interiox

Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and be glad it's not you

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This is my week by week account of what I went through building this project. It starts in 2005 and ends in 2009. (This was started before "BLOG" was even a word).
This is 100% real, from the heart. The good, the bad, and the really bad. It is all in here.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions or comments. Ted Deits 714-280-4201

Week of December 12th, 2005:

We have entered into Escrow with Fidelity National Title. The initial deposits have been made and the Due Diligence period begins. Soil studies are under way, with completion expected shortly after Christmas. Prelim Title reports are in and approved, as well as Seller's Disclosure Statements. So far, there are no obstacles.

First potential problem - There is a street bordering the southern portion of the property, 2nd street. Actually, there is no street there, but it is showing up on the title reports. We need to find out if there will be a street, or if it is just an idea that was forgotten about years ago. Normally this would not pose any problem at all, but with the easement there, it forces us to do a 40' set back or in simpler terms, we loose almost 25,000 square feet of otherwise usable property. We will be paying the city a visit next week.

Miles, our Architect has put together a plot plan that has been posted on the web site. It is just a starting point. Building elevations and details are being prepared for submittal to the Planning Department. This should occur after Christmas. Side note-I am finding myself having to learn how to spell words I normally don't use, like "Eucalyptus", and "Architect". I guess you are never too old...

I am building the web site and preparing the initial marketing materials. I will have this done by December 19th.

Week of December 20th, 2005

I finished the web site as well as the initial marketing materials. A bulk mailer will go out as soon as the post office forwards the business reply permit artwork. This is not a good week to try and get anything done, especially as far as the post office is concerned.

The Phase one study came in yesterday, with perfect results. The search went back to 1933. It was interesting to find out the property has been laying vacant for almost 45 years. We also received the easement report, with nothing of any concern. In fact, there are not any easements at all. Really unusual.

Have been setting up meetings with several construction lenders for next week and after the new year. (This is a time of year when you here that a lot)..."After the first of the year". January 5th is D-Day. That is when all the contracts mature and there is no turning back. I don't plan to.

I have been getting lots of positive feed back on this project and the concept of "Storage Condos". It is really reassuring to hear that, especially when you are "All In".

Merry Christmas!

Week of December 27th, 2005

This week is turning out to be a difficult week to get anything done. The City of Beaumont is closed for the entire week, making the resolution of any easement issues all but impossible. Most lenders (construction) are working at half speed, since half of their staff is on vacation or simply missing. I did meet with one lender at the property on Wednesday, and he had great words of encouragement. He did not see anything that would impede the construction process. The one hurdle to get over is the location of the sewer tie in. It is a run of about 250', across a 3rd street. The only good news is the run is all downhill. The bad news is it will be really expensive to trench that distance. I figure the dump station will cost about $65,000. That is one expensive hole in the ground. I hope the future owners appreciate what went into something seemingly as simple as a dump station.

I did receive the Phase One soils report and all is good. In fact it is exceptional. Rare in California.The property has not been used since 1933 as far as we can tell. That is about all I have to report for this week. Next week should be really interesting.

Week of January 2nd, 2006

This week went really well. Actually, it is a short week, as I am going skiing for the weekend. I just can't let all the new snow go to waste. I think I have earned my day off with some really great progress. First off, the contracts matured today. It was my last chance to back out without losing any money. (In the Real Estate Game, it is called "Going Hard", meaning, NO REFUNDS)! Well I am past that point, and I never had any reservations about the property, and would only back out if there were issues with the soils, such as contaminants or such. As mentioned in earlier reports, the soil is squeaky clean.

The best news is the issue with 2nd Street. You know, the street that doesn't really exist, but shows on the maps. Well, the City agrees with us that the street can never be built, and they granted us zero lot line set backs. Effectively, allowing us to build an additional 10 buildings. That will reduce the sales price of all the units about 5%. So, with that bit of good news, I figured I have earned a ski day or two. Maybe if you become an owner of one of these units, you will appreciate these efforts.

