GreenSpace Holdings Plans Shipping Container Storage for Houston

GreenSpace Holdings, a Houston-based self storage developer, has broken ground on a 1,017-unit self storage facility in the suburb of Pearland to be operated by CubeSmart.

GreenSpace Holdings purchased a two-acre parcel for the development and broke ground in July. When finished the facility will offer 95,565 square feet of rentable space across three stories. JLL’s Chris Bergmann represented GreenSpace Holdings. TMS Contractors LLC is the general contractor for the project.

According to GreenSpace Holdings, its patent-pending design reduces multistory self storage construction costs by up to 50 percent, shortens the construction schedule by six months and lowers occupancy required for positive cash flow to approximately 45 percent. Using surplus shipping containers instead of traditional construction methods to build the facility eliminates the need to recycle the containers and reduces new structural steel and concrete requirements.

GreenSpace Holdings plans to build 50 multistory self storage facilities across the US in the next seven years. JLL recently represented GreenSpace Holdings on another Houston-area land acquisition that will break ground later this year with 1,401 units.   

Lindsey Self Storage Advises on NC Sales

Lindsey Self Storage Group closed two North Carolina self storage sales in August.

Durham, NC-based Lindsey Self Storage represented the buyer in the sale of Brightwood Self Storage in Whitsett. The facility offers over 70,000 net rentable square feet and features drive-up and climate-controlled units.  An expansion project for the center is planned to open in January 2018. The improvement will add a two-story building with 49,000 additional climate-controlled square feet.

Lindsey Self Storage Group represented the seller in the sale of Brentwood Self Storage in Wilson to SecurCare. The Brentwood facility comprised 63,000 square feet. It’s SecurCare’s fourth acquisition in the Wilson market.

Public Storage Expands in Houston Suburb

Public Storage has opened a new, three-story self storage facility in the Houston suburb of Humble, Texas.

The facility opened in July on North Sam Houston Parkway with 1,183 units. It’s near George Bush Intercontinental Airport and the neighborhoods of Fall Creek, Lake Houston and Park Lakes.

Public Storage has 2,354 locations around the country, making it the largest self storage provider in the nation and a member of the S&P 500.

Family Trust Sells Central Florida Storage

C&M Mini Warehouse in St. Cloud, Florida, has sold to a California-based publicly traded REIT for $8.58 million. The seller was a family trust completing a 1031 Exchange.

Marcus & Millichap’s Christopher Secreto and Jacob Becher, both investment specialists in the Seattle and Palo Alto offices, had the exclusive listing and secured the buyer. The transaction was also facilitated by Kirk Felici, regional manager of the company’s Miami office and broker of record in Florida.

C&M Mini Warehouse is an 82,032-square-foot storage facility in the highly desirable Orlando MSA. It includes 735 storage units. It was built in 1997 and expanded in 2004. It features 12 single story buildings, a manager’s office and a 1,500 square-foot apartment.

Moove In Buys Two Properties In Pennsylvania

Moove In Self Storage has added a two-property portfolio in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to its holdings. Moove In has purchased Spare Room Self Storage for $5.2 million. The sites were purchased from Phil and Carol Wolgemuth, owners of Lampeter Properties LLC and Southwest Real Estate LLC.

The properties were built in 2003 and 2006. One on Columbia Avenue is a two-story building with 235 climate-controlled units. Another on Longfellow Drive includes seven single-story buildings and 147 climate-controlled units.

Purchasing the two stores gives Moove In Self Storage a presence in southeastern Lancaster County.

Moove In Self Storage operates 19 facilities in Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1997.

Talonvest Offers Update on Capital Markets

Talonvest Capital, Inc., a California-based real estate advisory services and self storage finance company, offered its insights into changes over the past month in capital markets. Among the highlights:

• LIBOR, the long-time global interest rate benchmark, is targeted to be eliminated by 2021. LIBOR is currently the base rate for more than $300 trillion of derivatives. The Fed’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee has announced its preferred alternative reference rate.

• The CMBS market has been extremely stable this year, making it easier for lenders to profitably price loans.

• Non-recourse bridge financing from banks is becoming more difficult to find in the 60-65 percent LTC range as many banks are requiring some level of going-in recourse to satisfy regulatory requirements.

Boardwalk Expands Georgia Storage Site

Boardwalk Development Group LLC, has acquired a home and garden center in Cummings, Georgia, and plans to convert it to self storage.

