June 18, 2020

3 Min Read
SmartStop Converts Industrial Building to Self-Storage in Ontario, Canada

Update 6/18/20 – SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc., formerly known as Strategic Storage Trust II Inc., opened its conversion project in Ontario, Canada. It’s the company’s 12th wholly owned location in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The facility comprises 85,800 square feet in 840 drive-up and climate-controlled units. It’s near the Yorkdale shopping district and will serve the communities of Downsview, Humberlea, Humbermede and Pelmo.

“With the Torbarrie property coming online, we've now officially reached over 1 million square feet of self-storage available to serve the GTA, which represents a major milestone for SmartStop in the financial capital of Canada,” said H. Michael Schwartz, executive chairman. “The favorable market dynamics and demographics of the Greater Toronto Area, the largest metropolitan area in Canada and the seventh largest metropolitan area in North America, make this region a significant opportunity for further growth and expansion for SmartStop. Going forward, we will continue to leverage our self-storage expertise, economies of scale and recognizable brand to drive strong leasing activity in the new location.”

Since 2010, SmartStop and its affiliates have aggregated a portfolio of CAD $275 million in the GTA. It’s portfolio of owned and managed stores includes four in-development and 13 operating locations, totaling approximately 10,300 units and 1.1 million total rentable square feet.

SmartStop is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). Through its indirect subsidiary SmartStop REIT Advisors LLC, it sponsors other self-storage programs, including Strategic Storage Trust IV Inc., a public non-traded REIT. It has approximately $1.6 billion of real estate assets under management, including 112 properties in 17 U.S. states and Toronto that are directly owned and managed by SmartStop, as well as a portfolio of 30 properties in 10 U.S. states for which it serves as the facility manager for properties owned by its sponsored programs.

5/23/16 – Strategic Storage Growth Trust Inc. (SSGT), a public, non-traded real estate investment trust focused on self-storage acquisition and development, has purchased a former industrial building in Ontario, Canada, that it plans to convert to self-storage. The project is expected to be complete next April, according to a company press release.

“This will be the best and newest facility in the area with [more than] 600,000 people in the 5-mile ring,” said H. Michael Schwartz, CEO and chairman. “We are on target to complete the development of the self-storage facility by the second quarter of 2017, with the goal of renting self-storage units shortly thereafter.”

The property at 69 Torbarrie Road sits on nearly 1.5 acres of land and faces Ontario Highway 400. Once complete, the four-story facility will comprise 85,000 net rentable square feet of storage space in 900 drive-up and climate-controlled units. It’ll be branded as SmartStop Self Storage and managed by a subsidiary of SmartStop Asset Management LLC.

“We are excited to offer the local area this class-A, state-of-the-art facility,” said Wayne Johnson, chief investment officer of SSGT. “Heavy traffic and great visibility coupled with the local market’s dense population should equate to a highly successful project.”

The project is SSGT’s second in Ontario. Construction is also underway for a newly built, two-story facility at 365 Fruitland Road in Hamilton that will comprise 81,600 net rentable square feet of storage space in 780 units. It’s expected to be complete by the end of the year.

SSGT focuses on the acquisition, development, redevelopment and lease-up of self-storage properties. Its portfolio currently consists of 13 storage facilities in six states comprising approximately 979,900 net rentable square feet in 8,460 storage units. The company is sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management, a diversified real estate company with a managed portfolio of 73 self-storage facilities in Canada and the United States. Its managed properties comprise approximately 5.1 million rentable square feet.

Source:
Yahoo Finance, SmartStop Self Storage REIT Opens 12th Wholly-Owned SmartStop Location in the Greater Toronto Area

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