Storage Deluxe plans CT conversion

Storage Deluxe, a Manhattan-based owner and developer, has acquired a 62,000 square foot building at 370 W Main St, Stamford, Connecticut for $5.5 million and plans to convert the building to storage. Storage Deluxe has received zoning approval to convert the five-story building into a self storage facility while leaving the existing ground-floor retail tenants in place. Upon completion this summer, the property will contain 60,000 square feet of self storage, over 500 units, and 2,000 square feet of retail space.

Founded in 1998, Storage Deluxe is headquartered in Manhattan. The company has 65 projects completed and in development, totaling seven million square feet for a total investment in excess of $1.5 billion.

Shader of Personal Mini passes away

Stanley Joseph Shader, co-founder of Personal Mini Storage in Orlando, Florida, passed this month at the age of 93. Born and raised in Orlando, he attended the University of Florida before being drafted into the Army at the age of 19 to serve in World War II. Upon his return, Stanley started several local businesses and ultimately co-founded Shader Brothers Corporation/Personal Mini Storage in 1982 with his brother Ron.  

Personal Mini Storage, which now owns and/or manages 44 locations throughout Florida, is currently run by a management team that includes Stanley’s son-in-law Marc Smith (president) and daughter Laurie Shader Smith (vice president). In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Stanley Shader’s name to Jewish Family Services or The Alzheimer's Association.

Bellomy sells Texas storage

Bellomy & Co. brokered the sale of Bear Branch Boat & RV Storage in Magnolia, Texas. The class A facility is 40 miles north of downtown Houston. The property sits on 6.1 acres and has 256 enclosed and partially opened boat and RV units in 96,810 NRSF. The facility was 98% occupied at the time of closing.

Bill Bellomy and Michael Johnson of Bellomy & Co. represented the Houston, Texas based buyer, Copra Holdings, LLC. Craig Rice with CSD Realty represented the Magnolia, Texas based seller.

Bellomy & Co. is an Austin and Houston commercial real estate firm with a team exclusively focused on the self storage industry.

Lindsey brokers NC sale

Lindsey Self Storage Group brokered the sale of Bullock’s Mini Storage in Zebulon, North Carolina. The 21,518-NLSF facility was sold to a private buyer.

Lindsey Self Storage Group represented the seller.

TSG names Lucas CEO

Internet marketing company The Storage Group has named Steve Lucas as its new CEO. Lucas replaces Brian Pelski, who will remain as a company principal. Lucas joined TSG in 2013 as director of sales and became chief operating officer two years later and a partner in 2018. He spearheaded major strategy and technical shifts across the company’s portfolio of products and service, most notably new versions of its online-rental tool ClickandStor.

Based in Altamonte Springs, Fla., TSG provides online tools and marketing solutions including local-listing management, mobile websites, online rentals, pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing and website development.

Wentworth adds 8 to portfolio

Wentworth Storage Company, the self storage division of Arizona-based Wentworth Property Company, added eight assets to its portfolio in 2018 with acquisitions totaling over $58 million and 546,468 square feet. With the new properties, WSC ended 2018 owning 26 storage properties totaling over 2.26 million rentable square feet with nearly 10,000 units. The acquisitions included seven properties currently under development in Arizona, California, Oregon, Texas and Colorado.

WSC’s 2018 purchases included three existing properties in Arizona with 1,659 units, two existing properties in Texas with 1,554 units and one existing property in California and one in Oregon with 725 and 384 units, respectively. In 2018, WSC purchased a 2.15-acre ground-up development property at 20^th Avenue and Northern in Phoenix. In addition to the eight new properties acquired, WSC opened two storage projects; a 1,024-unit storage property in Chula Vista, California, and a 740-unit property in Phoenix. In 2018 WSC sold three properties totaling $48.7 million. The dispositions included 783-unit facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, a 595-unit facility in Tempe, Arizona, and a 676-unit facility in Stockton, California.

SkyView brokers sale of Tampa facility

SkyView Advisors brokered the sale of Seminole & Heights Self Storage, located at 1011 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa, Florida.

Ryan Clark, director of investment sales, represented the seller.

Seminole & Heights Self Storage is located on 2.09 acres of land and has a total of 65,224 net rentable square feet. The facility has 9 non-climate controlled units and 625 climate-controlled units.

