Self Storage Group Development LLC (SSGD) has broken ground on a six-story building conversion in Bridgeport, Conn. The company purchased the former home of Connecticut Limousine for $2 million and will turn the building into a modern, multi-story self-storage facility.

The building will be SSGDs ninth self-storage facility and is likely to have three to five employees, said Gerald Cohen, development manager. The conversion is scheduled to be completed next spring.

The property is in a portion of the city that has been revitalized by redevelopment over the last several years. However, the self-storage conversion reportedly will be the first construction project on this particular portion of Commerce Drive in 30 years. The building has been vacant for several years.

Based in Brookline, Mass., SSGD owns facilities in multiple states.

Highway 181 Mini Storage, a self-storage facility in Fairhope, Ala., will be featured tomorrow night on an episode of the History Channels television show Picked Off. The facility was discovered by producers of American Pickers, who were drawn to the facilitys 181 Market, a community marketplace featuring more than 50 vendors each weekend.

Each Friday through Sunday, 181 Market merchants sell antiques, collectibles, household goods, clothing, sporting goods, tools and other items. There is also fresh produce and food service.

Picked Off pits four teams of pickers trying to find interesting and valuable items at designated locations. The teams start with $100 in cash and must negotiate for items they believe offer the most profit potential. The pickers compete through stages, with one team getting eliminated after each round. The winning team earns $10,000.

In celebration of the facilitys notoriety, a Picked Off viewing party will be held locally at Old 27 Grill. An Antique Tractor Show and Flea Market will take place after the episode airs.

Stor-Age, the largest operator of self-storage facilities in South Africa, has begun development on a new self-storage facility in Pinehurst, a residential township in Cape Towns northern suburbs. Expected to open next year, the two-story facility will feature 8,600 square meters of self-storage space and offer more than 700 units ranging in size from 3 to 30 square meters.

The property is 3 kilometers from a regional retail center and is adjacent to a new private school. The site reportedly has excellent visibility to commuters accessing the N1 highway.

Weve worked closely with [Pinehurst developer] Garden Cities for the last 12 months in order to bring this property to the market. Its an exceptional location which demonstrates strong property fundamentals, said Gavin Lucas, Stor-Age CEO. The development of a high-quality self-storage offering within a mixed-use node of a greater residential township development is still a new concept within the South African context. The development will add significant value to the Pinehurst suburb and its residents.

Stor-Age operates almost 20 self-storage facilities throughout South Africa, with a corporate office in Cape Town.

Jerrys Self-Storage, a four-story facility in New Windsor, N.Y., is at the center of an alleged Ponzi scheme and financial losses that triggered a personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in 2009 by owner Jerry Sabini. In a move to recoup millions of dollars for Sabinis lenders, a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee has filed suit against 10 contractors that helped build his storage facility, even though their involvement in the project was legal and they are not accused of wrongdoing.

In the middle of the controversy is FKF 3, a fund started by three local businessmen, that lent Sabini $5 million at 14 percent interest in 2007 and later financed an additional $1 million to complete the project. The bankruptcy complaint alleges that the additional $1 million loan bypassed Sabini and instead paid vendors directly, even though the fund did not take any collateral. The trustee argues the vendor payments were improper and those contractors should repay the money.

In exchange for making the vendor payments, the creators of the FKF 3 fundBurton Dorfman, John Magee and Mitchell Kleinallegedly assumed 80 percent ownership of the self-storage business independent of FKF 3. Once construction was complete, FKF 3 refinanced the original $5 million loan, but the money it received allegedly went for personal use, including $90,000 to a charity tennis tournament connected to Klein, an unreported amount to the Kennedy Funding Invitational, and $2.8 million to Magees brother and companies connected to Magee. Those money transfers are reportedly being investigated by the trustee.

Magee now owns 80 percent of the self-storage business, according to the source.

As many as 100 lenders supposedly provided money to FKF 3. One of them, Daniel Moriarty, complained FKF 3 should own the self-storage facility and not Magee, since the lenders money was used to gain control of the business.

FKF 3 went into bankruptcy in 2010, reportedly owing $60 million to its lenders.