Miles, my Architect, who you could have blown over with a feather at the City today, since he was expecting a fight over 2nd street, (Must be from dealing with OC cities), called with what he called a revelation. He would not go into any details, suffice to say that the overall appearance of the project has taken a giant leap forward. That's all he would say. I have to wait to next week to find out what it is. Ooh, pins and needles! :-)

I know several of you have asked for me to mail out some plot maps, and I will. With the new set backs, we have to go back and expand things a bit. So, hang in there, they should be ready to mail next week.

Week of January 16th, 2006

Things have been pretty boring as of late. Everyone is busy working and developing plans and having discussions with the City of Beaumont. Mostly minor issues, not even worth discussing on this page.

One minor legal issue did come up that is being worked out right now. It is a no-big-deal kinda thing, but something that shouldn't be ignored.

While I was expecting to have a semi-final plot plan and elevations done last week, it is looking like they won't be available untill later this week. I will post them as soon as I receive them.

Reservations are brisk, at the rate of about four per day. Thank you to all who have taken the time to reserve their interest. For those of you reading this, and you have not made your Interest Reservations, I suggest you do so, as the interest in this project is gaining steam. The Interest Reservations are painless, and will provide you with monthly e-mail updates on building progress, and will give you the opportunity to purchase a unit weeks before they go on sale to the general public.

We have a bulk mailer going out next week, fourteen thousand in total, so the reservations will really take off then. So far, it has just been word of mouth among RVer's and such.

Week of January 27th, 2006

Where has this month gone? It has just whizzed by. Spring is just around the corner.

This week was moderately busy and rewarding. We have resolved the minor issues with the purchase of the property, and we are set to close on Wednesday the first. A very exciting time in my life and my family's. I picked up the semi-final plot plan on Friday and the building count is at 94 units. We have included a community meeting room/clubhouse in the project, so the building count may actually go up by two by the time the meeting room is designed. The meeting room will have an interior height of about 20 feet, and we will build it so if the community decides, we can add a second story for offices or whatever. The elevations, or the exterior designs of the building should be ready by the end of next week. The plot plan, for those who have been asking for it, will be posted on the web site by Tuesday of next week. Elevations will follow in a week or so.

Week of February 10, 2006

We spent most of this week in meetings with Civil Engineers, discussing grading, plumbing, curbs-gutter and sidewalks. Not very exciting stuff, but all very necessary. We have made our decision on the Civil Engineer, and will engage him next week.

The soils engineering company went out last Friday to mark the Underground Services Alert, (USA), if you have ever seen that spray painted on the streets or sidewalks now you know what that means. It is a marking indicating where buried utilities are located. Once that was done, the drill rig went onto the property on Wednesday and started drilling hollow core samples in 10 locations, about 50 feet deep. This is being done so the calculations for compaction of the soil is correct, so the cement slabs will not crack. Speaking of cement, we have decided to go with Post Tension Concrete. This is a far more expensive process than standard poured concrete, but it eliminates any substantial cracking in the slab.With big heavy RV's parking on the concrete, we all feel it is a good idea.

Elevations will be completed by the end of next week and will be posted on this web site as soon we can. This is where the fun stuff begins. We are on track so far. Keep your fingers crossed.

Week of March 3rd, 2006

The elevations did come in, however, they are still not very pretty or even descriptive to to common person like you and I. Based on that, I am not going to post them, since they would create a ton of questions and frankly, they don't really do the project justice. We will have better looking colored elevations soon. Those I will post so everyone can get an idea of what this will really look like. I know you will like it, since we are putting quite a bit into appearances, so to avoid the sterile (Public Storage) appearance. And no, there will NOT be any orange doors! :-).

I attended the ISS, (Inside Self Storage) show this week. This is a convention where all the self storage vendors gather to share their knowledge. I was surprised there were few if any other developers doing storage condos. One person I met, Dan Ryan is doing a similar project in Redding California. He has some really interesting ideas, and I am certain he and I will be exchanging ideas in the near future. Besides, he bought me dinner, so he can't be all bad. Thanks Dan! Send him an E-Mail if you are interested in areas north of here. I am certain he would appreciate it.

