NEWS

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Metro Storage LLC, which operates facilities under the name Metro Self Storage, announced a $250 million joint venture with real estate investment firm ING Clarion. The partnership will acquire and develop storage projects in select markets in the Midwest and Southeast. The new enterprise was launched with the $15 million acquisition of a 100,000-squarefoot, climate-controlled facility in downtown Chicago. Info: www.metrostorage.com; www.ingclarion.com. 

OpenTech Formalizes Partnership With C&A Solutions

OpenTech Alliance Inc., maker of the INSOMNIAC self-storage kiosk, formalized a partnership with C&A Solutions LLC of Round Rock, Texas. The latest company to join OpenTechs Alliance Partner Program, C&A provides credit card and check processing for domestic INSOMNIAC customers.

The alliance assures facility owners a robust interface between C&As payment gateway and INSOMNIAC kiosks as well as confirms their long-term commitment to provide technology solutions. Info: www.opentechalliance.com; www.casolutions.net. 

BETCO Sponsors ISS Legal Learning Webinars

BETCO Inc., a single-source manufacturer of self-storage building components, has signed on as the premier sponsor of the Inside Self-Storage Legal Learning Webinar Series. Presented by industry legal expert Jeffrey Greenberger, the informational web events take place on the second Tuesday of every month, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET. Each focuses on a key legal issue within the self-storage industry. Past topics have included arbitration clauses and lease modifications.

We are pleased to become the first sponsor for the ISS Webinar series, said Terry Campbell, BETCOs director of marketing. While the program is relatively new, we view it as a unique, interactive self-storage communications medium that has a great future. We want to share in that exposure.

The series is currently free to participants. Octobers webinar focuses on the legal side of offering tenant insurance. To register, visit www.insideselfstorage.com/webinars. 

BETCO offers an array of self-storage building products, design, consultation and shipping services and can provide professional construction crews for any project. Greenberger practices with the law firm of Katz, Greenberger & Norton LLP in Cincinnati, representing owners and operators of commercial real estate, including self-storage. Info: jjg@kgnlaw.com; www.betcoinc.com. 

Get Free Access to State Lien Laws

Self-storage industry professional Ron VanVarden of Stockton, Calif., has launched a new resource, the Storagelaws Network, www.storagelaws.net. The website provides free access to information on state self-storage lien laws.

VanVarden initially created the website for the internal use of a self-storage company that operates in California and Nevada.

There has not been a no-cost, one-stop resource for locating state lien laws for the self-storage industry, he says. Just look on eBay, and you can find storage facilities from California to North Carolina selling whole units or piecing out units. So many facilities make their own rulesit puts the whole industry under scrutiny. Info: 209.466.4444; ronv@storagelaws.net. 

Pogoda Moves to Larger Quarters

Pogoda Companies, Michigans largest self-storage operator and broker, relocated in August to larger offices in the same city. The new address is 30301 Northwestern Highway, Suite 400, Farmington Hills, MI 48334. Telephone and fax numbers remain the same.

The company also recently launched a website at www.pogodaco.com, featuring information about its management, brokerage and consulting services for the self-storage and manufactured-housing industries, along with employment opportunities and company news.

Smartbox to Open Franchise in Fla.

Smartbox, a leader in the portable self-storage industry, is expanding into Jacksonville, Fla., with a franchise expected to open in November. Based in Richmond, Va., Smartbox has franchises in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and Virginia. Info: www.smartboxusa.com. 

Storage Owners Launch Mailing and Shipping Service

Self-storage owners and developers Keith Marshall and David Boatner recently launched a new venture, From Ship To Store, which provides turnkey shipping and mailing systems, on-site installation and training to the self-storage industry.

Marshall and Boatner originally set up their own mailing system at their Bay Area Self Storage facility in Texas. They discovered how difficult it was to bring together all of the individual pieces. Ship To Stores aim is to take the complexity out of the process. Info: www.fromshiptostore.com. 

United Stor-All Forms JV With Harrison St. REC

Self-storage operator United Stor-All Centers has formed a joint venture with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC of Chicago to target the acquisition, development and re-development of storage properties. The companies plan to develop and acquire a bulk of assets valued at more than $300 million during the next three years. The union has already acquired an 800,000-squarefoot, 6,500-unit, nine-property self-storage portfolio with assets in five states. The portfolio was purchased for $90 million. Info: www.unitedstorall.com; www.harrisonst.com.