March 28, 2019

12 Min Read
Self-Storage Real Estate Acquisitions and Sales: March 2019

Update 3/28/19 – Self-storage properties are constantly changing hands, and Inside Self-Storage is regularly notified of these market transactions. Here’s an overview of additional activity happening in March 2019.

A two-property portfolio consisting of All Seasons Self Storage in Little Falls, Minn., and JK Self Storage in Waite Park, Minn., sold for $2.25 million. Together, the facilities at 11685 150th Ave. and 1551 7th St. S. comprise 62,870 rentable square feet and contain more than 320 units. The seller was represented in the transaction by Tom Flannigan and Corly Wilkerson, investment specialists with KW Commercial Minneapolis, an affiliate of the Argus Self Storage Network, a Denver-based network of real estate brokers who specialize in storage properties.

Morningstar Properties LLC, which operates 63 self-storage facilities in 11 states under the Morningstar Mini-Storage brand, has purchased the two-property Plantation Self Storage portfolio in Bluffton and Columbia, S.C. Together, the sites at 1110 Fording Island Road and 4411 HardScrabble Road sit on 14.85 acres. They include 19 buildings comprising more than 165,000 rentable square feet. The seller was represented in the transaction by Dale C. Eisenman, president of Midcoast Properties Inc., a commercial real estate brokerage focused on self-storage in Alabama, the Carolinas and Georgia.

PremieRVehicle Storage in Marana, Ariz., was sold for $6 million to a California-based buyer. The facility at 7935 W. Tangerine Road sits on 8.5 acres and contains 462 vehicle-storage spaces. The seller was represented in the transaction by Jeff Gorden, vice president of Eagle Commercial Realty Services, an Argus affiliate.

Two Harbors Self Storage in Two Harbors, Minn., was sold for $1 million to a local operator. The property at 609 Recycle Center Drive comprises more than 23,000 square feet in 123 units. The seller was represented in the transaction by Flannigan and Alex Ihrke, an investment specialist with KW Commercial.

3/21/19 – Self-storage properties are constantly changing hands, and Inside Self-Storage is regularly notified of these market transactions. Here’s an overview of additional activity happening in March 2019.

A Space Station Self Storage in Fair Lawn, N.J., was sold. The facility at 16-01 McBride Ave. comprises 117,885 rentable square feet in 386 units. The seller was represented in the transaction by real estate firms Sitar Realty Co. and The Storage Acquisition Group, a division of Mid-Atlantic Commercial Real Estate. Team members included Thomas Palumbo, Bill Sitar Jr. and Cowles M. Spencer Jr.

Bear Branch Boat & RV Storage in Magnolia, Texas, was sold to Copra Holdings LLC for $3.94 million. The 6.1-acre property at 33110 Egypt Lane is 40 miles north of downtown Houston. It contains 14 buildings comprising 96,810 net rentable square feet in 256 enclosed and partially open vehicle-storage units. The Houston-based buyer was represented by Bill Bellomy and Michael Johnson of Bellomy & Co., a Texas-based commercial real estate firm focused on the self-storage industry. Craig Rice, principal of CSD Realty Co., represented the local seller.

An Extra Space Storage facility in Greenville, S.C., was sold to a limited-liability company (LLC). The 10-building facility at 935 W. Butler Road comprises 72,725 square feet in 468 units and 37 vehicle-storage spaces. The property was managed, not owned, by Extra Space. The buyer and the seller, also an LLC, were represented in the transaction by Gabriel Coe and Brett R. Hatcher, investment specialists for Marcus & Millichap, a commercial-property investment firm with more than 1,500 investment professionals in offices throughout Canada and the United States. Fellow M&M broker Benjamin Yelm assisted.

Moove In Self Storage, which operates 26 locations in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, has acquired the two-property Wolcott Mini Storage portfolio in Wolcott, Conn. Located three miles apart, the facilities are operated from the rental office at 1140 Wolcott Road. Together, they comprise 48,673 square feet in 350 units. Founded in 1998, Moove In is a part of Investment Real Estate Group Cos., which also includes Investment Real Estate LLC and Investment Real Estate Construction LLC.

Hong Kong-based self-storage operator RedBox Storage Ltd. has acquired three properties in the city after receiving $50 million from Chinese real estate investment manager InfraRed NF. The properties are in the Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and Yau Tong districts. They expand company’s gross floor area (GFA) by 116 percent, making it the fourth largest self-storage operator in Hong Kong in terms of GFA, according to a press release from InfraRed, which acquired a 90 percent stake in RedBox. The purchase included Canaan Mini Storage Co. Limited, which operates on eight consecutive floors in the uppermost levels of the Metropolitan Industrial Building in the Tsuen Wan district. “Self-storage in Hong Kong continues to show significant growth potential with smaller residential unit sizes, higher income levels and an increasingly consumption-driven society driving the sector,” said InfraRed CEO Stuart Jackson.