Anyway, for the most part, we are just waiting around for the engineers and others to finish their work, then we go before the City for formal approval of our plans. I doubt I will be doing much updating since it is a "hurry up and wait" process for the next month or so. If anything does come up, you will read about it here.

Week of March 17, 2006

Where has this month gone? It is over half over and I have nothing to show for it. Actually, that may not be all that true. First off, we received the preliminary soils report. It was all good news. The soils company drilled several holes in the property, about 50' deep. From these hole they extracted core samples to be analyzed in the lab. The initial reports came back glowing. No liquefaction issues, no groundwater issues, no real issues at all. Their recommendation is to remove 5' of top layer, then re-compact it. This will make for an outstanding foundation for the slabs under the building. It is expensive, but it is the proper way to do it.

We met with the Civil Engineers on Tuesday, and their initial take on the property is that it's location and the way the property is situated is unusual, in a good way. They don't see any real challenges at all, just your basic engineering type stuff. They are moving forward.

I have hired a designer to help with the interior design of the clubhouse, and exterior textures. As you know, most guys are color blind. If it were up to me, pink and orange would be the color scheme. :-) . This will help speed up getting some colored elevations on the site.
Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with the way this project is turning out.

Week of March 21, 2006

Many of you have inquired about what type of fire protection will be included in the building. Up until now, I was not sure. But since our engineers have looked at the buildings, the layout, and most importantly, what will be inside each building, we have all come to agreement that each unit will have fire sprinklers. That is the good news. The bad news is this feature will help drive up the price of the units. How much? I am guessing about $1500 per unit, but that is only a guess. Frankly, I am not all that surprised about the sprinklers, but I was hoping for a less expensive solution, but there just isn't any. In the long term, we will recover the costs by less insurance costs.

We also discussed using a post tension concrete pad (crack protection) for each of the buildings. Since we are going to dig up the entire property to a depth of 5' and re compact it, the engineers feel pretty comfortable with a 5' concrete slab, with wire re-enforcement, using 4500 psi concrete. That system will support about a 56,000# load. No final decision has been made, but that looks like the direction we are headed.

Water quality is a big issue during the design stages of this project. We are trying to design a system to take the water off of the roofs and common pavement area, seperate the hydrocarbons (oil to you and me), and put the cleaned water back in the ground. It is a great idea. The execution is the hard part. We are continuing to work on that process.

Our neighbor to the east of us, Ted Burton on the 200 block of Maple Ave, was just granted his permits to build 66,000 Sq. Ft of industrial condos. We are hoping we can dove tail some of the utility work with him and save both of us some $. You can view his approval Here

Interest reservations are still building momentum as word spreads. Reservations are over 10x what we will build in the first phase. The day we start taking firm reservations will be interesting.

Week of March 31, 2006

Not a whole lot has been going on this week. I am meeting with our first general contractor for an interview and to get his/her take on this project as a whole. The engineers are busy with whatever an engineer does, besides sending me bills and paper with lots of numbers and lines. :-). I had a brief conversation with our neighbor Ted Burton, who if you have been following this, was just granted permits to move ahead with his project. I asked Ted how the city was to deal with. His response was there were no real problems. I just takes time to move the plans from department to department. With 27,000 homes and buildings slated to go up, it is no wonder it takes a lot of time. Other than the time issue, he said everything went smoothly. I heard Beaumont is the 3rd fastest growing community in the U.S. WOW!

So, to summarize, all is good, all is moving forward. We don't see any issues in the near future.

Week of April 21st, 2006

I spoke to our engineering firm, and what with the wet weather over the last few weeks, little if any work has been done. One of the most important tasks to complete is called and aerial survey. They actually fly over the property and take very detailed pictures of this property and bordering properties. From these photos, they will start the survey work and formulate the grading plans and most everything else needed to build this project. With the cloud cover of recent weeks, this makes it impossible to take pictures. As of this writing, the flyover has been completed and the photos will be delivered to the engineers by early next week. From this point on, things really get on the fast track. We expect to go before the city in about 4 weeks with our plans and drawings. Once we get the approval from city planning, we then can really put the pedal to the metal and finish all the grading, utilities, drainage, landscaping and other plans.

