In 2009, we focused on solidifying our balance sheet, closing approximately $341 million in secured financing with local and regional banks. At year-end we had succeeded in covering our debt maturities through 2011. We continue to put new loans on our unencumbered properties to address our remaining 2012 maturities and beyond.

Due to the global credit crisis, financing was difficult to come by, but Extra Space Storage proved to be an exception to the rule. We rallied internal resources and contacted more than 800 banks to secure 27 loans, with an average loan size of approximately $12 million. We even hosted a banking event at our Salt Lake City headquarters so bankers could learn about our systems, our processes and our people.

Our strategy has paid off. The resourcefulness of our treasury, finance and legal team, the small average loan size, and the recession resistance of the self-storage product type have all worked in our favor. None of these new loans carries covenants at the REIT level, which is highly unusual in the REIT space and significantly reduces entity-level risk for our company.

In a smart move for shareholders, we did not panic and issue equity at dilutive prices. In fact, we bought back our convertible bonds in a move that significantly benefited our investors. At the end of 2009, we had $132 million of cash and $50 million of capacity on our undrawn credit line with Bank of America, for a total of $182 million in current capacity.

We have done an excellent job of staggering our debt maturities in the years ahead. While leverage ratios are important, timing is everything when capital is scarce. Over time, we expect to reap the benefits of our development program, improved property performance and our right-sized dividend. By strengthening our balance sheet, we are helping retain our future growth profile for building shareholder value.