Ameristor Bloomington, a self storage investment, was an investment vehicle formed by Mark Helm in 2000 that generated a 37.4% return for the investors in a three year period.

In the mid 1990's, Mark performed acquisition work for self storage REITs (real estate investment trust). During that time period, he became familiar with how institutional investors and owners in the self storage industry analyzed and managed facilities. Institutional grade self storage facilities have unique features that are not commonplace in other properties. Security features, retail features and management structures set institutional grade facilities apart from more traditional projects.

Mark Helm designed a strategy whereby he would identify facilities in the region that were not institutional grade, but could be. This business strategy was formed because paramount in the plan, was an exit strategy that would afford the most qualified interest at the highest price. During this analysis, Mark identified a facility in Bloomington Indiana that was under construction with less than 50% occupied. He identified many of the features he was looking for in this type of properties as well as the features that were missing and how these could be put it in place. The acquisition happened 12/31/1999 . A partnership was formed with thirteen investors who invested anywhere from $25,000 to $200,000 with ownership interest was assigned accordingly. A ten year cash flow projection was created detailing projected lease up, returns and values at various stages of the project.

Once the partnership agreement was in place, Mark formed a management company for self storage facilities called Ameristor. The management was put in place in the facility and an aggressive lease up began. The project reached over 80% in less that twelve months (exceeding projections) and stabilized at over 87% (2% above industry standards). Tight management controls kept the accounts receivables very low (below 5%, again below industry standards) and implemented many of the features institutional investors seek, as well as additional profit centers such as truck rental and outside storage.

The project was proceeding ahead of plan, when it caught the interest of a regional self storage company, REIT from Pennsylvania . None of the properties Ameristor owned or managed were being marketed, but due to the quality of the investment, institutional players in the industry begain noticing the progress and making unsolicited offers. Eventually, the partnership received what amounted to a 7% CAP offer, a value Mark Helm had not projected until over 4 years later. The investors in the project elected to take their profits early and the project was sold creating a 37.4% return for all of the partners.

Mark Helm continues to form partnerships for self storage and other product types infusing his expertise and management structure to afford investors the benefit of owning quality commercial and investment real state without having to begin at square one. Call Mark at 502.897.1200 for information on the next upcoming real estate investment opportunities.

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