Item 1. Business

General

Extra Space Storage Inc. (“we,” “our,” “us” or the “Company”) is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) formed as a Maryland corporation on April 30, 2004, to own, operate, manage, acquire, develop and redevelop professionally managed self-storage properties (“stores”). We closed our initial public offering (“IPO”) on August 17, 2004. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “EXR.”

We were formed to continue the business of Extra Space Storage LLC and its subsidiaries, which had engaged in the self-storage business since 1977. These companies were reorganized after the consummation of our IPO and various formation transactions. As of December 31, 2016, we held ownership interests in 1,016 operating stores. Of these operating stores, 836 are wholly-owned and 180 are owned in joint venture partnerships. An additional 411 operating stores are owned by third parties and operated by us in exchange for a management fee, bringing the total number of operating stores which we own and/or manage to 1,427. These operating stores are located in 38 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico and contain approximately 107 million square feet of net rentable space in approximately 960,000 units and currently serve a customer base of approximately 850,000 tenants.

We operate in three distinct segments: (1) rental operations; (2) tenant reinsurance; and (3) property management, acquisition and development. Our rental operations activities include rental operations of stores in which we have an ownership interest. Tenant reinsurance activities include the reinsurance of risks relating to the loss of goods stored by tenants in our stores. Our property management, acquisition and development activities include managing, acquiring, developing and selling stores.

Substantially all of our business is conducted through Extra Space Storage LP (the “Operating Partnership”). Our primary assets are general partner and limited partner interests in the Operating Partnership. This structure is commonly referred to as an umbrella partnership REIT, or UPREIT. We have elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”). To the extent we continue to qualify as a REIT we will not be subject to tax, with certain exceptions, on our net taxable income that is distributed to our stockholders.

We file our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). You may obtain copies of these documents by visiting the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 or by accessing the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are furnished to the SEC, we make copies of these documents available to the public free of charge through our website at www.extraspace.com, or by contacting our Secretary at our principal offices, which are located at 2795 East Cottonwood Parkway, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, Utah 84121, telephone number (801) 365-4600.

Management

Members of our executive management team have significant experience in all aspects of the self-storage industry, having acquired and/or developed a significant number of stores since before our IPO. Our executive management team and their years of industry experience are as follows: Joseph D. Margolis, Chief Executive Officer, 12 years; Scott Stubbs, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, 16 years; Samrat Sondhi, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, 13 years; Gwyn McNeal, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, 11 years; James Overturf, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, 18 years; and Kenneth M. Woolley, Executive Chairman, 36 years. Spencer F. Kirk served as our Chief Executive Officer through December 31, 2016 and continues to serve on the Company's board of directors. Joseph D. Margolis succeeded Mr. Kirk as the Company's Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2017.

Our executive management team and board of directors have a significant ownership position in the Company with executive officers and directors owning approximately 4,665,566 shares or 3.7% of our outstanding common stock as of February 21, 2017.

Industry & Competition

Stores offer month-to-month storage space rental for personal or business use and are a cost-effective and flexible storage alternative. Tenants rent fully enclosed spaces that can vary in size according to their specific needs and to which they have unlimited, exclusive access. Tenants have responsibility for moving their items into and out of their units. Self-storage unit sizes typically range from 5 feet by 5 feet to 20 feet by 20 feet, with an interior height of 8 feet to 12 feet. Stores generally have on-site managers who supervise and run the day-to-day operations, providing tenants with assistance as needed.

Self-storage provides a convenient way for individuals and businesses to store their possessions due to life changes, or simply because of a need for storage space. The mix of residential tenants using a store is determined by a store’s local demographics and often includes people who are looking to downsize their living space or others who are not yet settled into a permanent residence. Items that residential tenants place in self-storage range from cars, boats and recreational vehicles, to furniture, household items and appliances. Commercial tenants tend to include small business owners who require easy and frequent access to their goods, records, inventory or storage for seasonal goods.

Our research has shown that tenants choose a store based primarily on the convenience of the site to their home or business, making high-density, high-traffic population centers ideal locations for stores. A store’s perceived security and the general professionalism of the site managers and staff are also contributing factors to a site’s ability to successfully secure rentals. Although most stores are leased to tenants on a month-to-month basis, tenants tend to continue their leases for extended periods of time.

The self-storage business is subject to seasonal fluctuations. A greater portion of revenues and profits are realized from May through September. Historically, our highest level of occupancy has been at the end of July, while our lowest level of occupancy has been in late February and early March.

