Houghton Corridor Self Storage in Tucson, Ariz., recently sold for $2.6 million to a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based investor. The seller was a Tucson-based commercial-development company. The property at 7555 S. Houghton Road was branded as National Self Storage and operated by National Self Storage Management Inc., a Tucson-based storage owner and management company.

Built in 2007, the facility includes seven single-story structures providing 65,300 net rentable square feet of storage space in 578 units. One of the buildings has 62 air-conditioned units, and another has 185 units that offer climate control. The property also offers 10 RV-parking spaces. All the units have individual door alarms. The facility also has a large office and a two-bedroom apartment for the onsite manager.

Bill Alter and Denise Nunez of Rein & Grossoehme Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer and seller in the transaction, their 134th self-storage closing. Founded in 1993, Rein & Grossoehme specializes in the sale of investment properties and retail, office and industrial leasing.

Founded in 1974, National Self Storage owns and operates 14 self-storage properties in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Utah.

The U-Haul Co. of Memphis in Tennessee is offering 30 days of free self-storage as well as U-Box pod moving and storage to residents who’ve been affected by the recent rain and severe flooding.

Through the U-Box pod program, storm victims can pick up a custom-designed trailer and take the pod with them, or U-Haul can store the pod in its secure warehouse or pick up and deliver it to another location.

In addition to the free storage offer, storm victims in need of boxes can take advantage of the U-Haul Take a Box, Leave a Box program. The program enables customers to use reusable boxes at no charge. Instead of throwing out or recycling reusable boxes and bins, U-Haul encourages residents to drop them off at the nearest U-Haul location to enable other families to use them.

“The recent heavy rains have caused severe flooding throughout Memphis and surrounding communities in the area,” said Carol George, president of the U-Haul Co. of Memphis. “I hope this effort will help provide assistance to families and residents who need support. We will do our best to help our friends and neighbors in this time of need."

Established in 1945, U-Haul International Inc. has more than 40 million square feet of storage space at more than 1,000 owned and managed facilities throughout North America.

Clark Investment Group (CIG), a real estate investment firm specializing in self-storage, is adding two buildings to a Security Self-Storage facility it owns in Wichita, Kan. The expansion will add 10,500 square feet and 40 storage units to the property at 12515 E. Central Ave. The project is expected to be completed by December.

CIG is undergoing a portfolio expansion. The company is finalizing renovation plans for another Security Self-Storage location in Wichita, and Stephen Clark II, vice president, said CIG has nine additional storage projects in various stages of development, according to the source. Four of the projects are in New York, with two others in Connecticut, two in Texas, and one in Florida.

Ink Construction LLC is the general contractor for the Central Avene project, and Innovative Construction Services Inc. is the designer, the source reported.

Founded in 1979, Security Self-Storage operates more than 50 facilities in Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas.

Based in Wichita, CIG is a private real estate development and investment company. Its portfolio includes more than 5 million square feet of industrial, office, retail and hospitality real estate. The firm owns 65 self-storage facilities comprising more than 35,000 units, and also provides equity capital to the industry.

G5, a provider of Digital Experience Management (DXM) software and various marketing services for the self-storage industry, has released a new software platform called DXM Marketing Cloud. The product includes eight product and service solutions designed to drive the storage-customer experience across key digital touchpoints as well as increase leads, leases and net operating income for operators.

G5 believes the platform will make self-storage operators less dependent on lead aggregators while also lowering their overall cost per lease, increasing demand and building better brand advocates, company officials said in a press release.

“The world has changed. Your customer is in control,” said Dan Hobin, co-founder and CEO. “The disruptive innovations driven by customer access to digital devices—Web, smartphones, apps and more—are making customers more informed and more powerful than ever. It’s imperative for companies to reassess how [their] customer experience is designed and delivered. And prioritizing the role of digital experience is central to this effort.”

The eight modules within DXM Marketing Cloud include solutions for content and search optimization, customer data, property data, services, social media, support, training, and websites.

“The [platform] gives our clients the power to own the customer experience from awareness to advocacy,” said Chris Eckert, chief technology officer. “Digital has reinvented marketing, and we’re helping our clients meet the needs of today’s digital consumer by changing the way marketing is done in the self-storage industry.”