By next week, the illustrator should be done with some really detailed drawings of the project and of the clubhouse. From these drawings, we can begin to put together some literature and sales brochures. Speaking of sales, we expect to release pricing on the units by about June 1st. Those of you that have registered will be among the first to see the pricing schedule. At that point, refundable deposits will be accepted on the unit of your choice, along with the schedule of construction start dates. If you have not registered yet, it would be a good idea to do so, as the list of pre-registered buyers is getting quite long. We expect to sell out our first phase within days of releasing the price lists and available buildings.

Week of April 25th, 2006

Not really a weekly update, but the news is great! We have just finished the colored elevations of the entrance to the facility and of two of the storage units, each a different size. (13' and 16' units). Go HERE for all the details

More later in the week. It is late and I am tired.

April 27th, 2006

I met with my architect today and we went over some more "realistic" colors for the buildings. He took a look at my color choices and all he could say was they were "interesting". Hmmm, not a good sign. I guess it is true, most guys are color blind. Just a side note, the elevations on the web site now will be replaced next week with what we hope to be the final color scheme. I tried to color the drawings using my Photoshop skills, and I guess it came out "interesting" :-( . The next series of drawings will be professionally done and really outstanding, though I didn't think mine were ALL that bad.

Time for my first rant

Without pointing fingers, or naming names, I find myself defending this project with other "Industry" know-it-alls. By industry, I mean the Self Storage industry in general. It seems, they want to push me in the direction of building design that has been used in the Self Storage Rental arena for years and years. Many have standardized construction designs that are well suited for rental operations. I try and explain that these are not rental units, and should not be built to the same standards. I am trying to break the mold so-to-speak, and keep getting pushed back by some. I realize they don't mean any harm, but I really get the feeling that this "Condo Concept" is striking a nerve in the old tried and true Self Storage/mini storage brand of thinking. Maybe it is time for some to turn their thinking around. From the number of calls I get, all starting with " I am thinking of building the exact same thing in "X", how do I do it?" I guess there is a bit of a movement or market shift going on here, especially with RV's. Those of you thinking of calling. please don't think of this as a slam, I am always glad to talk about this project and share what I know, or don't know, which is plenty. I am just pointing out a few interesting market developments or trends.

I have done a ton of "out of the box" projects in the past,from installing web cams around the world in 1995 (to view the surf)now surfline.com, to working with the IRS in 1988 on the early stages of the internet developing "transmitting" of data over phone lines, to being the first one to actually allow the general public to fill out a 1099 form on the internet and have it transmitted directly to the IRS, (That was a flop by the way, too early in the internet game. It was before secure connections were around and most didn't quite get it.) But nothing I have done has raised as much interest as this little project has. I am really looking forward to bringing this product to market and hopefully to many other markets around the country.

(End Rant)

Whew, I feel better now.

May 12th, 2006

Whew, where do it start? It has been a really busy week. To start off with, the engineers have delivered the topography map, commonly called the "topo map". This is a very detailed map of the property, showing all the slopes, dips, hills and valleys. This is considered the bible for the grading plan which pretty much dictates how and where the buildings will be located. Miles, my Architect during all of our preliminary drawings, used a best guess on where the buildings will be, and behold, he nailed it within about 18". Some good news is there was a slope on the south end of the property that we thought was on our property. As it turns out, it is not. In fact, we might be able to add a few units, but we will know for sure in the next 10 days.

We will again be posting the third and final site plan in about two weeks. We have worked out the building size mix, and locations of each building. We will then be able to have a concrete building count within that time frame. We are contacting Ted Burton, our neighbor to the east, who is building some industrial units, to coordinate the landscaping design. This is a good idea since we both share the same street (maple) and I would like the landscaping and fencing to coordinate as much as possible. (Martha Stewart, where are you when I need you?)

