StorageMart, which operates more than 190 self-storage properties across Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, has acquired a Store More America facility in Soquel, Calif., for $18.6 million. It’s the operator’s first foray into the Santa Cruz County storage market, according to a press release from the Loeffler Self-Storage Group (LSSG), the real estate firm that brokered the transaction.

The 2-acre property at 3711 Soquel Drive is a quarter mile north of California State Route 1. It comprises two multi-level buildings containing 78,000 square feet of storage space in 667 climate-controlled units. Built in 2009, the facility offers controlled access, a large loading area, two freight elevators and video cameras.

"The No. 1 feature customers want in self-storage is convenience," said StorageMart President Cris Burnam, adding that location was a prime factor in the acquisition. "Our goal is to make storage easy for our customers, and a centrally located facility is a big part of that."

The seller, Store More America Soquel LLC, was represented in the transaction by Bobby Loeffler, president, and Tyler Skelly, national director, of LSSG.

StorageMart also purchased a Store More America facility in Watsonville, Calif., nearly a year ago. Built in 1985, the facility comprises 106,818 net rentable square feet of storage space in 918 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. It serves more than 75,000 self-storage customers, and operates in Chinese, English, Punjabi, Quebecois French and Spanish.

Store More America operates 29 facilities in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas.

LSSG specializes in self-storage real estate in California and Nevada, having closed more than 80 transactions in those states.

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