In April, self-storage industry veteran Ben Carr joined self-storage owner and developer MCSS Development & Investment LLC as president. Six months later, in October, Carr has grabbed a new opportunity as president and chief investment officer at self-storage owner and developer Go Store It.
In his new positions, Carr will manage Go Store It’s investment and development activities, and will oversee facility operations.
“We are thrilled to add someone of Ben Carr’s caliber at Go Store It as we look to continue to grow our platform,” Go Store It founder Ryan Hanks said in a news release. “Ben brings a tremendous amount of industry experience and will undoubtedly add tremendous value to the Go Store It platform.”
“Evolving brand”
Based in Charlotte, NC, Go Store It buys, develops and manages self-storage facilities across the U.S. The company, an affiliate of Charlotte-based Madison Capital Group LLC, owns over 17,000 self-storage units across more than 2 million square feet.
Carr arrives at Go Store It half a year after his hiring at Coconut Grove, FL-based MCSS was announced.
MCSS “is a first-class company with great people,” he said. “At Go Store It, I have again teamed up with great people along with an evolving brand, which is based in my backyard of Charlotte.”
Before MCSS, Carr founded and ran a self-storage investment fund while also working as a consultant for self-storage investors.
Carr previously was chief investment officer of Roseville, CA-based self-storage owner and developer LifeStorage, where he played a key role in selling the company’s portfolio in 2016 for almost $1.36 billion. The Williamsville, NY-based self-storage REIT formerly known as Uncle Bob’s, bought the portfolio and changed their name to Life Storage. Earlier, Carr spent eight years at Malvern, PA-based self-storage REIT CubeSmart, where he was vice president of investments and controller.
A focus on “growing intelligently”
Carr told the SpareFoot Storage Beat that it’s too soon to divulge specifics about Go Store It’s growth plans.
“At Go Store It, we are focused on growing intelligently,” Carr said.
“Like my past self-storage experiences, our deal-assessment process is thorough and diligent, and we are comfortable passing on deals that just do not make sense for us.”
Carr expressed confidence in the future of the self-storage industry, which continues to cope with new-supply constraints. In September, properties under construction or in the planning stages accounted for 9.4 percent of U.S. self-storage inventory, up 10 basis points from August, according to a report from data provider Yardi Matrix.
“Self-storage remains an incredibly healthy industry despite the increased supply over the last few years,” he said. “Current demand for self-storage is strong, and I believe demand will outpace supply over the long run.”
He also acknowledged the industry’s technological challenges.
“Valet storage services and unstaffed properties utilizing kiosks are two examples of concepts that have put pressure on traditional self-storage solutions for many years,” Carr said. “While their impact has not been material on traditional self-storage solutions to date, there remains the potential that with continued technological improvement, there could be a shift in the consumer paradigm.”
