Public Storage to Buy 4 Jepco Self-Storage Facilities in Chattanooga, TN

Public Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT), plans to purchase four Jepco Mini Storage facilities in the Chattanooga, Tenn., area. The REIT already operates five storage facilities in Hamilton County, according to the source. Built over a span of 44 years, the Jepco sites are in Chattanooga as well as the unincorporated communities of East Brainerd and Hixson, and the city of East Ridge. They comprise 392,000 square feet of space in 2,800 storage units.

Owner Joe Proctor, an 82-year-old entrepreneur who started Jepco in 1972, said Public Storage made an attractive offer. "They wanted it bad, and I let them have it. People have approached me for a number of years about my warehouses, but this was just a great offer,” he said, adding that the REIT gave him a $500,000 non-refundable down payment.

Proctor sold two other large warehouses to United Equities Corp. for $18 million last year, the source reported. Built in 2002, the properties are on Crutchfield Wisdom Streets.

The four properties Public Storage is purchasing will end his five-employee business, Proctor said. “But I'm sure I will end up doing something. I play racquetball four times a week and that keeps me going," he added.

Proctor started his own business making cleaning solutions for whitewall tires when he was 19. He was in the chemical business for about 30 years, and operated the chemical and warehouse businesses himself until a decade ago, the source reported.

Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in 2,310 self-storage facilities in 38 states, with approximately 151 million net rentable square feet. Operating under the Shurgard brand name, the company also has 218 facilities in seven European countries, with approximately 12 million net rentable square feet.

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