Kelly Road Self Storage, a 72,422-square-foot self-storage facility in Fort Myers, Fla., was recently sold to a Maryland-based private investor for an undisclosed sum. The seller was a California-based financial institution.

Situated on approximately 4.15 acres of land, Kelly Road Self Storage was built in 2000 and expanded in 2002. This facility has 499 units, 324 of which are climate-controlled. The property includes a management office and a 2,000-square-foot residential apartment.

The buyer and seller were represented in the transaction by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. The brokers, both from the firm's Tampa, Fla., office, were Michael Mele, a first vice president investments and senior director of the company's National Self-Storage Group, and Adam Wides.

This transaction highlights the significant interest in storage properties located in the south, especially Florida, said Wides.  Florida continues to be an extremely attractive location for self-storage investments among buyers looking to place their capital. For Kelly Road Self Storage, we received more than 19 offers, which allowed the seller to choose from a large pool of well-qualified buyers with proven track records.

Mele added that this was the firms fifth distressed-asset deal of the year. "This transaction demonstrates that the self-storage industry has a long way to go before all of these properties are removed from the books, Mele said.

Marcus & Millichap has more than 1,000 investment professionals in offices nationwide and closed more than 5,000 transactions last year.