Last year Extra Space Storage completed the biggest deal in self-storage history. This week, the company celebrated the accomplishment in front of a large audience. Led by CEO Joe Margolis, Extra Space officials rang the opening bell on January 9 at the New York Stock...
Public Companies
Extra Space completes acquisition of Life Storage
Salt Lake City-based Extra Space Storage has completed the acquisition of its competitor, Life Storage in an all-stock transaction valued at $11.48 billion, based on the stock price at market close on Tuesday. The publicly traded REIT now controls more than 3,500...
Life Storage makes the case against a Public Storage takeover
Life Storage CEO Joe Saffire rebuffed Public Storage’s proposed takeover of the country’s fourth largest storage REIT in no uncertain terms during the company’s annual earnings conference call on Friday. “It is a great proposal for Public Storage, but it is clearly...
Storage REITs take a tumble despite strong results
The COVID-19 pandemic may be waning, but the pandemic-fueled lift in business for the five publicly traded self-storage REITs is not. During their first-quarter earnings calls, executives at the five REITs reported continued strength in occupancy rates, rental rates...
CubeSmart heads west on heels of big portfolio buy
On the heels of its $1.7 billion acquisition of the Storage West portfolio, CubeSmart may be more likely to nail down infill opportunities near the newly added facilities. During CubeSmart’s fourth-quarter earnings call Feb. 25, Tim Martin, the self-storage REIT’s...
Extra Space CEO: New supply growth could ramp up next year
Growth of new supply in the self-storage industry has tapered off in recent years. However, Joe Margolis, CEO of Extra Space Storage, anticipates supply growth will pick up again in 2023. During the self-storage REIT’s fourth-quarter earnings call Feb. 24, Margolis...
Life Storage CEO: Acquisition environment getting ‘a little bit’ more difficult
In 2021, the self-storage REIT racked up a record-high $2.3 billion in wholly owned and joint venture acquisitions, adding 144 facilities to its portfolio. Of that, $1.7 billion went toward the acquisition of 112 wholly owned facilities. This year, Williamsville,...
Storage REIT NSA to slow acquisition pace after record year
In 2021, National Storage Affiliates Trust spent the most in one year — $2.2 billion — on acquisitions than it ever had. But don’t look for the self-storage REIT to eclipse that total in 2022. In a Feb. 22 call with Wall Street analysts, President and CEO Tamara...
Public Storage CEO: Expect muted new development through 2023
Joe Russell, president and CEO of Public Storage, thinks the U.S. self-storage sector remains in a “holding pattern” when it comes to development of new facilities. In a Feb. 23 call with Wall Street analysts, Russell explained that the holding pattern started in 2021...
CubeSmart snags 59-facility portfolio for $1.69 billion
CubeSmart announced Nov. 15 that it struck a deal to acquire 59 self-storage properties from LAACO Ltd., which operates facilities under the Storage West brand. The total purchase price is $1.69 billion. The Malvern, PA-based REIT also announced that it has commenced...
CubeSmart CEO: New development ‘incredibly challenging’
Chris Marr, president and CEO of CubeSmart, expects the “fairly muted” environment for self-storage development to continue for a while. However, he says, a rise in self-storage supply could come in 2023 or 2024. Yet Marr believes any near-term uptick in supply will...
National Storage Affiliates ‘unprecedented’ deal activity approaches $2 billion
Seizing on what its CEO calls an “unprecedented” volume of self-storage acquisitions, National Storage Affiliates Trust could end the year with $2 billion in deals. The self-storage REIT just raised its acquisition forecast for 2021 to a range of $1.5 billion to $2...
Public Storage snaps up Dallas portfolio for $1.5 billion
The country’s largest self-storage operator has closed its second ten-figure self-storage deal this year. Public Storage announced Monday that it acquired a portfolio of 56 self-storage facilities for $1.5 billion. The portfolio, sold by developer All Storage, is...
Extra Space surpasses 800 facilities under third-party management
Extra Space Storage, the king of third-party management in the U.S. self-storage sector, continues its impressive reign. In mid-September, the Salt Lake City, UT-based REIT announced it had surpassed the 800-facility mark for properties operated by its third-party...
NSA bulks up amid ‘unprecedented’ rise in storage properties for sale
Self-storage REIT National Storage Affiliates Trust is zooming toward acquisition volume this year approaching $1.3 billion. To date, the company has closed on or put under contract more than 100 facilities valued at nearly $900 million. For all of 2021, National...
Life Storage may rack up $1 billion in wholly owned acquisitions this year
Self-storage REIT Life Storage is the midst of an acquisition spree. As of Aug. 3, the Williamsville, NY-based company had made a record-breaking $555.8 million worth of wholly owned acquisitions this year. But Life Storage is hardly done with acquisitions in 2021....
