Kirk holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA from the University of Utah. He was paid $2.3 million in 2013 in salary and bonus, according to the company’s annual financial statements. Kirk, a licensed pilot, sometimes flies himself to meetings around the country on executive jets leased from SpenAero LLC, a company he owns.
Kirk and trusts controlled by his family own 3.2 percent of Extra Space, according to a company proxy statement, worth $192.6 million on Aug. 5. Woolley owns about 1 percent.
Acquisitions Crucial
To keep its earnings rising, Extra Space needs to grow, and growth means acquisitions. Kirk has budgeted $500 million this year to buy storage properties; last year, it spent $586 million.
Yet sellers aren’t easy to find. The secret is out: Storage is a cash cow.
Stan Owens, a co-owner of Alta Storage in Sandy, Utah, says he rejected a $3.9 million offer from a developer for his 389- unit property.
“Our cash flow is so good, plus my family works here, so they’d be out of a job,” says Owens, 71, who employs his son and two grandchildren.
Utah real estate broker Smith says he got 11 offers for a site in West Valley City that he sold for $4.2 million to a California investor and five offers for one in Herriman that sold for $3.1 million.
“More and more people are realizing that storage is not high risk,” Smith says. “It’s low risk, and it’s a great way to make money.”