Public Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT), has purchased Southlands Self Storage in Aurora, Colo., for $8.6 million, or $155 per square foot. The property at 5900 S. Gun Club Road is adjacent to shopping centers and across the highway from Southlands Lifestyle Center, a regional shopping mall.

Built in 2009, the seven-building facility comprises 55,475 net rentable square feet of storage in 338 units as well as a manager’s apartment. Security features include electronic access, perimeter fencing and video cameras.

The buyer and the seller, a local investor, were represented in the transaction by Adam Schlosser, vice president of investments, and Charles “Chico” LeClaire, senior vice president of investments, in the Denver office of commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.

“Excellent storage fundamentals and a strong economic outlook for the area continue to be catalysts for the kind of pricing we’ve been experiencing over the past several years,” Schlosser said. “Sophisticated buyers for these kind of assets have been able to improve on an already successful privately run operation to achieve very attractive returns.”

Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in 2,310 self-storage facilities in 38 states, with approximately 151 million net rentable square feet. Operating under the Shurgard brand name, the company also has 218 facilities in seven European countries, with approximately 12 million net rentable square feet.

Founded in 1971, Marcus & Millichap is a commercial-property investment firm with more than 1,500 investment professionals in offices throughout Canada and the United States. The firm closed more than 8,700 transactions in 2015 with a value of approximately $37.8 billion.