Westport Properties Buys Texas Portfolio

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, LP, has closed the sale of a four-property Store Here self storage portfolio to Westport Properties, Inc. HFF marketed the property totaling 2,162 units on behalf of the seller, a joint venture partnership between Woodbridge Capital Partners LLC and RHW Capital management Group, LLC. The properties are in Austin, Denton, Fort Worth and Harker Heights, Texas.

The portfolio features 420 climate-controlled units, three warehouse/commercial spaces and 77 RV/surface parking spaces.

The HFF team was led by director Barbara Guffey, managing director Richard Schontz and associate director Matthew Weckesser.

Simply Self Storage Appoints VP of Operations

Simply Self Storage has named Scott Sebring to the post of vice president of operations. Sebring comes to Simply Self Storage after 12 years with Public Storage where he oversaw sales and operations for 267 stores across the Mid-Atlantic. Sebring started at Public Storage in 2004 as a district manager in Chicago and was promoted to divisional vice president. He attended Colorado State University. 

“Our focus is on being the best operators in the self-storage business. Adding best-in-class team members like Scott is our goal as we continue our growth,” said Kurt O’Brien, CDO of Simply Self Storage.

Simply Self Storage was founded in 2003 by O’Brien and has grown to 214 self storage facilities in 21 states and Puerto Rico. It is one of the largest privately owned self storage companies in the United States.

NGKF Capital Markets Announces Closing of Storage Pros in Knoxville     

The NGKF Self Storage Group has sold the Storage Pros Knoxville, TN, portfolio. Aaron Swerdlin, executive managing director and Kenneth Cox, senior managing director, represented the seller.

The buyer of the portfolio was able to acquire a dominant position in the Knoxville MSA storage market by purchasing a portfolio of assets. The portfolio consisted of eight facilities comprised of 415,616 square feet of self storage and 23,500 square feet of outside parking space. All eight facilities are located within a 20-mile radius of one another, allowing for favorable pricing power and online marketing presence.

David Levenfeld is CEO of Storage Pros Management, LLC.

Crow Holdings Capital Now Holds 2 Million Square Feet of Storage

Crow Holdings Capital – Real Estate, a Dallas-based asset manager of private equity real estate funds, has announced that since commencing targeted investment activities in August 2015 it has completed investments in 24 separate self storage transactions across its national markets. CHC-RE’s self storage platform now contains over 2 million square feet of space across 19,032 units.

“We are very pleased with the rate at which we have been able to deploy capital within the self storage space, a sector that –consistent with our thesis – has demonstrated a less volatile and cyclical quality in comparison to other asset classes while presenting attractive fundamentals moving ahead,” said Ben Doherty, Crow Holdings Capital’s head of self storage investment strategies.

CHC-RE’s storage investment strategy is to acquire newer vintage properties or form joint ventures to develop Class A storage properties.

Self Storage is Big Down Under

The self storage industry in Australia recently achieved over $1 billion in revenue. According to a recent IBISWorld report, interest in the industry is growing for individuals and industry. The industry is expected to generate $1.1 billion in 2017.

According to the Self Storage Association of Australasia, more than 1,100 self storage facilities are operating in Australia and New Zealand.

Marcus & Millichap Represents on Riviera Beach, Fla. Sale

Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the sale of West Palm Beach Self Storage, a 491-unit storage facility with 40,665 net rentable square feet in Riviera Beach, Fla. Brian Baldwin, investment associate, Luke Elliott, associate vice president of investments and Michael Mele, senior vice president of investments, and all in the Tampa office listed the property. The buyer was a private investor secured and represented by the same team.

West Palm Beach Self Storage includes 66 climate controlled units and 394 non-climate controlled units. There are also 31 boat and RV parking spaces on the property.

Colliers Hires National Director of Self Storage Investment Sales

James “Ashley” Compton has joined Colliers International to be the firm’s national director of self storage investment sales. Compton comes to Colliers after a decade at CBRE where he sold or listed more than 9.9 million square feet of self storage valued at more than $632 million. He was CBRE’s top national self storage producer in 2014 and 2015.

“Ashley has established himself as a key national leader in self storage investment, and we are delighted he will be joining our team at Colliers,” said Janet Miller, CEO and market leader of Colliers Nashville.

Compton holds degrees from the University of Memphis and University of Mississippi. At Colliers Nashville he joins a team of 40 brokers working on office, industrial, retail, multifamily and investment sales.