Budget Mini Storage at 104 Holleman Dr. was sold by Jerry Etheridge of College Station, developer of the decade-old property. Don Clements in the Houston office for Marcus & Millichap tells GlobeSt.com that mini-storage facilities in Texas A&M University's homeport, about 100 miles northwest of Houston, are generally about 70% filled during winter months and fully leased in the summer. At sale time, the Budget Mini Storage was pushing 80% occupancy.

Clements says the Holleman Drive facility, situated on two acres, was on the market about 90 days for slightly less than $1.3 million before National Self Storage put in a contract so it could get a second holding in the region to build economies of scale for management. The buyer owns 499 units about eight miles away at 741 N. Harvey Mitchell Parkway in Bryan, a sister city to College Station. Clements says the deal closed with financing from Morgan Stanley.

Clements says Etheridge decided to dispose of the asset because of the strength of the investment sales market. The mini-storage market has been particularly active as some self-storage REITs eliminate non-core properties. Just recently, Storage USA recently sold 30 facilities. Clements says he's marketing another facility for another major leaguer in an industry in which the pendulum of ownership swings from REITs and institutions to private entrepreneurs and small corporations.