On the heels of selling 27 self-storage facilities to Greenwood Village, CO-based REIT National Storage Affiliates Trust, a joint venture tied to Store Here is already hunting for more facilities to buy.
Store Here LLC — a joint venture between affiliates of self-storage operator Store Here Management LLC and real estate investment firm Westport Capital Partners LLC — amassed the 27-facility portfolio from 2014 to 2017. The six-state portfolio encompasses nearly 1.67 million rentable square feet and more than 12,300 units, with nearly half of the properties located in Georgia.
“Because of the nature of the fragmented market, we felt taking the programmatic approach to acquiring a portfolio was the best route for our platform. Partnering with Store Here Management for our entry into the self-storage industry proved to be a great partnership and one we look forward to continuing,” Sean Armstrong, principal at Wilton, CT-based Westport, said in a news release.
Back to acquisition mode
With this deal behind it, the joint venture is now setting its sights on assembling another portfolio by scooping up two to five facilities annually over the next five years, James Hanrahan, acquisitions director at Orange, CA-based RHW Capital Management Group LLC, told The SpareFoot Storage Beat.
Store Here Management, a division of RHW, owns and manages 19 properties in seven states.
As it fully re-enters acquisition mode, the joint venture is finding it “a lot harder” to purchase facilities, given that many investors seeking to deploy capital are pursuing self-storage deals and that some sellers are overvaluing their properties, Hanrahan said.
About 10 bidders pursued the 27-facility Store Here portfolio, including REITs, large national players and independent regional players in self-storage, Hanrahan said.
Financial details of the all-cash deal weren’t disclosed.
Hanrahan said the joint venture decided to sell its entire portfolio largely because “we thought there wasn’t any product like ours on the market.” The portfolio still offers plenty of upside, he said.
Barbara Guffey, a self-storage director in the Houston office of HFF, marketed the deal on behalf of the joint venture. National Storage Affiliates represented itself.
The facilities that National Storage Affiliates bought from the joint venture are in Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana and Texas. What follows is a list of the 27 Store Here locations, which are being rebranded by National Storage Affiliates.
Colorado
2345 Academy Place, Colorado Springs
Georgia
1520 Austin Drive, Decatur
923 Highway 85 South, Fayetteville
125 Robinson Court, Fayetteville
1100 Highway 54 East, Fayetteville
749 Carver Road, Griffin
2976 N. Expressway, Griffin
1948 Zebulon Road, Griffin
1288 Brookwood Ave., Jackson
8898 Tara Blvd., Jonesboro
1000 Premiere Way, McDonough
910 Hampton Road, McDonough
53 Highway 138 SW, Riverdale
7330 Hannover Parkway North, Stockbridge
Indiana
613 W. State Road 32, Westfield
6978 Central Blvd., Zionsville
Kansas
235 N. 78th St., Kansas City
6410 Vista Drive, Shawnee
7804 Meadow View Drive, Shawnee
Louisiana
1051 and 1309 Northgate Road, Bossier City
1326 and 1330 U.S. Highway 80 East, Haughton
720 W. Bert Kouns Industrial Loop, Shreveport
2727 Alkay Drive, Shreveport
Texas
8956 Research Blvd., Austin
319 E. McKinney St., Denton
1002 Dallas Drive, Denton
14611 O’Connor Road, San Antonio