New rental platform and app help propel growth at Public Storage
Bolstered in part by its new online rental platform and new mobile app, Public Storage is seeing a surge in brand-new customers. During the self-storage REIT’s second-quarter earnings call Aug. 4, President and CEO Joe Russell said his company is experiencing “a...
Extra Space raises financial outlook as earnings climb
Bolstered by high occupancy and rental rates, Extra Space Storage is bumping up its financial expectations for 2021. The Salt Lake City, UT-based self-storage REIT anticipates same-store revenue will rise 10% to 11% this year compared with last year, and same-store...
Extra Space Storage passes 2,000 facility mark
Following the recent onboarding of a new batch of managed facilities, Salt Lake City, UT-based Extra Space now has more than 2,000 stores in its portfolio. The company was founded in 1977, went public in 2004, and has doubled in store count since 2013. It now becomes...
Life Storage steps up acquisition activity in 2021
Self-storage REIT Life Storage is bullish on this year’s acquisition market. The Williamsville, NY-based company had expected to spend $350 million to $450 million this year on wholly owned acquisitions. But Life Storage just lifted that range to between $550 million...
National Storage Affiliates soared in Q1 with double-digit NOI growth
Propelled by robust growth in revenue and occupancy, publicly traded self-storage REITs scored significant gains in same-store NOI during the first quarter of 2021. But one REIT, National Storage Affiliates Trust, topped them all for this measure of profitability....
CubeSmart takes ‘disciplined’ approach to self-storage acquisitions
One word applies to CubeSmart’s acquisition strategy for 2021: disciplined. During the self-storage REIT’s first-quarter earnings call on April 30, two executives — Chris Marr, president and CEO, and Tim Martin, chief financial officer — repeatedly referred to...
Extra Space hits all-time high occupancy levels in Q1
Extra Space Storage kicked off 2021 by racking up the highest first-quarter occupancy rate in the history of the self-storage REIT. Now, the company anticipates its elevated occupancy should extend through the busy summer season and may stretch into the slower fall...
Public Storage clears $2.3 billion in acquisitions so far in 2021
Public Storage is gobbling up the ezStorage portfolio for $1.8 billion, but the self-storage REIT still has a healthy appetite for acquisitions. But will any more large portfolios be on the menu? During the first quarter of 2021, the Glendale, California-based REIT...
National Storage Affiliates ends 2020 with acquisitions surge
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic may have slowed or stopped property acquisitions in some sectors, but that was hardly the case at self-storage REIT National Storage Affiliates Trust. The fourth quarter of 2020 represented the REIT’s busiest quarter ever for wholly...
Life Storage makes it through 2020 with surge in occupancy
Following a dramatic swing in occupancy rates last year, self-storage REIT Life Storage expects a return to normal in 2021. At the beginning of 2020, the same-store occupancy rate for Williamsville, NY-based Life Storage lagged 30 basis points behind the same period a...
Demand from remote workers boosted Public Storage in 2020
A shift toward remote work helped push up last year’s same-store occupancy rate for self-storage REIT Public Storage. During the company’s Feb. 25 earnings call, President and CEO Joe Russell said demand for self-storage “has been very resilient” during the...
Extra Space survives 2020 with record high occupancy
The coronavirus pandemic may have crushed businesses like restaurants and hotels in 2020, but self-storage REIT Extra Space Storage emerged from the tumultuous year relatively unscathed. Salt Lake City, UT-based Extra Space reported Feb. 22 that same-store rental...
National Storage Affiliates restores financial forecast for rest of 2020
Citing the resilience of the self-storage sector demonstrated during the coronavirus pandemic, self-storage REIT National Storage Affiliates has taken a step that its publicly held rivals have not. Earlier in the pandemic, National Storage Affiliates pulled its...
Public Storage seizes buying opportunities to expand portfolio
The coronavirus pandemic may have prompted a nationwide shutdown of businesses and schools. Yet the pandemic has hardly shut down Public Storage’s quest to build its portfolio. The Glendale, CA-based self-storage REIT has purchased or agreed to purchase 54 facilities...
Life Storage beefs up fulfillment service as e-commerce rises
Life Storage is dipping its toe into an emerging segment of e-commerce — micro-fulfillment. The self-storage REIT’s Warehouse Anywhere e-commerce platform has teamed up with San Francisco, CA-based Deliverr, a tech-enabled fulfillment service, to open one...
CubeSmart targets acquisitions as 2020 comes to a close
After a pandemic-induced lull in acquisitions, self-storage REIT CubeSmart plans to close nearly $644 million worth of deals in the fourth quarter of this year. Through early November, the Malvern, PA-based REIT had wrapped up the purchase of only three facilities for...
Extra Space Storage exceeds expectations in the pandemic-era
For Extra Space Storage, anticipated headwinds from the coronavirus pandemic have shifted to tailwinds. Joe Margolis, CEO of the Salt Lake City, UT-based self-storage REIT, said during the company’s Nov. 5 third-quarter earnings call that “tailwinds have proved...
