Dunne, who is a vice chairman in the firm's Stamford, CT office, tells GlobeSt.com that the deal was closed in two phases and took more than a year to complete. The sale of the five properties closed in late 2008, while the sale of the two development parcels--a 7.7-acre site in Denville and 3.5 acres in Hillsborough--was finalized this month. Dunne declined to release the sale price.

According to Dunne, the long time frame to close the deal was due to the need to get approvals from the towns so that the buyer can now develop self-storage properties on the development sites. "The new owner was buying them conditional on obtaining certain approvals. Those approvals have been given, which enabled us to close earlier this month," Dunne says.

Without giving specifics, Dunne said the buyer paid a "market price" for the properties. He says the buyer used cash and debt to buy the properties, but paid all cash for the development parcels. "Indoor storage is relatively hard to finance as is anything now," Dunne states. "And to get a development deal finished is a challenge in today's world."