April 1, 2002

3 Min Read
Price Self Storage

People say location is everything--especially in real estate. The developers of Price Self Storage in San Diego couldn't agree more. Price Self Storage West L.A. LLC, a partnership between Price Self Storage and Calabasas, Calif.-based Ezralow Co., happened upon a choice piece of property in west Los Angeles. The site, just half a mile south of the Santa Monica Freeway, even had a building that could be easily converted to self-storage. And it's not in an industrial area, but smack in the middle of a retail corridor.

Retail neighbors--Albertson's grocery store, Rite-Aid drugstore, and fast-food giants Taco Bell and McDonald's--offered Price Self Storage an ideal marketing opportunity. "We thought it was unique to be able to get a location like this where so many customers frequent every week to buy their groceries," says William Hamilton, company president. Because the facility is located on a main street--La Brea Avenue--roughly 70,000 cars cruise by the facility every day.

Considered the biggest drive-in self-storage facility in California, Price Self Storage opened its very large doors in November. The two-story building encompasses 390,000 square feet on 6 acres. But it's not just its size that sets Price Self Storage apart from its competitors. The developers capitalized on the facility's distinctive features to create a truly innovative self-storage center. The facility was once used as a distribution center for Thrifty stores. The expansive layout enabled the developers to go beyond the typical self-storage design. "When tenants enter the building for the first time, its kind of awe-inspiring," says Hamilton.

The building's entryway and roomy corridors allow passenger cars and moving trucks alike to easily navigate among the facility's 2,250 units. Because the building was originally designed to be a distribution center, the second floor was already built and engineered for truck use. "That was one of the reasons we were able to make the facility a drive-in. It had a large clearance between the first and second floor, and extremely strong floor-load ratios that made it just a natural to adapt," Hamilton says.

Price Self Storage didn't stop with design. The facility also has a number of amenities to entice customers. The units, ranging in size from 5-by-5s to 12-by-30s, have individually alarmed doors. Surveillance systems ensure safety for tenants and their belongings. Ancillary products, including moving and packing supplies, free use of a moving truck complete with a driver, and a full U-Haul dealership, up the customer convenience factor.

Hamilton, a former executive of Price Club, adapted many of the quality and value concepts employed by the warehouse business to his self-storage ventures. "All the things we learned about value and convenience we adapted to our storage," he says. "We want to be convenient. We want to have value. We have to have the cleanest facility in the nation. We charge very fair rates. We provide services."

The company's motto of value and convenience resonates through all nine of its self-storage facilities in California. Hamilton assures it's a concept that will only grow as Price Self Storage continues to develop and open new facilities. "We try and differentiate ourselves by merchandising our buildings differently, having large driveways, and really focusing on what the customer wants, which is value."

For more information, call 858.485.5900; visit www.priceselfstorage.com

Architectural services for Price Self Storage were provided by Valli Architectural Group. For more information, call 949.349.1777; e-mail [email protected].

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