His father, an uncle and a cousin are all CPAs, so it’s little surprise that Paul Evans has been named vice president of finance & accounting at StoragePRO Management Inc. in Walnut Creek, CA.
The company operates almost 100 storage facilities throughout the Western states. His background includes almost 20 years of experience in commercial real estate and accounting. He comes to StoragePRO after a stint as finance manager at Terminal Plaza Associates LP in San Francisco, CA, and also has been employed at Shorenstein Realty Services LP, Rialto Capital Management and Blake/Griggs Properties.
Evans, 42, supervises 11 people – that soon may grow to 13 – and is responsible for long-range financial matters, building companywide financial and administrative objectives, policies, programs and practices, directing StoragePRO’s accounting practices, and maintaining relationships with lending institutions and financial companies.
“They’re willing to roll up their sleeves and dive in,” Evans said of his staff. “There’s a lot to keep track of, but with the staff and accounting department, we have a lot of really talented people on board who know how to do the job.”
We had a few questions for Evans.
What are you looking forward to at StoragePRO?
Evans: Joining a company that’s really growing. I liked what I heard during the interview process. Sounds like he (Steve Mirabito, founder and president) has created a niche in third-party management. You don’t see a lot of third-party self-storage companies like us out there. What you typically see are the large national REITs. There’s a lot of mom-and-pops out there. StoragePRO can come in and help the owners unlock their potential.
How so?
A: Because we have so many that we manage. Through technology, we have access to a lot of info. We can identify where they can push rents higher to be more in line with the market. We can pass savings just through economies of scale. We can buy things at bulk. It’s an opportunity (for others) to partner with a company with a lot more buying power and work with vendors that we’ve had long-standing relations with.
How did working at Shorenstein help you?
I pivoted from working at strictly accounting to co-working on CRE acquisition and financial analysis, which doesn’t necessarily happen in a lot of career paths, especially in accounting. It was an opportunity to broaden my horizons and fine-tune some skills I didn’t know I had. That was very interesting.
Anything for which you wish you could take a mulligan?
As I was trying to transition from full time being in an asset management role, I dropped into the high-net-worth family environment. I think I’ve learned my lesson; it’s a different work environment when you work with high-net-worth individuals. You never know what you’re going to get. Some days, you’re helping them to make investment opportunities; another day, you’re doing research on probate law and making sure we were in compliance with reporting requirements. You don’t know where the job is going to take you. … They live a different lifestyle.
What else are you looking forward to at StoragePRO?
I definitely have enjoyed learning about the storage business. It’s great working with our development team and working with the company owner, understanding how to unlock the true potential of the properties that we manage. It’s a wonderful opportunity to join a growing company and keep this thing moving forward.
