| Other major facilities
have been carefully considered. Phoenix-based
Roll-Lite provided doors with the Storage Master
locking system. "We feel this device has
greatly reduced lock tampering," Gomez
asserts. "The cylinder locks leave nothing
hanging to tempt the potential bolt-cutter."
Mini-Max management refuses to sell any lock that
could be cut with bolt cutters. "Our hasps
are designed with ‘wings’ which inhibit
bolt cutters from getting a bite on the
locks," Gomez says, adding they do
everything possible to discourage tenants from
using their own hanging locks. Instead, the
facility allows tenants to "borrow" the
Storage Master cylinder lock at no charge during
the course of their lease. "The revenue loss
from renting a lock is sacrificed in order to
eliminate the temptation of theft to potential
thieves," Gomez explains. Mini Max is operated by
a staff of seven whom Gomez refers to as his
"A-Team". An 1,800 square-foot, two
bedroom apartment on the second floor of the new
building is provided for resident manager Teresa
Halsey and her
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husband. Patric Strehl,
the on-site security guard, lives in the older
part of the project that adjoins the newer
buildings. Steve Gomez, Ronald’s son, and
his friend, Brad Williams, both recent graduates
of USC, assist with real estate development and
front desk. Dennis Haulsey and Manuel Sanchez,
are "the guys that keep everything
greased," according to Gomez. The third
floor is dedicated to executive offices and
property management. Since opening in 1974,
Mini-Max always remained more than 95 percent
occupied. Current occupancy is at 68 percent.
Despite this, Gomez notes that occupancy is
better than he expected.
"I’m
surprised we were actually able to double our
occupancy," he says, making the point that
Southern California started to feel the recession
right about the time Mini-Max increased its
storage capacity. "We’ve doubled our
occupancy in a year and now we’ve been
holding steady for the last several months."
Gomez predicts
occupancy will
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continue to grow along
with facility recognition. One unique promotion
has generated customer interest for the past two
years. During the holiday season, one of the
4-foot, uppercase letters in the facility’s
illuminated sign is covered to create the words,
"ELF STORAGE". "Talk about mileage
for your dollar," Gomez remarks. "Even
during the summer last year, people would still
call or come in for storage and mention ‘ELF
STORAGE’. You can be sure that we will
continue this unique and original publicity
gimmick for years to come."
Plans are
underway for a third, three-story building. If
completed, it will increase the facility’s
total size to more than 300,000 square feet...
one of the largest on the West Coast. Gomez hopes
all the recent notoriety will help in this
process. "We’ve got an extremely large
facility and one of the problems I have is
getting take-out financing for the construction
loan," he notes. "An award like this is
really going to help us get the attention on
lenders.
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