Sabinis stake in the business will be up for public auction next month as part of his 2009 bankruptcy case. Jerrys Self-Storage is reportedly losing $60,000 per month, meaning Sabinis 20 percent share must absorb $12,000 in monthly losses. The minimum bid for Sabinis share is set at $7,500.

By Nick Nichols

Like it or not, your potential self-storage tenants are using online reviews to decide whether or not to rent from you. Reviews at sites like Yelp, Yahoo Local, Insider Pages and Merchant Circle can steer potential tenants toward or away from your facility. Google+ Local reviews weigh heavily in determining if your facility will be in the Google 7-Pack listings, which are the balloon listings that appear prominently when someone searches for self-storage in your area.

If you have no reviews, few reviews or too many negative reviews, people are likely to skip your facility in favor of a well-reviewed one. Even if you dont look at these reviews, you can bet the success of your business that your potential tenants will.

Monitoring Your Online Reputation

The first step in monitoring your online reputation is to go to Google, Yahoo and Bing and search for your facility name. See what comes up on the first three pages, then click on the resulting links to see whats being said about you. Make a list of all the websites that reference your facility. Set up accounts at all the review sites that refer to you.

Next, do the same for <your facility name> reviews. This should render more actual review listings. Note the default search settings for Google, Yahoo and Bing use predictive search technology to suggest more specific search queries, such as adding reviews after the name of certain businesses. The more people who use reviews after a business name, the more likely the search engines are to suggest reviews as a search modifier. This means its inevitable that the word reviews will be a suggestion after your facility name at some point.

A handy way to monitor your online reputation is to use Google Alerts. Go to Google.com/alerts and create an alert for your facility name in quotation marks. (Youll need a free Google account.) Start with all results, once a day. See if anything is being said about your business. You might also set up alerts for your management company (if you use one), key employees and major competitors. These may come in handy as well.

What to Do About Negative Reviews

First, take a deep breath and try not to take it too personally. No business can please all people all the time.
Second, most negative reviews are just an opinion. Hopefully, they don't represent a fundamental flaw in your customer-service policies. But if you see a recurring pattern in negative reviews, take action immediately to correct the cause of the problem.

Some review sites offer rebuttal opportunities and others dont. Yelp is one site that lets business owners comment on reviews. The key is to make a rebuttal empathetic and professional. For example:We appreciate <name> taking the time to write a review about us. We are sorry that he/she had a negative experience. We have taken steps to ensure this doesnt happen again and would like to invite <name> back in for a free months rent. Other sites dont allow owner responses, so the only action you can take is to get more positive reviews.

Encourage Tenants to Write Positive Reviews

There are two keys to getting positive online reviews: deliver outstanding customer service, and train your employees to recognize positive-review opportunities. While an in-depth discussion of customer service is beyond the scope of this article, its relatively easy to train staff to recognize opportunities for positive reviews.

First, create a tenant-satisfaction form that includes a line for the customers e-mail address, a Facebook-account checkbox, and a place for customers to sign the form, allowing you to use their comments publically. Next, be on the alert for customers who make unsolicited positive comments about your facility or thank employees for something. When that happens, the employee should seize the moment and ask the customer to complete the form on the spot. When a customer is in a positive frame of mind, its likely hell comply.

If the customer has a Gmail account, its a golden opportunity because he can easily post a Google+ Local review. People with a Facebook account can use it to log in to Yahoo Local, Insider Pages, Merchant Circle and possibly other places to write reviews.

The employee simply needs to say something like, I see you have a Gmail address. Would you mind leaving a review for us at Google Plus? Its easy. Just use your Gmail account login. Thenand this is criticalhe needs to give the customer written instructions on how to post the review. This varies from site to site and cant be detailed here, but its not too hard to figure out, and you only have to do it once for each review site you want to use.

Although not everyone will write an online review, all you need are three to five positive reviews a month to create a stellar online reputation over time. Once you have at least 10 detailed review forms, you can create your own review website. Set up the right way, that site is likely to show up at the top of the search results when people search for reviews on your facility. When this happens, they may not need to look further and will be ready to rent from you!