Yardi Matrix releases report on development

Metros with strong demographic and employment statistics continue to drive self storage development in the U.S., according to a new report from Yardi® Matrix.
Growing West Coast markets Portland, Oregon, and Seattle are among the leading metros for self storage construction activity, as is Nashville, Tennessee, which boasts a booming professional and business services sector. Development also remains elevated in large, undersupplied Northeast metros such as New York City and Boston.

Nationwide street rate performance is showing signs of improvement after widespread discounting in 2018. While average street rates for 10x10 non-climate controlled units fell by 0.9% year-over-year in February 2019 to $115 per unit, that’s a step up from the previous month’s 1.7% decline.

Bluebird opens in NH

Bluebird Self Storage has opened a new location off Exit 5 off Interstate 93 in Londonderry, New Hampshire. It’s the sixth location in southern NH, and a seventh facility is scheduled to open in Epping in May.

The $5 million project includes 658 units in the 106,000-square-foot, three-story building.

Westport goes all in on INSOMNIAC

Westport Properties, Inc. plans to replace existing access control at their full portfolio of 120 properties with INSOMNIAC^TM CIA (Centralized Intelligent Access) by OpenTech Alliance. The product is the industry’s first cloud-based access control solution.

Westport Properties acquires, develops and manages self storage properties in 15 states along the east and west coasts. Westport Properties piloted INSOMNIAC CIA at several facilities when it launched in 2018. In 2019, Westport Properties will replace existing access control systems at 30 percent of their properties with INSOMNIAC CIA.

Talonvest negotiates financing for Leon Capital

Talonvest Capital, Inc., a boutique self storage and commercial real estate mortgage brokerage firm, negotiated $23.7 million of construction financing on behalf of Leon Capital Group for two storage developments in the Pacific Northwest. The institutional quality self storage facilities will be built in undersupplied trade areas of Portland, Oregon.  The development on SE Division Street in Portland will have approximately 113,155 net rentable square feet on a 1.72 acre site. The approximate 102,692 net rentable square feet development site on SE Powell Boulevard in Portland is located on 1.57 acres.

The Talonvest team members representing Leon Capital Group in this assignment included Kim Bishop, Eric Snyder, and Jim Davies.

Upstate NY gets new Always Lock

Always Lock Self-Storage has opened at 6061 Carmen’s Way in Farmington, New York. The facility offers 220 units in a 29,500-square-foot facility, according to the Daily Messenger.

The two-story, climate-controlled building features 24-hour gated access, video surveillance and coded keypad access.

Madison Self Storage opens in TN

High Point Analytics, has opened a new location named Madison Self Storage in Shelbyville, Tennessee. The newly constructed facility located at 1115 Madison St. comprises 40,000 square feet of rentable storage space in 326 units.

Absolute Storage Management will operate the facility.

BSC Group arranges financing for 3 deals

Chicago-based The BSC Group recently arranged the following financing for self storage clients:

• A $6.75 MM CMBS loan for a Georgia based sponsor used to refinance two self storage properties. The 10 year fixed rate loan was amortized over 30 years with 3 years of interest only payments. The sponsor, who acquired the properties over the past 4 years, was able to repatriate over $3million of equity above their basis due to the significant improvement in cash flow during their ownership tenure. In this case a refinance of the asset proved to be superior to a sale. The owner was able to retain the asset while generating similar return of equity on a more tax friendly basis. 

• A $15.12M in bridge loan proceeds for a midwest based institutional sponsor. The financing package was used to acquire a 10-property self storage portfolio.

• A $9.8MM Line of Credit for an east coast-based institutional sponsor. The LOC is secured by four properties located in four separate markets throughout the United States.

Arkansas storage facility sells

An 800-unit self storage facility in Centerton, Arkansas, has sold for $6.5 million, according to Talk Business & Politics.

3B Storage, led by Patrick Byrd and Alex Baumeister, bought Aspen Mini Storage at 901 E. Centerton Blvd. PLMR I LLC, led by Charles Palmer, was the seller.

Fayetteville-based Signature Bank of Arkansas provided financing.

The 9.12-acre property contains approximately 800 units and 130,000 square feet. That includes a recent expansion project to add 45,000 square feet.

Phoenix plans conversion of WI industrial facility

An affiliate of Phoenix Investors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, plans to convert an industrial facility located at 7505 Durand Ave in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin into one of the largest self-storage facilities in the market. The building consists of approximately 200,000 square feet, and Phoenix intends to add up to 2,000 self storage units to the property.

The facility will be branded and operated by Store Here Self Storage.

Phoenix Investors is a national commercial real estate firm based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin whose core business is the revitalization of former distribution and manufacturing facilities throughout the United States.