Founded in 2005 and based in Bend, Ore., G5 was recently named one of the fastest growing private U.S. companies by “Inc.” magazine for the fourth time. It has also been named one of North America’s fastest growing technology companies by Deloitte for four straight years and one of Oregon’s fastest growing private companies for the past four years. G5 is backed by private equity investor Volition Capital.

EMG Inc., a Hunt Valley, Md., company that provides due-diligence engineering and environmental-assessment services to commercial-property owners and managers, including those in the self-storage industry, merged with Quality Project Management LLC (QPM) effective Sept. 2. Based in Tempe, Ariz., QPM is a program- and project-management company specializing in construction and planned capital improvements. It will become a division of EMG, company officials announced in a press release.

The merger will enable both companies to provide more national coverage, technical resources and services to clients, officials said. “The decision to merge evolved over a three-year period as both companies recognized the value a merger would bring to our clients,” said Claude N. Limoges, CEO of EMG. “The transaction’s synergies enable us to serve our clients at every stage of the real estate lifecycle, from the acquisition of portfolios and asset management to planned capital improvements and the disposition of properties.”

“We can now offer more geographic coverage and subject-matter expertise, as well as serve a more diverse group of clients together than as individual organizations,” added Ronald F. Stupi, a principal of QPM. “Both companies share the same core values of reliability, accuracy, timeliness and experience.”

Both companies will maintain their individual headquarters, leadership and personnel, company officials said. EMG will retain its name, while QPM will operate as QPM: A Division of EMG. The combined company will employ approximately 450 people in 37 states and serve customers in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico. Financing for the merger was provided by M&T Bank.

"The essence of both companies is the same,” said Nestor Benavides, president of EMG. “Together, we are very excited about the value that we bring to our clients, the opportunity this creates for our employees, and our company’s bright future."

Established in 1995, QPM has more than 100 professionals in 19 states. The company works across a broad range of industries including retail, restaurants, convenience stores, banking, airports and health care. It has managed more than 500,000 projects across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada.

Founded in 1986, EMG is a national engineering, environmental and capital-planning consulting firm. The company’s clients include commercial lenders, institutional owners and government entities. It provides site and technical assessments, integrated and scalable operational processes and technologies.

OpenTech Alliance Inc., a Phoenix-based provider of self-serve kiosks, call-center services and other technology for self-storage businesses, has launched a new call-review and rating tool, ICARE About Quality, for its in-house call center. Free to INSOMNIAC Live! customers, ICARE was designed to provide self-storage managers and call-center staff the ability to listen to call recordings and provide feedback.

Calls are rated based on adherence to call flow and the behavior of the OpenTech storage counselor. The ratings are used by the company’s training department to tailor coaching sessions for individual employees, helping them rent more units and serve tenants with the highest level of quality, according to an OpenTech news release.

“Being the best at something is never easy. After five years of operating a call center in the self-storage business, one of the most important lessons we have learned is we can never stop improving,” said Robert Chiti, president and CEO. “With ICARE, we’re building upon our transparent culture of proactively seeking input from our customers and using that input to build a better company.”

OpenTech provides several models of INSOMNIAC self-serve kiosks as well as a range of self-storage rental solutions including the INSOMNIAC Live! Call Center, INSOMNIAC Online Web and mobile applications, LiveAgent! software products, and the INSOMNIAC ILock Security System, all available through the company's Self-Storage Cloud.

 

 

StorageAhead, a provider of online-marketing services for the self-storage industry, has named Dirk Wakeham as its new CEO and a member of its board of directors, effective Sept. 10. Wakeham has spent the last 20 years leading technology-enabled service companies focused on real estate. He previously served as president of RealPage, a provider of software as a service (SaaS) solutions for the rental-housing industry. During his five years there, Wakeham led key aspects of the business, gaining a reputation as a trusted and collaborative leader, and helping the business generate more than $300 million in revenue, according to a StorageAhead press release.

Prior to RealPage, Wakeham was founder and CEO of LeasingDesk, a provider of risk-mitigation solutions for rental housing that was acquired by RealPage in April 2007. Wakeham founded LeasingDesk in 2000 after a 14-year career at Western National Group, a diversified apartment-investment, -management and -development firm in Irvine, Calif.

