Cambridge Investment Co. buys Fort Myers Storage King for $3.88 million

BUYER: Colonial Blvd. Self Storage LLC (Cambridge Investment Co. LLC), Columbia, Md.
SELLER: Storage King LLC
PROPERTY: 2235 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers
PRICE: $3.88 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.83 million, November 2001

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Daniel S. Carusi PA, Fort Lauderdale

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Columbia, Md.-based Cambridge Investment Co. LLC purchased the 75,115-square-foot Storage King self-storage facility for $3.88 million.

The price equated to $52 per net rentable square foot. That figure is near the two-year average price per square foot for industrial space ($50) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

Built in 1969, as a furniture store and warehouse, the property was converted to a self-storage facility in 2002. Occupying a 3.99-acre site, the gated facility features 630 storage units, including 536 climate-controlled or record-storage units. The property also features a manager's office and on-site apartment.

It had a physical occupancy of 69%, but an economic occupancy (units rented as percentage of full rental rate) of about 50%.

Michael Mele, first vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office, handled the transaction.

“It was a distressed property with an absentee owner,” Mele says. “Because the loan on it was so burdensome, the owner had trouble doing maintenance. The roof had leaks, which limited a lot of the ability to lease certain areas.”

Cambridge Investment had the double advantage of being an experienced self-storage owner/operator and offering cash. Its storage facilities include properties in Bonita Springs, Brooksville, Fort Myers, Naples and Sarasota.