Dennis A. Peterson, President, The Laurel Company
B.A., CERTIFIED PROPERTY MANAGER
Managing Partner, AMERICAN SELF STORAGE L.L.C.

Mr. Peterson began in the real estate business in 1971.  He came to choose the field of real estate after graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1963.  He also has an extensive experience with investments serving as a stock broker with Morgan Stanley and as a Regional Vice President of a major investment counseling firm.  He started with Santa Barbara’s leading real estate firm and in a short time was responsible for the training of sales personnel.  He was subsequently appointed to lead and operate the investment department of the firm. 

With this experience and background, in 1973 Mr. Peterson established his own real estate firm, The Laurel Company where he began the construction and syndication of apartments.  During this time he built, syndicated and managed hundreds of residential units.  Presently The Laurel Company manages over 600,000 square feet of commercial/industrial real estate, eight shopping centers, and 200 residential units.  The current value of the company portfolio is in excess of $170,000,000.

In the Self Storage field, Mr. Peterson is now operating ten facilities with over 500,000 square feet or rentable space.  The facilities operate as American Self Storage and they all have a strong marketing and customer relations approach.  All storage properties are carefully selected and subjected to a rigorous analysis of market strengths, position, physical plant, modernization needs and personnel staffing.  It is not unusual for many facilities to be heavily remodeled to meet the demands of the modern self storage business.  All facilities have up to date security and a strong site management team.  Our strategy usually leads us to value investing where acquisitions are frequently made at book value.  Our typical holding period is from three to five years.  All investments have complete priority returns with profit participation for management as appropriate.  Two major industry publications recently ranked American Self Storage as a “Top 100 Operator” in the United States for 2007.

Mr. Peterson is a licensed Real Estate Broker in California.  He is a member of The National California and Nevada Self Storage Associations.  In 1983 Mr. Peterson became a Certified Property Manager.  In 1989 he was chosen Property Manager of the Year for the California Central Coast Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). Additionally, he was a combat command officer in Viet Nam with the U.S. Marine Corps.

He has been appointed as a receiver for various Superior Court jurisdictions throughout the state of California.