South College Self Storage in Fort Collins, Colo., was sold for $10.45 million to Storage Star LLC, an affiliate of California real estate investment firm FollettUSA. The newly opened facility at 137 Skyway Drive comprises 80,850 net rentable square feet and 706 units. The seller was GYS Development LLC, a division of Grow Your Storage LLC, a construction, development and property-management firm.

3/14/19 – Self-storage properties are constantly changing hands, and Inside Self-Storage is regularly notified of these market transactions. Here’s an overview of additional activity happening in March 2019.

Coatesville Self Storage in Coatesville, Pa., was sold to a private investor with a national portfolio. Sitting on more than six acres at N. Caln Road, the facility was converted from a former warehouse. It opened in 2017 and comprises more than 550 climate-controlled units. Its physical occupancy was 55 percent at the time of the sale. The seller was represented in the transaction by Kevin Bledsoe, vice president of brokerage for Investment Real Estate LLC, a provider of brokerage, construction, development and management services to self-storage owners and investors since 1998.

SecYour Storage Property Group LP, a private-equity real estate development and investment company specializing in self-storage, has acquired Princeton Self Storage in Melbourne, Fla. The facility was built on 4.18 acres at 1060 Polo Drive. It comprises 389 units, but SecYour intends to expand the property with 349 climate-controlled units. It’s the company’s third acquisition in Florida, according to CEO Chris Corr. The location is adjacent to three residential developments. It’ll be managed by self-storage real estate investment trust CubeSmart. The Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. (HFF) team of Ryan Ade and Rebecca VanReken, managing directors, and Michael Pagniucci, director, helped secure $5.8 million in financing on behalf of the buyer.

Self-storage owner and property-management firm Absolute Storage Management (ASM) acquired Storage Stop in Pensacola, Fla. The 77,000-square-foot facility at W. Nine Mile Road offers “flex industrial units” in addition to self-storage. The property was attractive in part because the thoroughfare is being widened to six lanes, and the site is in a growing area, according to ASM Managing Member Michael Haugh. Founded in 2002, ASM operates more than 100 properties in 13 states.

Stor-Age Property REIT, which operates self-storage facilities in South Africa and the United Kingdom, has expanded its U.K. Storage King portfolio by acquiring Viking Self Storage Bedford Ltd. in Bedford, England, for £12 million. Opened in 2013, the property comprises 4,800 square meters of gross leasable area, with room for expansion up to 5,400 square meters. It’s near major retail and the University of Bedfordshire. It was at 90 percent occupancy for the 18 months leading up to the sale. The property is the 27th U.K. location for Storage King, which was acquired by South Africa-based Stor-Age in 2017.

3/7/19 – Self-storage properties are constantly changing hands, and Inside Self-Storage is regularly notified of these market transactions. Here’s an overview of additional activity happening in March 2019.

A & A Self Storage in San Antonio was sold. The 3.6-acre property at 6100 Ingram Road contains six single-story buildings comprising 44,475 net rentable square feet in 400 units, plus 37 outdoor vehicle-storage spaces. The seller, a California family trust, was represented in the transaction by Dave Knobler, first vice president of investments, and Charles “Chico” LeClaire, executive managing director of investments, for The LeClaire Group of Marcus & Millichap (M&M), a commercial-property investment firm with more than 1,500 investment professionals in offices throughout Canada and the United States.

Air Tight Self Storage in Columbia, Mo., was sold for $2.16 million to a private investor. The property at 10601 S. Hardwick Lane comprises 24,700 square feet. The buyer and the seller, also a private investor, were represented in the transaction by Marla Čolić, investment specialist, and Anne Williams, first vice president of investments, for M&M.

EZ 8 Self Storage in Tucson, Ariz., was sold for more than $2 million to an out-of-state investor. The property at 702 W. Silverlake Road was built in 1978 and contains 350 units. The seller, also an out-of-state investor, was represented in the transaction by Bill Alter, an investment specialist with Rein & Grossoehme, a real estate firm that specializes in the sale of investment properties and commercial leasing.

Hillcrest Storage in Mableton, Ga., was sold to a first-time self-storage owner. The property at 355 S. Gordon Road S.W. comprises 14,800 square feet. The seller was represented in the transaction by Jane H. Sauls and Luke Sauls, real estate advisors at Commercial Realty Services of West Georgia, an affiliate of the Argus Self Storage Sales Network, a Denver-based network of real estate brokers who specialize in storage properties.