The Secret Is in the System

Since the importance of having positive online reviews will only increase over time, its critical that you implement a customer-review system immediately. I use the word "system" because most businesses have a hit-and-miss or non-existent review-encouragement program. Those that have a defined system in place will be miles ahead of businesses that don't.

A system that encourages your existing tenants to write positive online reviews will help you attract more people wholl be inclined to rent from you on their first visit at the prices you want to charge.

Nick Nichols helps self-storage operators attract more long-term tenants, boost tenant satisfaction and increase tenant retention. Hes the author of Protect and Enhance Your Online Reputation: How to Suppress and Replace Negative Items with Positive References to Establish Expertise and Build Your Brand. Hes an expert in helping local businesses develop and deploy a customer-review system and branded review website. Get his free report, How to Generate Endless Online Referrals, at SelfStorageAdvantage.com.

Vehicle storageparticularly outdoor storageis a very different business from traditional self-storage. Nowhere is the difference more distinctly drawn than when a tenant stops paying rent and the facility operator has to do something with the stored vehicle. Further complicating matters, theres some question about whether outdoor vehicle storage is really traditional self-storage, depending on the definition in your state.

The biggest problem is many stored vehicles have a pre-existing lien and, in most states, your self-storage lien doesnt trump it. Thus, even though you may follow some of the suggestions in this article for recouping lost rent, including obtaining a title to sell a vehicle, you may not be able to successfully do so. This is because you likely wont raise enough money in the sale to satisfy the superior title lien, and no one wants to buy a vehicle for which a clear title cannot be obtained. Effectively, therefore, you cannot sell the vehicle.

Understanding Liens

So what do you do if a vehicle like a boat or RV goes into default at your storage facility? The answer depends on your state. A few states have clear procedures for obtaining a title to sell a vehicle in the event of default. These procedures need to be followed carefully. You dont want to wrongfully sell a vehicle in these states because your liability can be extensive if you do.

The most notable example of a specific procedure to sell a vehicle is in California, which outlines a series of steps you must take, including notices to the appropriate state departments for registration of the vehicle or vessel. The common theme in the states where theres a clear procedure for obtaining the title and selling the vehicle is the notice to the lienholder, which gives the lienholder the opportunity to scream or die before your ability to sell takes precedent over a pre-existing lien.

Many of you are thinking, I dont remember reading anything in my statute about whether or not my lien is superior to the vehicle lien. Its almost certainly there, you just havent read your statute the right way to look for it. Almost every statute contains a sentence or two that discusses the nature of your lien and, if you look, it will almost always say your lien either is or isnt superior to pre-existing liens.

Other states, such as Virginia, allow for the storage lien to be superior, but only to a limited dollar figure. Again, theres a question as to whether its worth all the paperwork and risk to the facility to sell a vehicle only to be able to claim the first $250 or $500 of the proceeds. If theres a pre-existing lien, it could make claim to any sale proceeds, up to the amount of lien.

Some states dont have a formal written procedure for the sale of a vehicle in default. That doesnt mean there isnt one, it just means you have to work a little harder to find a solution. In some states, there are statutes governing the operation of private parking lots, often called garagemen statutes. There is often some type of lien statute for mechanics in most states. Check with your local legal advisor to determine whether you can avail yourself of the remedies under what I call garage lien statutes.

In some states, its clear you can assert a garage lien against the vehicle. In others, there are prerequisites, such as declaring yourself to be a private parking lot and posting signage. In still other situations, the determination may be made depending on whether the vehicle is stored in an enclosed locked unit, a non-segregated space, indoors or outdoors.

At the end of the day, almost every one of these statutes is affected by the existence of a superior lien. Again, while you may be able to assert a garagemens lien, that lien is still subordinate to a pre-existing title lien. This would make all the rights and remedies available to you somewhat moot because you probably wont be able to sell the vehicle for enough money to pay off the lien and still make it worth your while. Theres also the risk of a lawsuit that follows the sale of a vehicle if theres a pre-existing lien.

