Around the year 2000, I was a 'Dot-commer' and owned a surfing website. It was pretty popular and was bought out, so I retired and bought an RV with my wife and we traveled the country in it," recalls Ted Deits, "And when we were done and came back to Orange County, I struggled finding a place to store it." Deits then recalls that the entrepreneur spirit kicked in and he thought it would be a great idea to rent RV storage with amenities - such as electric hookups, wash stations, dump stations, etc. It was a great idea, but one that had the capacity to fail. "You just couldn't do it in Orange County. It is too much to offer for a rental. So then "I was sitting in traffic as we tend to do in the area," Deits recall with a chuckle, "And a lightbulb went off and all of a sudden the clouds started to part." Deits realized that he could make condo storage units where individuals could purchase each unit.
So he went about finding a place to start his business. "I tried 15 different cities in Orange County and none of them liked the idea," he says, "Either they didn't want any more storage facilities or they just didn't understand the concept." He kept searching and found the city of Beaumont on the other side of the mountains. "They were immediately receptive to the idea so we started to plan the building." He says that since there were a lot of Eucalyptus trees in the area he called it Eucalyptus at Beaumont. "We were very excited because we ending up selling half of our 107 garages by the time we broke ground," Deits says. After all units were completely built, they quickly sold out of all their garages.
"The storage condos from MonStore are perfect for car collectors, off-road vehicle riders, or RV owners." [Photo Credit: Monstore Garages LLC]
The garages are incredible - a word that is not generally associated with a storage unit. Beyond the basics, like a covered shelter for any size RV, they have everything. Basically the only thing one cannot do in their RV condos is live in them. They have full electric hookups, a 2,700 square foot clubhouse with TVs, comfy furniture, showers and laundry, plus a wash area with pressure washers, hoses, ladders, and towels. Basically a spa for your RV. Beyond that, the garages can be used for working on vehicles. As stated in the FAQ section, Deits writes, "Yes, without question to people asking if the garage can be used for maintenance. In designing these units, I had that purpose in mind. I live in a Condominium project, and there are stiff restrictions on using your garage for anything but parking a car in it. How nice, I thought, if I could create a space for people like myself, to go in and tinker with my car, boat, RV, motorhome, camper, etc."
Deits has been excited about the response and surprised in some ways. "I am surprised by how much the spots have appreciated over the years. Usually real estate appreciates a few percent a year," Deits says, "But with these they have gone up 10-15% percent per year." He says that most people have kept the units, however a few resold them (27). Everyone that sold their unit made money on it. He attributes this appreciation to the fact that there really isn't anything like this in the area, or probably in the United States, as well as the California real estate market. "I mean, California real estate is just going crazy," he says, "In some parts of Orange County, land is going for 4 million an acre." With those prices, it is hard to envision anyone building a storage unit on it.
The project has been a success and Deits is carrying it over to a new place, MonSTORE Garages in Palm Springs. MonSTORE Garages has a different twist than Eucalyptus. In fact, Deits is the marketer for the project, not the builder. “I was waiting to do another project,” he says, “And David Gandolfo came up with Palm Springs Toy Box, which he asked me to help market.” MonSTORE Garages focuses more on different sizes and giving more space for condominium owners to work on or store collections. As it says on the website, “Not only are we providing Garage Condominiums, but we have increased the size of the garages to what almost approaches a warehouse. That is what those with large car collections or large vehicles, like RVs have been asking for.” The 78,000 square foot complex will have 45 garages when it is all completed late summer this year, ranging from 650 – 5,400 sq feet. Phase 1 of selling 15 units has sold out and Phase 2 will begin June 1st for an additional 15 units on sale. Deits has understandably high hopes for the project and thinks it will signal more growth in the condo storage concept. “We are looking at 5 other locations in Nevada and California for storage condos,” he says.
Though some folks “wrinkle their foreheads at the idea,” Deits thinks that storage condominiums is an idea that a lot of RVers can get behind, especially in places like California where real estate is so expensive. “If you think about it, people are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on their RVs or campers, and I don’t think they want to just park them in a field or on somebody's farm when they are not in use. They want to store them in style.” Eucalyptus at Beaumont and MonSTORE Garages certainly come with style. And so much more.