KO Storage has entered the North Dakota market with the four-property portfolio purchase of RH Rebel Storage, with two locations in Jamestown, one in Minot and one in Valley City. The former owner, Scott Bintz, is exiting the industry and will return to e-commerce, which he left after selling an online truck-parts business in 2015.

KO now operates 72 facilities across nine states. Founded in 2016, it’s run by partners Ryan Burnet, Andrew Freeman and John Marshalla. The company is actively expanding and has several deals under contract, all expected to close in the next three months, Freeman told the source. It also has several projects in its development pipeline.

Facing a non-compete contract back in 2015, Bintz needed a new business venture. Though he didn’t immediately pursue self-storage, adding it only as a supplement to an existing rig shop, he found the units rented well. He eventually built RH Rebel to 142,896 net rentable square feet. “I realized [that] in order to sell, you probably have to have more than one facility in a B market,” Bintz told the source.

Tom Flannigan and Alex Ihrke of KW Commercial Minneapolis represented Bintz in the transaction and procured KO Storage as the buyer. “Working with Scott Bintz was a uniquely enjoyable experience,” Flannigan told the source. “Only a true rebel would fathom building class-A climate-controlled self-storage in small-town North Dakota, and I was honored to represent him. Scott embodies the idea that you should focus on what you do well, to include fun, and to never make excuses. Those are good lessons for all of us to live by.”

Bintz admitted he may have sold his storage business a year too soon. During talks with KO Storage, which lasted more than a year, he built the Minot location, which “leased up in record speed,” according to Freeman.

In addition to his new online-retail venture, which focuses on truck accessories, Bintz has released “Principle to Fortune,” a book chronicling how he turned his previous e-commerce venture from a basement business to one generating more than $100 million in sales. He’s also invested in multiple startups and is an adjunct professor at the University of Jamestown, the source reported.

KW Commercial is an affiliate brokerage of Argus Self Storage Advisors, a Denver-based network of real estate brokers who specialize in storage properties.

Source:
SpareFoot Storage Beat, E-Commerce Trailblazer Scott Bintz Sells Storage Portfolio in North Dakota