The buyer, La Jolla Self Storage LLC, has shelled out $4.7 million for the property. Located at the northwest corner of Miramar Road and Miramar Place, it will serve as the site for the LLC's 200,000-sf project. The proposed self-storage facility is currently slated to open in the spring of 2004.

Gale Bucciarelli of Burnham Real Estate Services ONCOR International acted on behalf of La Jolla Self Storage LLC. The Burnham broker also represented the seller, Miramar Road Auto Center Properties.

An increasing number of self-storage developments have begun to dot the West Coast landscape in recent years, as the region "led the nation during 2002 with nearly 45% of all self-storage construction, totaling approximately 6.2 million sf," according to a Marcus & Millichap report. Investment is especially strong in California, with Marcus & Millichap researchers noting that a large percentage of last year's sales occurred in this state, where the median price was $64 per sf.