Life Storage witnesses big surge in use of contactless rentals
If there’s a silver lining in the coronavirus pandemic for Life Storage, it’s the boom in popularity of its Rent Now contactless rental platform. The Williamsville, NY-based self-storage REIT unveiled the Rent New program in July 2018. During the company’s...
National Storage Affiliates ‘well positioned’ to capitalize on acquisition rebound
On the acquisition front, the second quarter was pretty quiet for National Storage Affiliates Trust. But the self-storage REIT soon might be making some more noise in that regard. In the quarter ended June 30, the Greenwood Village, CO-based company purchased four...
CubeSmart’s contactless platform accounts for one-fourth of rentals
Back in late April, during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., CubeSmart launched a contactless option for self-storage rentals and move-ins. Now, the SmartRental platform represents more than 25% of CubeSmart’s rentals. The entirely digital...
Public Storage foresees further weakness in second half of 2020
Public Storage may not be past the worst of its pandemic pain. During the self-storage REIT’s Aug. 6 earnings call, executives said they expect same-store revenue in the second half of 2020 to drop even further than it did in the second quarter — 3% versus the same...
Extra Space eyes ‘return to normal’ as coronavirus drags down revenue
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a human and economic toll, Extra Space Storage is not immune to the effects. In the second quarter, a surge in expenses tied to bad debt helped drag down same-store revenue and same-store NOI. Compared with the same period...
Jernigan Capital to be acquired in $900 million deal
Jernigan Capital has struck a deal to be acquired by Dallas-based alternative investment firm NexPoint advisors. The deal is valued at about $900 million. NexPoint has agreed to buy the publicly traded self-storage lender and investment firm for $17.30 per common...
Storage REIT earnings show resiliency in the face of COVID-19
The recent earnings reports released by the publicly traded self-storage REITs provide an up close look at how the self-storage industry has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and response. For the most part, self-storage operations remain resilient with...
Public Storage braces for the lingering impacts of coronavirus
Faced with the economic ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Public Storage is anticipating reductions in same-store net operating income for the rest of 2020. “As Public Storage approaches its 50th year, we have clearly weathered significant economic cycles, and...
Public Storage eyes land and facility purchases in 2020
Public Storage spent nearly $430 million last year to buy 44 self-storage facilities, and the REIT currently has a backlog of facility acquisitions. But the REIT also might be scooping up a fair amount of undeveloped land in 2020. Speaking Feb. 26 to Wall Street...
SecurCare Self Storage to merge with National Storage Affiliates
Self-storage REIT National Storage Affiliates Trust plans to fold its biggest participating regional operator, SecurCare Self Storage Inc., into its corporate structure in a merger valued at more than $200 million. On Feb. 24, Greenwood Village, CO-based National...
Life Storage boosts 2020 outlook as it overcomes new supply
Unlike some of its industry peers, self-storage REIT Life Storage has delivered a fairly rosy outlook for 2020. Both CubeSmart and Extra Space Storage are forecasting anemic financial performance in 2020. On the other hand, Life Storage actually has boosted this...
CubeSmart CEO: 2020 will be a “year of transition”
As fellow self-storage REIT Extra Space Storage already has done, Malvern, PA-based CubeSmart is predicting lackluster financial performance in 2020. On Feb. 20, CubeSmart projected same-store revenue growth of 0 percent to 1 percent this year compared with last year,...
Extra Space anticipates a weak year for self-storage performance
Self-storage REIT Extra Space Storage on Feb. 18 issued a relatively weak forecast for 2020, highlighting what a research note from Citi called “continued deceleration” across the self-storage market. Along with reporting financial results for 2019, Salt Lake City,...
Public Storage launches buyout bid for Australia’s National Storage REIT
Public Storage, the largest self-storage REIT in the U.S., has made a nearly $2 billion buyout bid for Australia’s National Storage REIT. National Storage revealed the unsolicited offer from Public Storage in a Feb. 14 news release. The potential deal is valued at...
Self-storage lender NexPoint Real Estate files for IPO
A newly formed commercial real estate finance company whose offerings include self-storage loans filed Dec. 23 for a $110 million IPO. Dallas, TX-based NexPoint Real Estate Finance Inc., founded in 2019, plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under...
Self-storage REITs grapple with rising costs for online marketing
Google’s grip on the marketing budgets of publicly traded self-storage REITs is tightening. During their third-quarter earnings calls, executives at the REITs collectively bemoaned the rise — in some cases a sharp rise — in their marketing expenses. Glendale, CA-based...
‘Tough acquisition environment’ tightens deal flow at National Storage Affiliates
With a flood of private equity producing a “tough acquisition environment,” Chairman and CEO Arlen Nordhagen says self-storage REIT National Storage Affiliates Trust is bypassing deals that it considers too pricey. The influx of private investments into the...