The portfolio is selling for $55 per sf, far below replacementcost, according to LeClaire. "I've seen units sell for $60 per sf,and up to $100 per sf," he says. A decade ago, they were sellingfor $10 per sf.

LeClaire says he wouldn't be surprised if there is a bidding warfor the portfolio. He recently sold a seven-property self-storageportfolio in IL to three investors for a total of $31 million. Thatsale, with 413,513 sf of rentable space, represented one of thehighest prices ever paid per sf paid for a self-storage portfolio,LeClaire says. He plans to contact those buyers, as well as losingbidders on the Illinois projects, for the Colorado portfolio."Portfolios like this don't come along very often," LeClaire says."And with Denver's booming economy, self-storage units have verylow vacancies."

The returns from the units are so strong--and are so lowmaintenance--that owners seldom sell, he says. Because self-storageunits seldom hit the market, most brokers don't specialize in theniche, he explains. In addition to selling self-storage units,LeClaire owns a "state-of-the-art," 60,000-sf, two-story,self-storage center in Las Vegas. That facility has threeelevators, so people can avoid the heat to check on belongings.