In a strategic move, Go Store It has appointed Evan Stephens as Chief Investment Officer (CIO).
Announced on January 18, 2024, Stephens’ promotion is set to drive the company’s investment approach, focusing on disciplined deal evaluation and maximizing returns. A rising player in the self-storage sector, Go Store It is part of Madison Capital Group,
As of January 2024, Go Store It manages and is developing over 7.5 million square feet of storage space across the United States. With a considerable capital allocation for the sector, Stephens’ progression from senior analyst to leading the asset management team, and now CIO, comes at a crucial moment as the company navigates success in the current economic environment.
“His strong financial acumen and keen understanding of the self-storage market will be instrumental in driving Go Store It’s continued expansion and market leadership,” said Ryan Hanks, CEO of Madison Capital Group.
This week Go Store It expanded with its latest project, and its first facility in California. The 802-unit facility in Monterey Park will operate 24/7.
In an exclusive interview, Stephens discusses Go Store It’s strategies under his direction. He explores the balance between development and acquisition, describes the ideal investment profile, and assesses the current market for property acquisitions. Additionally, he highlights the role of technology in improving property performance, a key aspect of the company’s investment strategy.
Are you primarily seeking development or acquisition opportunities? Is there more of an emphasis on one or the other?
Evan Stephens: Our strategy currently involves a balanced approach between development and acquisition. Given the evolving dynamics of the self-storage market, we are keen on continuing to grow via both channels. Segmentation of deals going forward will depend on the specific market conditions and opportunities available. Our goal is to maintain flexibility to capitalize on both, ensuring we’re positioned to take advantage of the most attractive opportunities as they arise. Ultimately, we are committed to staying disciplined in our assessment of these opportunities to achieve sustainable growth.
What does your ideal investment look like?
We are focused on finding high quality real estate in markets with strong demographic trends. Ideally, we are investing in submarkets with relatively high barriers to entry. We will continue to look for properties that offer the potential for value-add enhancements, whether through physical improvements, operational efficiencies, or the integration of technology. Additionally, Go Store It is committed to integrating with the existing communities and providing value to the local area where there is a need for self storage options.
How would you assess the current conditions for finding appropriate properties to buy? How is the post COVID decline in pricing and occupancy impacting seller decisions?
We are still seeing a bit of a spread between buyer and seller expectations. We are focused on opportunities that we can acquire around replacement cost that are seeing some operational headwinds due to temporary market conditions but have strong fundamentals for a rebound.
To what extent does your ability to implement technology play into pro forma projections for a property, particularly historically underperforming ones?
We believe that certain technology can be a game-changer in terms of operational efficiency, customer experience and satisfaction, and ultimately, profitability. We continue to experiment and gather data on a variety of technologies to see what makes sense to continue to implement. We are able to leverage the data across the facilities on our platform in order to help identify areas of improvement.