Many of you have been asking about pricing, and I still am hesitant to release anything along those lines just yet. I have to be certain before I get everyone s hopes up. Back-peddling after-the-fact is something I just don't want to do.

Reservations continue to astound me. The numbers are truly staggering, and continue to amaze me. The interest in this project is reaching nearly a fever pitch. Phone calls are streaming in with questions and suggestions. Please, keep them coming. I need all the suggestions I can get.

We have posted some of the final building elevations on the web site Here . We will be submitting our plans to Design Review at the City of Beaumont in about two weeks....Drum roll please... We will know then if the City approves of our design. I can't see any reason why not, but then again, you just never know. Worse case, they will just bounce it back with a few minor changes.

Next order of business is hiring a General Contractor. Big decisions ahead. Oh yeah, one other thing. People have mentioned how long this whole Blog is getting. I will work on breaking it up into more manageable pages.

May 22nd, 2006

On Friday, I received the latest site plan which can be found Here It is a .PDF file. Some have mentioned that they can't read those files, since the print is so small. Look at the top of the file, and you will see a magnifying glass Icon. Click on it and the file will increase in size, making it much easier to view.
Additionally, we are getting ready to release PHASE ONE. This will include 26 buildings. You can view the color keyed legend HERE
Just how we are going to release this will be a bit of a trick. Since our waiting list is so long, we want to make certain everyone will get the same opportunity to purchase at the same time. Since our waiting list is comprised of both those with e-mail addresses and those without, to make it fair, we will have those who have signed up via e-mail, register one more time, only this time, include their mail address. We will then send out all of the packages at the same time, giving everyone the opportunity to review the information and make an informed decision at the same time.
It looks like next week we will go before the City with our plans. Once they give us their comments and suggestions, we will make the required changes, and will then be able to set the prices for the phase one of this project. I suspect by the middle of July all the needed information will be in.

One last thing. I am making the Supreme sacrifice.....My RV is for sale, OUCH :-(. Go Here Sniff, sniff.

June 15th, 2006

Wow! What a whirlwind of activity in the last three weeks. Lots of good news and progress on this project.

My attorneys have come back with some incredible news regarding the time frame for getting the necessary county and city approvals for the condominium plans. As it turns out, many of the legal challenges have been removed, and the cost and time savings for both you and I are fantastic. Effectively, the cost of each unit will be reduced by at least $1,000 each, and the construction time has been compressed by at least 60 days. Someone, pinch me.

We have submitted our plans to the City of Beaumont and the County of Riverside Fire Department. We will have comments and conditions of approvals by the end of June. Our illustrator has produced some beautiful elevations of the entire project. Up until now, as you know, we have been posting pictures on a piece meal basis as they become available. Well now we have the entire package that I will post on the web site in a day or so. It is really impressive stuff. These pictures will really give you a good idea of where this project is going, "really above and beyond".

I continue to get approached by other developers who really like this concept. Most notable is http://www.garagetown.com. They have one million square feet under construction in areas like Idaho, Colorado, Arizona and Washington State. I hope to follow their lead with several more projects of this type. There are many others also doing the same thing in other areas, like Florida and other eastern locations. This truly is catching on nationwide. I am glad to be a small part of it.

We have hired our General Contractor, and decided on the building manufacturer. The engineers will finish up the preliminary work by the end of June, that includes the Tentative Parcel Map, Grading, Water Retention, (the facility, not me :-) ) and a few other things I am certain I am forgetting.

I am leaving for a family vacation. I am taking my 6 and 8 year old to the Rain Forest in Costa Rica so they can experience the jungle and lean about animals they could only otherwise see in a zoo. We are all really excited. I will be back on the 26th of June. Until then, thank you for taking the time to read this. Adios!

BTW...It has been 7 months since we started this Blog. Time really does fly!

