A four-alarm fire that ignited last week at Auburn Way Self-Storage in Auburn, Wash., was determined to be arson by the Valley Regional Fire Authority. Officials said someone intentionally lit the fire in a storage unit but declined to say the method or source, citing the ongoing investigation. No suspects have been arrested.

Between 70 and 80 units were damaged or destroyed, with just 20 vacant. The units were confined to just one of 11 buildings at the facility, which was not equipped with sprinklers. The building was constructed prior to sprinkler code requirements, officials said. No financial estimate of the damage was released.

The first firefighters on the scene tried to douse the flames by hacking their way into each storage unit, but the blaze quickly escalated from one to three alarms. A fourth alarm was added because of the need to rotate fire crews. Personnel from seven jurisdictions, including 11 fire engines and three ladder trucks, were on hand to put out the fire and assist other firefighters. One minor injury to a crewmember was reported.

Firefighters battled the blaze for more than nine hours.

By Ben Vestal

In most markets, self-storage continues to improve as financing has become more readily available to existing operators and those looking to invest in the industry. In this "roundtable discussion," the following real estate experts discuss capitalization rates, rental rates and the availability of financing in their individual markets:

• Bruce Bahrmasel, Landstar Realty Group, Chicago
• Larry Goldman, RE/Max Best Associates, Overland Park, Kan.
• Chris Hitler, Investment Real Estate Specialists, Mequon, Wis.
• Jim Soltis, PreviewProperties.com, Brighton, Mich.

As there has been thin deal flow in many of the first-tier markets, are you seeing cap rates between first- and second-tier markets compressing?

Bahrmasel: The secondary and tertiary markets in Illinois and Indiana have not shown the same cap-rate compression as the class-A, first-tier properties. This presents a great buying opportunity for those properties, as investors can take advantage of historically low interest rates.

Goldman: In Kansas and Missouri, its difficult to classify cap-rate trends because most transactions in the past 12 months have been with underperforming facilities that are commanding low cap rates, based on actual trailing 12-month performance. The buyers are paying the low cap rates, as theyre confident in stabilizing the facilities performance.

Hitler: In Wisconsin, there has been virtually no transaction activity in the first-tier markets for a couple of years, so its difficult to comment on this type of property. Cap rates for second- and third-tier markets are in the 8 percent to 10 percent range. In general, cap rates havent changed too much. Whats different now vs. two years ago is deals are happening, and buyers and sellers are coming together on price.

Soltis: In Michigan, there appears to be a difference of about 1.5 points between first- and second- tier cap rates. There has not been a large number of transactions in recent months, so there isnt enough information to comment on whether this spread is compressing.

How is the local economy faring right now, and how has that affected self-storage rental rates?

Bahrmasel: While there has been no dramatic turnaround in the economy in the Chicago area, the fact that we didnt fall off the cliff seems to have quelled a lot of the fears that people had over the last few years. This has translated into rising prices, and storage operators seem to be more confident in their ability to raise rates. Most of the operators in our area have been able to raise their street rates over the last six months, which points to continued optimism in the market.

Goldman: In Kansas and Missouri, self-storage is coming back quicker than the housing market. Depending on which submarket, the fundamentals of the storage market improved a good 12 months before the housing market, which seemed to bottom out in the fourth quarter of 2011. Overall, concessions are being reduced and rates are increasing. Were seeing demand for storage increasing, and supply is constricted by the absence of new, ground-up developments. The fundamentals of the storage industry over the past 18 months have mostly been strong, with many facilities recovering from setbacks experienced in 2008 and 2009.

Hitler: In the near term, the economy has been strong enough to enable most storage owners to realize higher revenue this past year. Wisconsin tends not to experience the economic highs and lows as some other states. However, the state is at the epicenter of a very important debate over the funding of public employees benefits. It will be interesting to see whether the decision to put more responsibility on the individual will put Wisconsin on a faster growth trajectory than its peers.

As for the affect this has on self-storage, I recently completed a survey with more than 80 storage owners representing approximately 30 counties across the state. Sixty-nine percent responded that gross revenue was higher in 2011 than 2010. This a very positive sign for our industry.

Soltis: Some sectors in Michigan, such as healthcare and automotive, have shown recent growth. However, there isnt growth across the board, and theres apprehension about the potential changes in healthcare costs and excess government spending and over-regulation. The continued problems in the housing industry have had a positive affect on self-storage in the state, as rental rates have continued to increase over the past couple of years in the range of 3 percent to 5 percent per year.

Whats the status of financing for experienced self-storage buyers?

