes noise, its rarely practical for a thief to drill out a cylinder lock. Some manufacturers offer these locks with numbered keys, permitting an owner to order a replacement key from the manufacturer to open an abandoned or delinquent unit without having a key on the premises.

A high-security cylinder lock goes beyond the tubular mechanism and is based on a series of rotating detainer disks. The detainer-disk system has more than three million usable key combinations, and unlike the tubular type, there are no mechanized picking tools available on the Internet. Because of its hardened steel front and a steel internal disk, the detainer disk lock is also virtually drill-proof. This is the type of lock used at Double J Court, Hollywood Self-Storage and other high-security facilities around the country.

Differentiate Your Facility

Dont be dazzled by technology. A break-in must eventually be stopped at the door. High-security cylinder locks, disk locks or padlocks will complement the technology-based elements of your security system. High-security locks are a one-time expense. Most operators lease them for free or charge a $5 or $10 administrative fee and deposit to their tenants, keeping the deposit if the renter doesnt return the key. The lock usually pays for itself after two or three turnovers. At a relatively low cost, high-security locks provide active hardware security and a visible tangible market advantage in competitive markets.

After assessing electronic security for your facility, dont neglect to take a look at the high-security lock options offered by your lock manufacturer. Ask for a lock with more than 50,000 usable key combinations or, preferably, more than a million, built around a keyway that cannot be compromised by Internet-available picking tools or a 48-inch bolt-cutter. For a small incremental cost, you can move ahead of your competitors, attract security-conscious customers and keep your facility out of the headlines.

Rich Morahan frequently writes articles and conducts seminars on security for a number of industries. To reach him, call 617.240.0372; e-mail [email protected] ; visit www.rmorahan.com.

Extra Space Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust, will release its financial results for the three months ending June 30 on July 28 after the market closes.

The company will host a conference call at noon ET on July 29 to discuss the results. Hosting the call will be Spencer Kirk, CEO and chairman, Kent Christensen, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Karl Haas, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

During the call, company officers will review second-quarter performance, discuss recent events, and conduct a question-and-answer period. The Q&A will be limited to registered financial analysts. All other participants will have listen-only capability.

To participate in the call, dial in at least five minutes prior to start time. The phone number is 866.362.4831 for domestic callers and 617.597.5347 for international callers. The conference ID is 48674800 for both.

A recording of the call will be available through Aug. 29. The phone number to access the playback is 888.286.8010 for domestic callers and 617.801.6888 for international callers. The conference ID is 81454121.

The conference call will also be accessible online through the Investor Relations page at Extraspace.com. To listen to a live broadcast, go to the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time to register as well as download and install the necessary audio software. A replay of the call will be available on the website for 30 days.

The full text of the earnings report and supplemental data will be available immediately following the earnings release on the company's website.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space is a real estate investment trust that owns or operates 860 self-storage properties in 34 states and Washington, D.C. The company's properties comprise approximately 550,000 units and more than 60 million square feet of rentable space.