Compass Enters NC Storage Market

Compass Self Storage has acquired three self storage centers in the greater Raleigh, NC, market that together make up 265,000 net rentable square feet. The properties are in the towns of Wendell and Goldsboro.

Compass, a member of the Amsdell family of companies, plans to make improvements to the facilities, including upgrading security systems and individual customer access control.

“We are proud to bring Compass Self Storage to the Raleigh, NC, market and offer our customers additional peace of mind and convenience with our upgraded services,” said Todd Amsdell, president.

Compass Self Storage is now in 14 states. Amsdell Companies is headquartered in Cleveland, OH, and has owned and operated over 500 storage centers under various trade names in 27 states.

CubeSmart Takes Over Former Big Box Store in TN

CubeSmart, the third-largest operator of self storage facilities, is entering the Chattanooga,TN, market with a facility with more than 250 indoor, climate-controlled units in a former Big Lot’s store in Brainerd.

Bernard Frogel, a Los Angeles developer who owns the property, said he plans to expand the facility from 50,000 net rentable square feet to more than 100,000 square feet. The project will cost $3.5 million and will be completed in May.

CubeSmart operates seven storage facilities in TN.

Tampa Set for New Storage Facility

Freedman’s Development is building a new, five-story, 80,000-square-foot climate controlled self storage facility in Tampa, FL. The project is scheduled to be completed in December.

The $7 million project is Friedman Development’s first storage development in Tampa though the company is currently working on a second location near Tampa International Airport.

Construction Loan Market Robust with Talonvest Capital

Talonvest Capital, Inc., recently structured and negotiated over $36 million of construction loans for various self storage owners. The financing assignments were for new self storage facilities in Los Angeles, San Diego, Carrollton, TX, and Denver.

Talonvest Capital is a boutique real estate firm providing advisory services to self storage and commercial real estate investors, owners and developers.

Private Investor Snaps Up Boat and RV Storage Center

Marcus & Millichap advised on the sale of AA Accredited Storage, a 358-unit storage facility in Clearwater, FL, to an investor new to self storage.

The property includes 187 climate-controlled units and 56 covered shed spaces and 66 open yard spaces. The facility caters to the local demand for boat and RV storage.

US Storage Expands in Phoenix

US Storage Centers has purchased three self storage facilities in Phoenix, AZ, growing its portfolio there to seven properties.

“The acquisition of this portfolio marks a great start to 2017 and indicates how full our acquisition and development pipeline is for the rest of the year,” said Jason Lopez, vice president of marketing with US Storage Centers. Lopez said US Storage Centers has identified four more locations in the market that it expects to add to its portfolio this year.

US Storage Centers is owned by Westport Properties, Inc. The company is a fully integrated operator that develops, acquires and manages its portfolio and provides third-party management services.

U-Haul International Names Growth Cities and States for 2016

U-Haul International has announced that Vermont ranked 9^th and Louisiana ranked 8^th among the U-Haul top 10 US Growth States. U-Haul locations in Vermont saw a 53 percent of one-way truck rental customers coming into the state as opposed to leaving. Louisiana saw 50.6 percent of trucks coming and not leaving.

Growth rankings are calculated by the net gain of arriving U-Haul one-way trucks over department one-way U-Haul trucks for the calendar year. U-Haul’s data is an effective gauge of how well states are attracting and maintaining residents.

U-Haul is unveiling the Top 10 Growth States in a countdown format. The no. 1 state will be revealed Feb. 3.

Extra Space Buys AZ Facility from StorQuest Self Storage

Extra Space Storage has purchased the StorQuest Self Storage facility on N. Arizona Ave, in Chandler, AZ for $9.5 million.

Built in 1989 as a Target store, the property was converted to self storage in 2015. It offers 783 climate controlled units, including 20 drive-up units. The facility is a total of 85,411 square feet. Extra Space plans to operate the facility under the Extra Space brand.

Cushman & Wakefield’s executive directors Paul Boyle, Rick Danis and Greg Wells represented both the buyer and the seller.

Investment Group Breaks Ground in St. Pete

Liberty Investment Properties in partnership with Osprey Capital and private investors broke ground in January on a new storage facility in St. Petersburg, FL. The new facility will include 600 units serving the downtown area.

“Because of Liberty’s prior experience in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, we are excited to re-enter the downtown market,” said Adam Mikkelson, president of Liberty Investment Properties. Inc.

Denver Self Storage Market Under Heavy Development

Market tracker STR says explosive growth and demand for self storage is driving the Denver market.

Currently, STR is tracking 75 self storage projects in various phases of development in Denver. This total includes unconfirmed projects that have yet to be zoned or approved as well as projects under construction or expansion. Of these, STR expects 20 new construction projects to be completed in the next year, which would represent a 7 percent growth in Denver self storage supply. Another seven expansion projects are expected. It’s unknown whether the remaining 48 projects will be completed.

The average size of facility under development is 76,000 net rentable square feet.

STR, based in Hendersonville, TN, continues to build its database of self storage development nationwide.

Jernigan Capital JV Leads to Raleigh Project

Jernigan Capital Inc. has made an $8.9 million investment in a multi-story Raleigh, NC, storage facility through a joint venture with Chicago-based Heitman Capital Management.

Based in Memphis, Jernigan Capital said Phillips Development and Realty LLC of Tampa, FL, will develop the 65,110-square-foot, 756-unit self storage property in Raleigh’s Brier Creek community.

The project is part of a partnership between Jernigan Capital, a self storage lending REIT, and Heitman called Storage Lenders 1, LLC. In April 2016 Jernigan Capital announced than an unidentified large public pension fund was committing $75 million to the joint venture between Jernigan Capital and a Heitman affiliate.

Jernigan started Jernigan Capital a year after he sold CubeSmart in 2013. He previously launched Storage USA in 1984 before selling that in 2002.