Since inception in the early 1970’s, the self-storage industry has experienced significant growth. The self-storage industry has also seen increases in occupancy over the past several years. According to the Self-Storage Almanac (the “Almanac”), in 2008, the national average physical occupancy rate was 80.3% of net rentable square feet, compared to an average physical occupancy rate of 91.2% in 2016.

Recently we have encountered competition when we have sought to acquire stores, especially for brokered portfolios. Competitive bidding practices have been commonplace between both public and private entities, and this will likely continue.

The industry is also characterized by fragmented ownership. According to the Almanac, the top ten self-storage companies in the United States operated approximately 19.4% of the total U.S. stores, and the top 50 self-storage companies operated approximately 28.6% of the total U.S. stores as of December 31, 2016. We believe this fragmentation will contribute to continued consolidation at some level in the future. We also believe that we are well positioned to compete for acquisitions.

We are the second largest self-storage operator in the United States. We are one of five public self-storage REITs along with CubeSmart, National Storage Affiliates, Life Storage and Public Storage.

Long-Term Growth and Investment Strategies

Our primary business objectives are to maximize cash flow available for distribution to our stockholders and to achieve sustainable long-term growth in cash flow per share in order to maximize long-term stockholder value. We continue to evaluate a range of growth initiatives and opportunities, including the following:

a disciplined buyer and only execute acquisitions that we believe will strengthen our portfolio and increase stockholder value.

Financing of Our Long-Term Growth Strategies

Acquisition and Development Financing

The following table presents information on our revolving lines of credit (the “Credit Lines”) for the periods indicated. All of our Credit Lines are guaranteed by us (amounts in thousands).

We expect to maintain a flexible approach in financing new store acquisitions. We plan to finance future acquisitions through a combination of cash, borrowings under the Credit Lines, traditional secured and unsecured mortgage financing, joint ventures and additional debt or equity offerings.

Joint Venture Financing

As of December 31, 2016, we own 180 of our stores through joint ventures with third parties. We generally manage the day-to-day operations of the underlying stores owned in these joint ventures and have the right to participate in major decisions relating to sales of stores or financings by the applicable joint venture. Our joint venture partners typically provide most of the equity capital required for the operation of the respective business. Under the operating agreements for the joint ventures, we maintain the right to receive between 4.0% and 80.0% of the available cash flow from operations after our joint venture partners and the Company have received a predetermined return, and between 4.0% and 75.0% of the available cash flow from capital transactions after our joint venture partners and the Company have received a return of their capital plus such predetermined return. Most joint venture agreements include buy-sell rights, as well as rights of first offer in connection with the sale of stores by the joint venture.

Disposition of Stores

We will continue to review our portfolio for stores or groups of stores that are underperforming or are not strategically located, and determine whether to dispose of these stores to fund other growth. As of December 31, 2016, we had two parcels of land that were categorized as held for sale.

Regulation

Generally, stores are subject to various laws, ordinances and regulations, including regulations relating to lien sale rights and procedures. Changes in any of these laws or regulations, as well as changes in laws, such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response and Compensation Liability Act, which increase the potential liability for environmental conditions or circumstances existing or created by tenants or others on stores, or laws affecting development, construction, operation, upkeep, safety and taxation may result in significant unanticipated expenditures, loss of stores or other impairments to operations, which would adversely affect our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the “ADA”), places of public accommodation are required to meet certain federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. These requirements became effective in 1992. A number of additional U.S. federal, state and local laws also exist that may require modifications to the stores, or restrict further renovations thereof, with respect to access thereto by disabled persons. Noncompliance with the ADA could result in the imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants and also could result in an order to correct any non-complying feature, thereby requiring substantial capital expenditures. To the extent our stores are not in compliance, we are likely to incur additional costs to comply with the ADA.

Insurance activities are subject to state insurance laws and regulations as determined by the particular insurance commissioner for each state in accordance with the McCarran-Ferguson Act, and are subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the privacy regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission pursuant thereto.

Store management activities are often subject to state real estate brokerage laws and regulations as determined by the particular real estate commission for each state.

Changes in any of the laws governing our conduct could have an adverse impact on our ability to conduct our business or could materially affect our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Employees

As of February 21, 2017, we had 3,287 employees and believe our relationship with our employees is good. Our employees are not represented by a collective bargaining agreement.