Los-Angeles-based LaTerra Development LLC has launched a self-storage development platform and formed a joint venture with a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management to pursue ground-up construction in Southern California. The company already has three projects underway, according to a press release. They are a 77,000-square-foot facility in Burbank/North Hollywood, a 55,000-square-foot facility in Mar Vista and a 63,000-square-foot facility in Van Nuys.

“Self-storage is complementary to our core apartment-development business,” said Chris Tourtellotte, managing director for LaTerra, which also has about 3,000 apartment units in its development pipeline in the Los Angeles metro area. “Self-storage is part of the neighborhood ecosystem and supports housing density and small businesses, a primary goal for LaTerra.”

“We are delighted to be involved in this platform with one of the leading developers in Southern California with deep market expertise and off-market deal sourcing capabilities,” said Eric Wurtzebach, senior managing director and head of real estate in the Americas for Macquarie. “We believe this represents a stable, long-term investment opportunity with a high-quality partner, with the potential to deploy further capital beyond our initial commitment.”

In conjunction with the platform launch, LaTerra hired self-storage industry veteran John Wilson as vice president of asset management and expects to add others to its leadership team, the release stated. Wilson previously spent 12 years at Storage West and 13 years with real estate investment trust Public Storage Inc.

“Self-storage continues to demonstrate its resiliency across the cycle,” Tourtellotte said. “Los Angeles has the lowest existing supply of self-storage per capita of almost any city in the United States. We think it’s an ideal time to launch this new platform.”

LaTerra is a fully integrated real estate investment and development firm. Together with its general-contractor affiliate, LT Building Corp., the company has more than 3,000 multi-family units and more than 1 million square feet of commercial space in various stages of development, according to the release.

Macquarie is a global asset manager that works with government, individuals, institutions and pension funds, and offers investment expertise across several areas including agriculture and natural assets, asset finance, equities, infrastructure and renewables, private credit, and real estate. Its real estate division has approximately $12.4 billion of assets under management.

Source: PR Newswire, LaTerra Development Establishes Self Storage Platform and Forms Joint Venture With Macquarie Asset Management to Deploy Up to $300 Million in Self-Storage Developments