If you choose to use your states mechanics lien statute, pay close attention to it. I question whether a storage operator is truly eligible for it. Typically, youre not taking the vehicle in for repair or improvement before the storage charges are incurred, and these statutes speak of a repair improvement before storage charges are applied.

Some operators have had no problem obtaining a title under a mechanics lien act in their state. While the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) may not have given them a lot of trouble, an operator may have skipped a few words in the affidavit he signed to get the title, and thats a problem. While a title may be issued, that doesnt mean DMV made an independent inquiry as to whether an operator met all the requirements. That would happen later if the operator were sued by the vehicle owner or lienholder for making an improper and, dare I say fraudulent, affidavit to the DMV.

Other Options

In states where a solution is not clear, the best option may be to simply have the vehicle towed by a local towing service rather than risk your time, energy and money trying to sell it. In most states, towing companies have terrific lien rights, a lot better than any you, as a storage operator, may ever have.

To use this alternative, there are almost always prerequisites, for example signage and perhaps even clauses in your rental agreement that allow you to tow in the event of a default. Check with your legal counsel and the towing company you intend to use to ensure youve complied with all requirements. You may not recoup your storage charges this way, but in the end, youll probably save a decent amount of time and money by quickly reclaiming your space and avoiding legal risk.

In some states, theres simply no remedy available. In states such as Ohio, its virtually impossible to consistently obtain titles to vehicles based on storage liens or otherwise. Your success depends on your luck of the draw at the DMV window. In these states, the best remedy for a vehicle in default is probably an eviction.

When I say eviction, I mean a court action in Forcible Entry and Detainer, similar to removing a tenant from an apartment, shopping center or office building. This is the act of filing a complaint with a court of law, having a hearing, and receiving the right to remove the occupants property from your rented space. In an apartment, its the furniture, dishes and food. In a vehicle-storage facility, its a car, boat, RV, etc. I contend you have no option but to evict in some states. Thus, the argument about time and expense is moot.

Preventing Defaults

Almost always, a vehicle brought to your facility will already have a pre-existing lien, although it is possible a refinance could occur or a lien could be placed on the vehicle after its put in storage. The key is to ask questions about lienholders and other vehicle information at the time of lease signing, not when the vehicle is in default.

The most important thing you can do in vehicle storage is to get the relationship right in the first place. That means knowing youre storing a vehicle, what vehicle youre storing, who is the actual title holder, and who are the lienholders. You need to know enough about the vehicle to later obtain a copy of the title if necessary, including the vehicle identification number (VIN) or hull number and other identifying information. In the best case, a copy of the title and registration should be on file with you at the inception of the tenancy. Having this information in advance, as well as ensuring your tenants are set up to pay rent via an automatic bank withdrawal or credit card authorization, will greatly reduce the number of vehicles that end up in default.

The next step to being a successful in vehicle storage is knowing your rights before a vehicle goes into default. This is something worth discussing with your storage attorney or local legal counsel. Understand your rights so you know how to react if a tenant goes delinquent.

Also make sure you stay in touch with the lienholder if theres a default. A lienholder generally doesnt want its collateral sold for pennies on the dollar, regardless of whether youre allowed to sell it. This  simply causes more title problems for the lending institution. Youll often find that if storage charges are not being paid, neither are monthly payments on the vehicle. Sometimes its simpler to work with the bank to pay you some storage charges and allow the vehicle to be repossessed than to go through all the steps listed above.

Most important, do not force the title. Perhaps it's better to say, do not intentionally flub your title paperwork just to get a title so you can get a vehicle out of your space. If all youre interested in doing is getting the vehicle off your property, you have other remedies, be it towing or eviction. Remember that most forms submitted to state motor-vehicle departments are in the form of an affidavit, meaning a statement that youre swearing is true and accurate. If you cannot agree or you have to skip words to get to the end result, do not sign that affidavit. The stakes, by way of a lawsuit or wrongful sale, are clearly greater and much more expensive when youre involved in a vehicle sale.

Jeffrey J. Greenberger is a partner with the law firm of Katz Greenberger & Norton LLP in Cincinnati and is licensed to practice in Kentucky and Ohio. Mr. Greenberger primarily represents the owners and operators of commercial real estate, including self-storage owners and operators. To reach him, call 513.721.5151; visit www.selfstoragelegal.com.