July 12th, 2006

This is one of those days when the sun shines a bit brighter, the birds chirp a little louder, and the fish just about jump into the boat. It just does not get much better....The City of Beaumont has approved our project without ANY CONDITIONS!! Let me repeat....WITHOUT ANY CONDITIONS!! This, I am told is a rare in the development game. Normally, you can expect the cities to require things like traffic signals, new parks etc. The City of Beaumont said "This is a great project and we thank you for submitting a completed package". Hats off to Miles our Architect. He did a great job and saved us weeks of time in getting this project ready for public hearings. I can't tell you how pleased I am with the outcome of all the work and design Miles and I did.

Now we will complete our construction drawings, the remaining engineering, water quality, grading and utility drawings and submit to the city for review and our final approval. Once that is attained, we will pull permits and construction will begin. When? We are looking at early October. (In my best Billy Crystal Voice...."Yeee Haaa!!!")

August 3rd, 2006

This project has progressed so well since we began in December, something was bound to go wrong. Well, the "other shoe" has indeed dropped. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, the project was approved without any conditions, which is pretty rare in the construction game. HOWEVER, my neighbor on the other side of Maple Street (Ted Burtons Underground), ran into a snag. The City is requiring him to tear up Maple Street, and lower it by about three feet. Seems there is a crown or hump in the street that the city would like to have removed. Naturally, they put it on the backs of the developers, Ted B. and myself, to correct the defects in construction on their own street. Go figure, but that is how the game is played so I am told.

Anyway, Ted and I have been talking this issue out and have decided that it would be in the best interest for both of us if we share the cost of this project. For me (or you and I) the cost differential is almost nil, since by lowering Maple, that could very well eliminate the need for a large, VERY expensive retaining wall. So the cost savings of not having to install the wall, is just about the same of lowering the street. So I guess you could say we are treading water.

Sounds rosy doesn't it? Well, it isn't. It gets ugly at this point. I won't name names, but a person in the city, who dreamed up this lowering of Maple, refuses to provide any drawings, elevations, or even the slightest suggestion on how much to lower the street, where to lower the street etc. We are being stonewalled at this point. Many phone calls have been made to this person, without any response. We are stuck with nowhere to move. We can't finish our grading, final site plans, or even come close to pulling permits. In other words, everything has come to a screeching halt.

Such is the life of a developer. It was so much fun up to this point. Now, I can see where the political aspects of development comes in. I don't do political. I am feeling really uncomfortable at this point.I am no longer in control. The entire project hangs by one person at the City who has zero financial interest, and from what I can tell, is playing a power game. Sad and very frustrating.

As soon as we receive any additional news I will post it here.

August 9th, 2006

Things are back on track, as the design requirements for Maple Street have been released and our engineers can finish the street profiles and we can finally set out site plan in concrete, so-to-speak. Final details on the Club House and the addition of the showers in the restrooms are being completed this week. My contractor will be finishing up the building budget so I can finally get prices out to all of you. Look for an e-mail in the next few weeks announcing the unit pricing on phase one.

September 5th, 2006

Delays, delays, delays. As much as I try, I am having all kinds of trouble getting many of the tasks done due to layers and layers of bureaucracy. Many of the current issues such as the profile for the regrading of Maple Ave just sits there with no real movement or direction. We had a large meeting last Wednesday with all my people and Ted Burtons people (he is also developing the property on the other side of Maple). The meeting went well, and many questions have been answered, or will be answered in the near future. However, both of us are stuck on the city required Maple Ave issue. It is turning into a gorilla.

Routing for the sewer remains an issue. We have two choices so far. Neither is cheap or fast. Our engineer will have some answers on that issue in a few weeks. I will write a bit more later, but now it is late, and frankly, I am not in a very good mood.

September 6th, 2006

The sun is shining a little brighter today. The birds are chirping and I managed to get out early this morning and spent a little time in the surf. Nothing like a little salt water therapy! While the sewer issue is still haunting us, the rest of the project is picking up steam and moving forward at what I consider a decent pace. Some key documents were delivered today to my contractor and now he can get the budget finished and I can get all the sales prices out to the masses in a few weeks. There are still a few nagging issues that I have to tackle, but they are actually pretty small, but nagging just the same.I am headed to Las Vegas on Thursday for a Self Storage Association convention (yawn). I'll be back on Friday with a new fresh attitude!