“Dirk brings a strong record of product leadership, enterprise SaaS experience, and an excellent understanding of the needs of our industry,” said Dan Miller, StorageAhead’s founder and president. “We share a common vision of delivering the first comprehensive cloud-based marketing-automation, point-of-sale, and facility-management platform for self-storage brands of all sizes.”

“I’m excited to be joining StorageAhead at this point in the company’s lifecycle,” Wakeham said. “I look forward to bringing the company to the next level and addressing the full platform of needs of all store owners, both large and small.”

StorageAhead is a wholly owned subsidiary of Red Nova Labs, a Web-development and marketing agency. StorageAhead’s online-marketing support services include StorageFront.com, an online directory of self-storage facilities, and WebWorks, a Web-design and marketing service for larger operators. The company launched a cloud-based management software called StorEdge earlier this year.

Compass Self Storage, a member of the Amsdell family of companies, recently acquired a self-storage facility in Providence, R.I. The property at 711 Branch Ave., the company’s first acquisition in the state, will be rebranded under the Compass name. The purchase was made by separate affiliates of Amsdell Group LLC and Compass Self Storage LLC.

The facility comprises 58,000 net rentable square feet of storage space. Compass plans to spend approximately $500,000 on capital improvements, including a digital surveillance system with access controls, LED lighting, online-payment capabilities and other conveniences, according to a company press release. When completed, the business will offer indoor, climate-controlled units, and moving and packing supplies.

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 Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

The Lock Up Self Storage recently opened its newest facility in Wheaton, Ill., the company’s 14^th in the state. A grand-opening celebration will be held Sept. 10 at 4:30 p.m.

The property at 2230 N. Main St. encompasses 58,000 square feet of storage space and includes 680 climate-controlled units, 34 of which are drive-up. Amenities include carpeted interior hallways, a full-size passenger elevator, video cameras, keyed entry, and free use of the company’s moving truck. The facility also features motion-sensor lighting, in keeping with the company’s efforts to be more green, according to a press release.

The Wheaton Lock Up is 3.5 miles east of the Interstate 355 and 1 mile south of the North Avenue thoroughfare. It will serve residents and businesses in the communities of Carol Stream, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton and Winfield, the release stated.

“We built this facility from the ground up and made sure to include all the unique features that our customers have come to love and expect,” said Andrea Carnes, vice president of operations. “We are excited to be able to serve the people in this area.”

Founded in 1976 and based in Chicago, The Lock Up operates 30 self-storage locations in eight states comprising more than 1.6 million square feet.

Inside Self-Storage (ISS), a provider of ongoing information and education resources for industry professionals, will host a one-day Online Self-Storage Developers Conference on Nov. 13. The workshop is designed for interested investors and developers as well as existing self-storage owners who wish to expand their business.

The conference will provide expert insight to ground-up construction, conversions and remodeling projects. It will begin at 10 a.m. EST with an overview of the current development climate and then unfold in 60-minute segments covering all aspects of the development process including feasibility, financing, new construction, the conversion process, facility renovation and expansion, and boat and RV storage.

The event is designed to be an online version of the Self-Storage Developers Conference ISS produced in June in New York City and takes the place of a similar event originally scheduled this month for Chicago.

Speakers include Mel Holsinger, president of Professional Self Storage Management LLC, who will provide opening and closing remarks; Jeff Kinder, president of Advantage Advisors LLC, who will discuss feasibility; Neal Gussis, principal at CCM Commercial Mortgage, who will discuss industry financing; Rick Dodge, vice president of Paramount Metal Systems, who will address new construction; Jim Ponti, regional sales manager for Janus International, who will speak about building conversions; and Bob Hayworth, CEO of Baja Construction Co. Inc., who will talk about issues related to developing boat and RV storage.

Registered attendees will be able to participate in the event live or on demand and have access to a resource library featuring premium content from the presenters. They'll have the ability to create their own profile, download handouts and more. Additional details can be viewed at www.insideselfstorage.com/conf.

For nearly 25 years, ISS has provided informational resources to self-storage owners, managers, developers and investors. Its educational offerings include a monthly magazine, annual conferences and tradeshows, an extensive website, an online store, and Self-Storage Talk, the industry’s largest online community.