DENNIS A. PETERSON, President, The Laurel Company
B.A., CERTIFIED PROPERTY MANAGER
Managing Partner, AMERICAN SELF STORAGE

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 6,000,000 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 nine facilities with over 500,000 square feet of rentable space; all are in strong cash flow positions. The facilities operate as American Self Storage and they all have a strong marketing and customer relations approach. This emphasis has kept them full or in the case of the most recent acquisitions, filling rapidly. All storage properties are long term income and growth oriented.

Mr. Peterson is a licensed Real Estate Broker in California. He is a member of the Santa Barbara Board of REALTORS and The Self Storage Association. 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 command officer in Viet Nam with the U.S. Marine Corps.