Westport Properties Buys 4-Facility Store Here Self Storage Portfolio in Texas

Westport Properties Inc. (WPI), which operates 110 self-storage facilities under the US Storage Centers brand, has acquired a four-property, Store Here Self Storage portfolio in Texas that was owned through a joint venture between RHW Capital Management Group LLC and Woodbridge Capital Partners LLC. The assets comprise 2,162 units, 77 RV-parking spaces and three warehouse/commercial spaces, according to a press release by HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP), the commercial real estate company that represented the seller in the deal. The properties include:

The properties are in “highly visible and accessible locations along the Interstate 35 corridor, a major north-south arterial highway that stretches approximately 500 miles within Texas and connects four of the state’s major cities: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio,” the release stated.

“The acquisition of the Store Here portfolio provided Westport Properties with the scale and geographic diversification among some of the highest-growth areas in the state,” said director Barbara Guffey, who led an HFF team that included managing director Richard Schontz and associate director Matthew Weckesser. “The quality of the facilities is a complement to Westport’s ever-growing national platform.”

HFF and its affiliate, HFF Securities LP, are owned by HFF Inc. The firm operates out of 22 offices nationwide and specializes in advisory services, commercial-loan servicing, debt and equity placement, and investment and loan sales.

Store Here operates more than 30 facilities totaling more than 2 million square feet in Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana and Texas. Its portfolio is managed by Store Here Management LLC, a property-management and investment company with an acquisition and analysis division focusing on the self-storage industry. Its operating partner, RHW Capital Management Group, was founded in 2012 by industry veterans with more than 70 years of combined experience to provide a stable source of funding and management, according to a previous company press release.

Woodbridge Capital Partners was founded by Wall Street veteran William T. Lappas in 2002. It has been an active investor in real estate across the United States, with an emphasis on self-storage. The company has worked with several self-storage operators and is partnered with RHW in Store Here Self Storage, the HFF release stated.

Founded in 1985 and based in Irvine, Calif., WPI is a real estate investment company that acquires, develops and operates self-storage facilities as well as provides third-party management services. Its portfolio comprises more than 7.5 million rentable square feet in 13 states. It's affiliated with Westport Memphis Self Storage LLC.

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