Move It Self Storage in Liberty Hill, Texas, was sold to an Austin, Texas-based buyer. The property at 15725 TX-29 sits on 5.1 acres and contains 67,980 net rentable square feet in 451 units, plus outdoor vehicle storage and office warehouses. The buyer was represented in the transaction by Neil Stokes of real estate firm Special Agent Group in Austin. The Dallas-based seller was represented by Bill Bellomy and Michael Johnson, brokers with commercial real estate firm Bellomy & Co. With offices in Atlanta, Houston, and Austin, Texas, the company focuses on the sale of self-storage, industrial, office and retail properties nationwide.

McKinney Self Storage at 3920 S. Ridge Road in McKinney, Texas, was acquired by an unidentified California-based operator. The 4-acre property comprises 72,485 square feet in 402 climate-controlled and 184 drive-up units. Karr Self-Storage brokers Danny Cunningham and Brandon Karr represented the seller, a private investor. They also procured the buyer. Both agents are part of the M&M National Self Storage Group and based in Fort Worth, Texas.

Preferred Self Storage in Dallas was sold to CH SS Fund/Dallas Frankford, a private real estate fund advised by Crow Holdings Capital, an asset manager of private-equity real estate funds. The property at 3737 Frankford Road was built in 2017 to 2018 and comprises 57,825 net rentable square feet in 541 units. The buyer and the seller, MEMC II LLC, were represented in the transaction by Bellomy and Johnson.

Prime Group Holdings, a New York-based real estate group that owns and manages more than 170 self-storage facilities in 23 states, has acquired an Extra Space Storage facility in Asheville, N.C. The property at 701 Bleachery Blvd. comprises 77,510 rentable square feet in 734 units. The seller was represented by Cowles M. “Monty” Spencer Jr., CEO, and David Spencer, vice president, of The Storage Acquisition Group.

Red Dot Storage, which operates 144 self-storage properties in 16 states, has acquired Appletree Storage in Baton Rouge, La., for $1.15 million. The property at 9315 Foster Road is the operator’s first location in Baton Rouge, La., and its 14th in the state. Its total portfolio comprises more than 5.4 million net rentable square feet.

SecurCare Self Storage, which operates more than 100 facilities in 14 states, has acquired Stowaway Self Storage in Augusta, Ga. The facility comprises 110,400 rentable square feet on 7 acres. It includes climate-controlled and drive-up units as well as vehicle storage. The seller was represented by Dale C. Eisenman, a broker with Midcoast Properties Inc., a commercial real estate brokerage focused on self-storage in Alabama, the Carolinas and Georgia.

StorageMart, which operates more than 200 self-storage properties across Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, has acquired four Self Storage Depot properties in Blue Springs, Independence and Lee's Summit, Mo. Together, the facilities contain more than 1,300 storage units and nearly 200 vehicle-parking spaces. “This acquisition represents a rare opportunity for us to acquire four of our direct competitors,” said Alex Burnam, head of real estate acquisitions and development for StorageMart. “These additional facilities will serve to satisfy the demand for self-storage in the Jackson County market, allowing us to continue providing best-in-class storage solutions for our customers throughout the area.”

StorageMart also acquired a facility in Overland Park, Kan. The multi-story property at 15415 Metcalf Ave. was constructed in 2017 and comprises nearly 80,000 square feet in 639 units. Founded in 1999 and based in Columbia, Mo., StorageMart is privately owned and operated by the Burnam Family, which has been in the storage industry for three generations. Its portfolio consists of more than 12 million square feet.

Strategic Storage Growth Trust II Inc., a private real estate investment trust sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management LLC, has acquired a recently constructed two-story facility in Sacramento, Calif., for about $15.6 million. The property at 9950 Mills Station Road comprises 94,000 square feet in 1,029 units. The facility was constructed in September 2018 on 5.68 acres. SmartStop manages a portfolio of 128 self-storage facilities in Canada and the United States comprising approximately 9.5 million rentable square feet.

Previous Sources:
PR.com, Absolute Storage Investment Makes Purchase in Pensacola FL
Business Report, Roundup: New Self-Storage Facility Owners
Digital Journal, The Storage Acquisition Group Announces the Sale of Extra Space in Asheville
PR.com, Midcoast Properties, Inc. Sells Self Storage Facility in Augusta, GA
PR Newswire, Strategic Storage Growth Trust II, Inc. Acquires 1,029-Unit Self Storage Facility in Sacramento
PR Newswire, StorageMart Adds Four Self Storage Facilities in the Kansas City Metro Area
PR Newswire, StorageMart Expands with New Self Storage Facility in Overland Park, Kansas
CP Executive, Copra Holdings Buys Houston-Area Storage
BizWest, Fort Collins Storage Facility Sold for $10.45M
Deal Street Asia, Self-Storage Provider Redbox Acquires Three Properties in HK
Mena FN, The Storage Acquisition Group Announces the Sale of A Space Station Self Storage
Moove In Self Storage, MISS Expands Portfolio into Connecticut

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