Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown to Speak at the CSSA's Owners Symposium

The California Self Storage Association (CSSA) has announced that former San Francisco Mayor Willie Lewis Brown Jr. will be a key speaker at the 6th Annual Northern California Owners Symposium on Tuesday, April 17, 2012. Brown will speak about the California government and its fiscal challenges at the event which is expected to draw nearly 200 attendees.

Brown served as a two-term Mayor of San Francisco from 1996 to 2004. He was also a legendary Speaker of the California State Assembly from 1980 to 1995 and is widely regarded as the most influential African-American politician of the late twentieth century.He has been at the center of California politics, government, and civic life for four decades, and heads the Willie L. Brown, Jr., Institute on Politics and Public Service, where this acknowledged master of the art of politics shares his knowledge and skills with a new generation of California leaders.

The event will be held at The Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California. Other speakers at this year's event includes Spencer Kirk, CEO of Extra Space Storage (www.extraspace.com), KC Conway, MAI, CRE, executive managing director of real estate analytics at Colliers Valuation, and employment law specialist Lisa Barnett Sween, a partner at Lewis, Beisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP (www.lbbslaw.com).

"We are proud to have The Honorable Willie Brown as one of our speakers at the 6th Annual Northern California Owners Symposium,” says California Self Storage Association Executive Director Erin King. "We look forward to hosting this full-day event that will feature compelling ‘need to know' sessions by noted industry experts who will focus on what every self-storage owner and operator needs to know to successfully navigate through the challenges of 2012.”

For more information about the 6th Annual Northern California Owners Symposium or to register for the event, please visit www.californiaselfstorage.org or contact the California Self Storage Association at (949) 783-4130.

Bancap Self Storage Group Begins Marketing of Lender-Owned Self Storage Property in Orange County

Bancap Self Storage Group, Inc., the “#1 Self Storage Broker in California,” recently announced that it has begun marketing and sales activities for the lender owned self storage property known as Newport Mesa Self Storage in the city of Costa Mesa, California. The firm was selected as the exclusive listing broker for the Orange County facility.

Newport Mesa Self Storage is a three-story self storage property located on Newport Boulevard in the city of Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It is currently operating under the Storage Direct trade name. The property is located on a busy frontage road with freeway visibility along the busy 55 (Costa Mesa) Freeway. This freeway is the main connection between Newport Beach and the rest of the Orange County metropolitan area.

The project contains approximately 37,870 net square feet of storage space in 480 rental units. The property is currently at 62% occupancy by unit count and 72% occupancy by rentable square footage. Economic occupancy currently stands at about 65% of the gross potential rental income. As the average occupancy in the area is approximately 90%, it appears this property has significant upside potential to increase value with higher occupancy and income.

“There have been very few storage properties available for sale in Southern California and especially in Orange County,” said Dean Keller, President of Bancap Self Storage Group. “This is a rare opportunity to purchase a well located facility in a very desirable market, with tremendous upside potential.”

Costa Mesa is well known for its retail (including the renowned South Coast Plaza), higher education (including Orange Coast College and Vanguard University) and its arts and entertainment (including the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.) The city is ideally located with close proximity to commercial, industrial and residential districts around the Orange County / John Wayne Airport area. It is also closely associated with its coastal neighbor, the world famous Newport Beach.

The property was recently obtained through foreclosure and the foreclosing lender/owner is represented by LNR Partners, LLC as the special servicing agent for the note-holders. LNR Partners has engaged Platinum Storage Group to provide professional property management services for the property. LNR has previously engaged Bancap Self Group as its exclusive broker – most recently in the sale of the Casino Self Storage property in Moorpark, California.

Bancap Self Storage Group is the top selling broker of self storage facilities in California with over $900 million in completed sales. The company has specialized exclusively in self storage properties for over 25 years. The firm has recently brokered several lender-owned “REO” properties, as well as several first-class high occupancy properties that were very profitable. The firm has also facilitated numerous self storage portfolio sales in the state.

For more information contact Dean Keller, President of Bancap Self Storage Group at (949) 888-5355 or visit the company web site at www.bancapselfstorage.com