Self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) Extra Space Storage Inc. appointed Diane Olmstead to the companys board of directors, effective Jan. 1. Olmstead is the co-CEO of W3 Partners, a real estate management company, which she co-founded in 2009 with Susan Sagy. Olmstead oversees W3's acquisitions, financing activities, fundraising and client relations. She has 32 years of direct experience in investing, corporate finance and raising capital. During that time, she originated and closed more than $2 billion in loans, property acquisitions and joint ventures, and has executed the workout and restructuring of $1.3 billion in real estate assets.

Prior to founding W3, Olmstead was a principal at real estate investment firm CIM Group from 2005 to 2009. She opened the companys San Francisco office where she headed acquisitions and development in northern California and the Pacific Northwest, and was a voting member of the companys investment committee. From 2000 to 2005, Olmstead was an executive vice president of iStar, responsible for all activities in the companys western region, including origination of structured finance transactions and acquisition of triple-net lease assets. From 1983 to 2000, Olmstead worked in positions of asset management, lending, acquisitions and equity-raising with Arthur Andersen LLP, USF&G Corp., Cigna Corp. and Aetna Inc.

Olmstead received an MBA from Pepperdine University. She serves on the board of Mercy Housing Inc. and Synedgen Inc., and is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Development.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space owns or operates 1,007 self-storage properties in 35 states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico. The companys properties comprise approximately 667,000 units and 74 million square feet of rentable space.