Bahrmasel: I recently met with a lender who was offering 4.25 percent rates with 20- to 25-year amortizations. These interest rates are at or near all-time lows. Investors have to be prepared to put 30 percent or more into a deal to get these great rates. If a buyer has less to put down, he might still be able to go the Small Business Administration (SBA) route, but these programs might be winding down, so its important to act quickly.

Goldman: Financing for seasoned operators is very compellinglow interest rates with reasonable underwriting. On smaller deals with local buyers, SBA lenders are starting to close some storage refinancing transactions and a few acquisitions. Focused, experienced operators have significant leverage, as there are excellent opportunities to reposition underperforming facilities.

Hitler: Financing opportunities are fantastic. Experienced buyers should be able to find financing below 5 percent for a five-year rate with a 25-year amortization. If a buyer is willing to trade off a lower down payment for a higher interest rate, he should be able to get an SBA loan requiring only 10 percent down. These are good times to invest in self-storage.

Soltis: Financing is definitely available for qualified borrowers. Were seeing more opportunities available at interest rates from .5 to 1 point lower than were available in the past 12 months.

Ben Vestal is president of the Argus Self Storage Sales Network, a national network of real estate brokers who specialize in self-storage. Argus provides brokerage, consulting and marketing services to self storage buyers and sellers and operates SelfStorage.com, a marketing medium and information resource for facility owners. For more information, call 800.55.STORE; e-mail bvestal@argus-realestate.com.

By Daniel Burrus
 
Were in the midst of one the biggest software and hardware revolutions weve ever witnessed. With processing power, storage and bandwidth increasing exponentially, smartphones and smart tablets are quickly becoming our main personal and business computer. Customers, employees and other stakeholders are bringing and using their smartphones and tablets everywhere, and that definitely impacts how they see and interact with your self-storage company online.

For facilities of all sizes, this means its time to take a good look at your website. Sure, your site might look great on a desktop or laptop computer screen, but how does it look on all the different sizes of screens found on todays wide variety of tablets and smartphones? Chances are the answer is not good. Thats why all companies need to make their site adaptive and design them for mobile first.

Building an Adaptive Website

To address the mobile revolution, many companies have created a second mobile version of their website so their content can be viewed on smartphones without a problem. But there are big problems! First, you have to design, maintain and pay for two separate websites. When you update one, the other is, in most cases, not automatically updated. Additionally, the mobile site is designed for a specific mobile-screen size.

If your user doesnt have that phone model, hell still have to scroll around to see your mobile site version. To get a better idea of why a traditionally designed website doesnt work for mobile devices, try this little experiment. Using a laptop or desktop, go to your companys website. Depending on the size of your screen, the website will either fill the entire screen or there will be a border on the right and left side.

Using your mouse arrow, grab the bottom right corner of the browser window for your website. Drag it from the right to the left diagonally up, and start making the window smaller. If your website is not adaptive, youll see that all youre really doing is covering things up. And as soon as the window gets smaller than the predefined width of the site, youll see scrollbars appear on the right and bottom. Now the only way to move around on the page is to scroll.

Keep making the window smaller until its about the size of a smartphone screen. How does it look? Youll see it probably doesnt look good at all. As a matter of fact, its probably not useful either.

If your website was adaptive, as you move that window and make it smaller, the text would automatically reformat and the pictures would move accordingly to fit the smaller screen size. The menu would also adapt and change so your website and content would work on any device.

That last point is important, because, as I mentioned earlier, not all smartphones have the same screen size. An Android screen is different from an iPhone screen, which is different from a Blackberry screen. Even tablets have different screen sizes. So if you dont have an adaptive site, the person viewing your site on their tablet or smartphone will end up having to scroll somehow, somewhere.

To see a real example of how an adaptive site would look, visit http://calebogden.com, http://owltastic.com or http://thinkvitamin.com. Give them a try. View them on your laptop first and shrink the browser window as described earlier. Notice how the site changes to fit any size screen. Now try them on your tablet or smartphone. Regardless of screen size, theyll all look great. The good news is any website developer can do this once he understands the concept!

So the message is clear: The time to create an adaptive site is now. That means you have two choices. You can go back to whoever designed your current site and have him take your current look and make it adaptive, or you can start over and design a new website.

Design for Mobile First

If you decide its time to design a new website, an important key to success is to design it for mobile first. When you do this, you have to re-evaluate all your content. Business owners as well as website designers are still in laptop- and desktop-design mode. And because theyre thinking in terms of large screens that need to be filled, they put a lot of content onlineoften way too much. As a result, the vast majority of websites are bloated with way too much information.

