The William Warren Group Inc. (WWG), a real estate company that operates the StorQuest Self Storage chain, has named Kent Christensen as its chief operating officer. Christensen is the former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Extra Space Storage Inc., a position he held for five years. For the eight previous years, he was the company's senior vice president and CFO. At WWG, he will be in charge of institutional capital relationships, internal infrastructure development and will assist in strategic partnerships to lead the company in various growth strategies.

Christensen was an instrumental figure in the development of Extra Space into a publically traded real estate investment trust. In his new role, he will work closely with Bill Hobin, WWG's president and CEO, in the expansion of the companys growing self-storage portfolio in the western United States.

In the past few years, self-storage has matured as a property type in the eyes of Wall Street, investors and banks," Christensen said. "There has been and will continue to be a difference in the performance of a self-storage property depending on the owner or manager of the property. The difference in performance of the properties will allow larger companies to consolidate the industry. I have teamed with a very experienced management team to participate in this consolidation. I know we have some great opportunities in front of us, and I am excited about growing another business.

Before joining Extra Space, Christensen worked for 10 years as the CFO at Source One Management, designing  and installing financial and accounting systems. Additionally, he worked at KPMG Peat Marwick.

Based in Santa Monica, Calif., WWG is a privately held real estate company that develops, acquires and operates income-producing real estate assets in Arizona, California, Colorado and Hawaii. For the past 12 years, the company has focused on the self-storage industry, operating facilities under the StorQuest trade name. It is also interested in pursuing property types including multi-tenant incubator industrial parks, live-work-hobby loft space and mini contractor storage yards.