U.K. self-storage operator Big Yellow, which owns and/or manages 80 facilities, has partnered with package-delivery company ByBox in a £2 million program that will allow customers to retrieve packages via an automated locker system. ByBox lockers have already been installed at nine Big Yellow locations, with additional sites planned.

The lockers are operational at Big Yellow facilities in Battersea, Birmingham, Camberley, Fulham, Hounslow, West Norwood, North Kensington, Sutton and Watford.

The partnership provides consumers with an alternative method for receiving package deliveries. Launched in 2010 and similar in operation to an ATM, the ByBox locker solution allows them to collect parcels from one of the company's 400 U.K. locker installations. Lockers are found at retail parks, supermarkets, shopping centers, petrol stations, railway stations and, now, self-storage sites.

The partnership will allow ByBox to accelerate its roll-out program across the United Kingdom. "We recognize that each and every one of our customers, whether a business or consumer, wants to collect their parcels with minimal impact on their life," said Alexandra Korda, consumer director of ByBox. "By teaming up with an organization, such as Big Yellow Self Storage, that thinks along exactly the same lines as we do, it enables us to further enhance our service offering, which we believe is already at the forefront of modern-day deliveries."

Big Yellow also stands to benefit from the arrangement. "This is an exciting move for Big Yellow Self Storage and a win-win for both us and ByBox," said Tom Wilcockson, head of new business development at Big Yellow. "Our modern, purpose-built stores provide both domestic and business customers with unrivalled security, access and convenience, and we believe that teaming up with ByBox will raise further awareness of both companies' products as we seek to continue meeting the ever-increasing demands of modern life."

Big Yellow was founded in 1998. Of the companies 80 stores, 76 are open and operational, and 10 are managed Armadillo Self Storage facilities. When fully built out, the company's portfolio will provide more than 4.5 million square feet of storage space, mostly in the Greater London area.

Since its formation in 2000, ByBox has grown to become a £51 million company, earning a host of accolades along the way.

Property once belonging to slain civil rights leader Malcolm X was scheduled for a self-storage auction yesterday at a Manhattan Mini Storage in Inwood, N.Y., but representatives from his estate intervened in time to extend the settlement of the delinquent account to Aug. 20.

The estate reportedly owes $2,447 on a storage unit account that has been delinquent since December 2012. A representative for the family, L. Londell McMillan, told the New York Post the administrator who pays the self-storage bill was out of the country and the bill would be paid.

There is nothing valuable to the estate in [the storage unit], he said. Those things are in various intellectual-property holdings and would not be in mini-storage.

This is the second time property belonging to Malcolm X and his wife Betty Shabazz have nearly been sold through public auction at a self-storage facility. In 2002, a collection of Malcolm Xs personal archives in Orlando, Fla., came up for auction when a $600 self-storage bill went unpaid by his daughter, Malikah Shabazz. A legal battle between Shabazz heirs over rightful ownership of the property prevented the collection from being sold.

Wed never auction off anything that belonged to Malcolm X, an employee at the Manhattan Mini Storage facility told the Post.

StorageMart, a self-storage company with more than 130 locations across the United States and Canada, has rewarded five students with $1,000 checks as part of the companys ScholarSmarts program. Recipients were chosen from nearly 2,000 essay responses to one of two questions: What link is there between a clutter-free workspace and increased productivity? or How has self-storage improved your lifestyle?

Winning students for the fall semester are:

• Gloria Cardona, University of Texas-Pan American (Edinburg, Texas)
• Val Andrew Fajardo, University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
• Mike Wilson, University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
• Chandler Smith, New York Film Academy (New York City)
• Ashley Deutsch, University of Texas (Arlington, Texas)

StorageMart started the scholarship program as a way to reward students in the United States and Canada who may not be eligible for more traditional scholarships. The program is open to any student enrolled in a college, university, apprenticeship program or other level of higher learning.

The winning essays are viewable on StorageMarts blog site, Storage Insider. The company will issue student scholarships again for the 2013 winter semester.