Its time to throw out all that non-essential stuff. The best way to help you make those tough decisions about which content to cut is to think in terms of mobile first. After all, if your main design is optimized for a small screen that adapts by getting bigger when viewed on a laptop screen (as opposed to shrinking when it gets viewed on a smaller screen), it will be easier to take out all the content and graphics that are not really necessary.

If you think all the content on your current site is necessary, youre only fooling yourself. Most companies have websites that are way too busy. And while the website may look nice and be cool or trendy, its not getting to the essence of what people need to make decisions or to buy your products. This gives you a strategic reason to get rid of the clutter.

Designing for mobile first forces you to make the hard decisions of what should stay and what should go. Its similar to when someone moves from a large house to a small condo. When you have the big house, you fill it with a lot of furniture you dont use, a lot of artwork you dont look at, and a lot of must have gadgets you dont need. Once you downsize your space, you realize you dont need all that stuff. Even though letting go is painful at first, it gradually gets easier once you realize how free and uncluttered you feel.

The same concept applies for your website. You have a big screen to fill, so you fill it. Now put your website on a small screen and decide what your self-storage prospects and customers really need to make a buying decision.

The Future of Website Design

Make no mistake: Its a hard trend (a certainty) that tablets and smartphones are rapidly becoming peoples main computer. Therefore, you want your website to be seen well on these devices and be useful. If you dont want the added expense and hassle of two websites, then step one is to make your current site adaptive. When its time to redo the site entirely, design it for mobile first. These two steps will put you light years ahead of your competition and boost your online presence and sales immensely.

Daniel Burrus is a technology forecaster and business strategist as well as the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology-driven trends to help clients better understand how technological, social and business forces are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities. Burrus is the author of six books, including the national bestseller Flash Foresight: How To See the Invisible and Do the Impossible (www.flashforesight.com) as well as the highly acclaimed Technotrends. For more information, visit www.burrus.com.

Public Storage, a self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT), has purchased Keep It Self Storage in Santa Clarita, Calif., for an undisclosed amount believed to be at least $13.5 million. The cash deal was part of a two-property transaction valued at more than $25 million. The portion of the price allocated to the Santa Clarita property reflected an indicated price of more than $130 per net square foot, according to Bancap Self Storage Group Inc., which brokered the sale.

Public Storage will rebrand the property under its name, officials said. The site opened in 2009 and was approximately 70 percent occupied at the time of sale. The seller was a private self-storage partnership that originally developed the property.

This is a very desirable first-class property located in a growing market with high barriers to entry, said Dean Keller, Bancap president, who was the sole broker in the transaction. It is also one of the nicest and newest storage facilities in the area. It should perform very well for the buyers.

The self-storage property (pictured) is in a business park in the Valencia area of Santa Clarita. The facility contains more than 104,000 net square feet of self-storage space divided into nearly 1,000 units, in addition to 43 exterior RV storage spaces. The buildings are constructed of concrete block and stucco with metal partitions, roofs and doors.

The second property is in nearby Sylmar and also operated under the Keep It Self Storage name. The facility will also be rebranded under Public Storage. The price allocated to this property (believed to be about $11.5 million) indicated a cost of nearly $140 per net square foot.

The facility contains 81,500 net square feet of storage space divided into more than 800 units, some of which are climate-controlled. The buildings are constructed of concrete block and stucco with metal partitions, roofs and doors.

"Keep It Self Storage has developed several first-class storage facilities in very strong markets," Keller said. "This property has incredible freeway visibility and signage, and is one of the nicest storage facilities in the area. It should perform very well for the new owners."

Bancap Self Storage Group has completed more than $900 million in self-storage sales, including many lender-owned properties and portfolio sales.

Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in more than 2,000 self-storage facilities in 38 U.S. states with approximately 131 million net rentable square feet. Operating under the Shurgard brand name, the company also has 189 facilities in seven European countries with approximately 10 million net rentable square feet.

Storage Post Self Storage has launched an integrated, Spanish-language version of its website in a strategic move to reach a wider demographic. The translated website features information about Storage Post, customized self-storage options and a blog with storage tips.

Spanish-speaking Web users can search for self-storage locations by state, city or ZIP code, and access specific information about each Storage Post facility. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company currently operates self-storage locations in Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York.

"We have been working with Syntes Language Group Inc. to translate our English website into a fully functional and cohesive Spanish language site. Our hope is to attract and serve a broader audience who require self-storage, said Susie O'Connell, vice president of communications. We want to ensure that Storage Post products and services are being communicated to a range of potential customers."