September 15th, 2006

The Las Vegas show was quite informative and I did learn quite a few things. One notable item was the security for each of the condo units. I was under the mistaken impression that each unit would have to be monitored by an outside service, such as ADP or some other alarm company at a cost of about $30 per unit per month. Well, I discovered that the best solution would be to have one alarm company monitor the entire facility at a cost of less than $300 a month, or less than $3.00 per unit per month. Additionally, we have decided to include alarms in each unit as a standard feature. More on this item later.

The best news is our General Contractor has finished the entire construction budget. We came in exactly where I thought we should be. The unit costs should work out to be very reasonable for everyone concerned. The final bit of preliminary engineering was finished today, the grading plan. That also worked out to a tee. (For those in the construction industry, the lot has balanced). That means we don't need to export or import any dirt at all. A distinct cost and time savings.

All of the literature for the sales packets will be in next week and we will begin assembling them over the next two weeks. They will all go out on October 17th, so if you have not signed up on the reservations list, I suggest you do so. Based on the number of phone calls and intense interest in the project, I feel the first phase release will be sold out in a day or so.

October 4th, 2006

The good news just continues to pour in. I had a meeting with our Civil Engineers and all the plans are done. Hydrology, sewer, 98% of the grading plan, site plan, building elevations, drainage etc. It was really nice to see a completed set of plans. It has taken us 11 months to get to this point. If someone had told me it was going to take this long, I never would have believed them, and frankly, I probably never would have started this project. However, I am glad there is at least some light at the end of the tunnel. Other contractors/developers continue to contact me almost on a daily basis. It seems this concept has really caught on. I had a feeling it would.

Those of you fortunate enough to purchase a first phase unit will have their pick of the cream-of-the-crop. Additionally, many fledgling investors are picking up units for rental and the possibility of future appreciation. When you run the numbers, it does pencil out really well, what with the continued tightening of RV storage in Southern California. I shudder to think what will happen when the 2500 RV's stored at the old El Toro Marine base get their walking papers. It will be a certainly be a crisis.

Phase one will be released on October 17, 2006. All the sales packets will go out on that day. On October 6th, the reservations will be discontinued since I just cannot keep up with the new reservations. I need to have a break point where I can assemble all of the addresses and get all the sales packets assembled. All units will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. I know of no other way to handle it. In the event there are multiple requests for the same unit on the same day, I will use the original reservations list that started in 2005 and look to see who signed up first to determine who is awarded the unit in question. Our server records the date and time down to the second.

Best of luck to all of you.

October 24th, 2006

WOW! What a week it has been. The demand for the first phase was incredible. Phones, e-mails, faxes all at once, all in two days. It was just about overwhelming, but at the same time, very flattering.

Those of you that hand delivered checks and I had a chance to meet you, indicates the neighborhood will be one of really nice caring people. I really enjoyed meeting all of you. For those of you I didn't meet, I am looking forward to meeting you at the ground breaking soon to come. I have been so busy with the events leading up to the sell out today, I have not been very involved in the plan development. I checked with my Architect and he assures me everything is on track and smooth. We did make some minor changes to the site plan, with the inclusion of additional wider units. Most of which will have 16' wide doors. Many of you asked for that, and we plan to deliver. We have to go back and change a few things, but for the most part, I was able to make those changes, but after this week, the design and layout is set in concrete. It can't be changed.

Anyway, thank you to all who made this dream a reality. You have done your part, now I will do mine. You will all be proud.

November 9th, 2006

A nice article was just published in the Mini-Storage Messenger, a very popular self storage trade publication. You can read the article Here It is a .pdf file, so it will download quickly.

E-mail me with any questions or comments, or call at 1.877.316.7982.

Ted Deits

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

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