The company also translated its mobile website to provide a complete online experience for Spanish speakers. The mobile site and primary desktop site convert seamlessly when viewing Storage Post's website from a tablet or smartphone.

The Spanish website can be viewed at www.storagepost.com/es. Storage Post officials said they will continue to address customer service and strive to create content accessible to Spanish-speaking site visitors. In addition, Storage Post also plans to increase its marketing and communication strategies toward the Spanish-speaking public.

Early production work on the horror film Self Storage, starring Eric Roberts, Jonathan Silverman and Michael Berryman, began this week at an undisclosed self-storage facility in East Greenwich, R.I. Although the bulk of the cast has yet to arrive on set, lead actor Tom DeNucci was filmed on Tuesday swinging on a rope to a dry-docked sailboat.

DeNucci plays Jake, a night watchman at a highly secured self-storage facility. Under the films premise, Jakes friends are home from college and looking to party, so he invites them to his work to indulge in a night of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. However, the characters find themselves trapped in an evening of pure terror.

Production will take a few weeks, with the crew reportedly shooting 90 percent of the film in East Greenwich.

Self-Storage is the third film developed by Woodhaven Production Co. and Verdi Productions. In addition to his starring role, DeNucci has a producer credit alongside Chad A. Verdi and is directing. The film has a targeted release date of March 2013.

Guardian Self-Storage has started work on building an 80,000-square-foot facility in Superior, Colo. The cost of the three-building project is estimated at $4.8 million. The target date for opening is slated for February 2013.

The self-storage site is near a Costco and other retail destinations, providing traffic visibility.

The new facility will be the companys 13th. Guardian Storage Solutions currently operates two other facilities in Colorado and 10 stores in the Pittsburgh metro area.

ONeil Software, a provider of software solutions for records centers worldwide, has added more features to its RS-SQL Version 4.04 software.

RSMobile Processing is now available as a Windows service, ensuring processing takes place continuously regardless if a user is logged in. Previously, processing had to be initiated at a workstation. Now it can run continuously in the background. The service is configured to start up automatically any time the server is rebooted, without user intervention. Users can view RSMobile Processing from the services console on a computer or server. They can also stop or restart the service if necessary, as well as confirm the service is set to auto-start.

The RSMobile Processing Monitor allows users to view the status of processing and counts from any computer in the network on which it is installed. Users can launch the monitor, see the status of processing, and determine if theyre using the new service or the traditional method. Even if users choose not to use RSMobile Processing, they can install and use the monitor to ensure processing is being completed.

Another new feature is an invoice report that breaks down charges to the sub-account level. Using RS-SQL Reporting Services, the system will gather the detail generated during the invoice creation or reprint process and present the user with a formatted PDF report. This report also includes a summary of the sub-account costs, a detailed section for each sub-account, and how the charges were calculated and distributed. Invoices will print as usual, however, detail information will also be generated.

Technology is an extremely important element of business. Not only does it provide multiple ways of communicating with customers and enhancing service, it automates many of the processes involved in running a business, said Ian Thomas, executive vice president of O'Neil. With the application of technology, critical and time-consuming processes can be executed with ease and in less time. It reduces the work burden and delivers speed, audit and accuracy improvements.

ONeil serves more than 1,000 records centers in more than 80 countries, ranging from start-ups to multi-national companies. In addition to software, the company specializes in barcode tracking, portable printers, wireless handhelds and Web technology.

Inside Self-Storage (ISS) has released a free whitepaper from Linkmedia 360, "Social Media: The Self-Storage Operator's Starter Guide," which will help facility owners and managers promote their business using tools such as Twitter, Facebook and others. The resource is available for download at www.insideselfstorage.com/Whitepapers.

Readers will learn how to build a social-media program, leverage industry best practices, assess the outcome of a social-media strategy and more. Covered topics include:

• An introduction to social media
• Observations of operators' social-media tactics
• Steps to creating a social-media program
• Strategies to leverage best industry practices
• Pros and cons of in-house vs. outsourced social-media management
• Different social-media approaches for storage operators
• Overall outcome of a social-media program

Linkmedia 360 is a direct-response agency specializing in generating local leads for regional and national clients in a diverse range of verticals. The company manages online, print and mobile media programs for more than 100 clients in a wide range of industries, including self-storage. Most recently, the Linkmedia 360 team has developed social-media programs for self-storage operators to build their brand presence and grow their local base of followers and fans.

For more than 20 years, ISS has provided informational resources to self-storage owners, managers, developers and investors. Its educational offerings include a monthly magazine, an online store, annual tradeshows, an extensive website, an education institute and Self-Storage Talk, the industrys largest online community.