Boardwalk Development, which manages Boardwalk Storage Fund I, purchased Smallwood’s Home & Garden Center in August. It will be redeveloped to a Class A, 46,000 square foot climate-controlled storage facility. Cummings is a booming area of Forsyth County, the seventh-fastest growing country in the US in 2014. The garden center is located adjacent to the driveway for Boardwalk Storage – Friendship, Boardwalk’s first acquisition. 

“The redevelopment of Smallwood’s into a self storage facility will bring Boardwalk Storage – Friendship up to institutional grade quality, adding value to the asset and the fund,” said Rajen Sheth, CEO of Boardwalk Development. Once complete, the properties will offer 74,000 net rentable square feet of storage plus almost 70 open and covered parking spaces on 5.5 acres of land.

Pogoda Companies Celebrates 30^th Anniversary

Farmington Hills, Michigan-based Pogoda Companies, one of the 35 largest self storage operators in the US, celebrated its 30^th anniversary in August. President and CEO Maurice Pogoda started the business with his wife Lori in 1987. Today the company employs 90 people with 35 properties across Michigan and Ohio.

Pogoda Companies offers management, development and investment services. Pogoda Companies has brokered about 150 properties and managed and or owned over 75 facilities and has built or renovated 22 storage properties.

Pogoda was instrumental in founding the Self Storage Association of Michigan and served as its vice president for its initial seven years. He serves on the SSA Foundation’s Board of Governors.

Pogoda Companies is one of Michigan’s largest self storage operators with 2.5 million square feet of storage space.

SSGT Buys Storage on Nantucket Island

Strategic Storage Growth Trust Inc., has purchased an 840-unit self storage facility in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The 93,000-square-foot facility was built in 2002 on 1.7 acres.

“This is the premier self storage facility on Nantucket Island, with many safety features and 17 climate-controlled wine storage units that serve the renowned Nantucket Wine & Food Festival, which draws attendees and participants from throughout New England and across the nation each year,” said Wayne Johnson, chief investment officer.

SSGT is a public non-traded real estate investment trust sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management, LLC. The portfolio currently consists of 21 operating storage facilities in 10 states.

Marcus & Millichap’s LeClaire Promoted, Honored

Charles “Chico” LeClaire of the Denver office of Marcus & Millichap has been named an executive managing director investments. The designation is the highest level an investment professional can attain.

LeClaire joined Marcus & Millichap’s Denver office as an agent in 1990. He specializes in self storage property investments and serves as an executive managing director of Marcus & Millichap’s National Self-Storage Group. LeClaire was ranked among the company’s top 10 agents in 2016 out of over 1,700 brokers. That year he sold over $500 million in self storage facilities in 16 states. In September LeClaire will be the first real estate broker inducted into the National Self Storage Association’s Hall of Fame.

Self Storage Business Launching in South Carolina

TD Self Storage is being launched from Greenville, South Carolina, run by the president of a hotels company and a silent partner from California.

D.J. Rama, president of JHM Hotels, has launched the business, which plans to start construction in November on its first 100,000 square foot facility in Greenville. TD Self Storage is currently negotiating to acquire six other sites, including locations in Greenville, Charleston, Orlando, Florida and Austin, Texas.

TD Self Storage plans to add 10 to 12 storage locations a year in the southeast and Texas, said Roger Burgin, a senior vice president with the new company. In 10 years the company plans to have more than 100 facilities. It aims to buy and improve existing self storage facilities in addition to developing its own.

The company is partnering with CubeSmart to manage its facilities.

Burgin was previously vice president of business development for Simply Self Storage, a chain with more than 230 locations.

Janus Among Fastest-Growing Private Companies

Janus International Group, LLC, a manufacturer of self storage roll-up doors and building components, was named to Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 5000” list of the fastest-growing private companies for the fourth time in the last nine years. Janus ranked number 2,391 on the 2017 list, nearly 2,000 positions higher than when it first appeared on the list in 2008.

Companies that made the top 5,000 have grown six-fold on average since 2013. During the same period the U.S. economy grew 6.7 percent. Just 10 percent of ranked companies have appeared on the list four times.

Janus reported revenue of $293.9 million, a 151 percent increase since its listing last year. It also added 120 jobs.

“This significant achievement is a testament to the commitment of our leadership team and the strong network of employees that make our company great,” said David Curtis, president and CEO of Janus.

Headquartered in Temple, Georgia, Janus has six locations in the U.S. as well as manufacturing facilities in Europe and Mexico. The company is owned by Saw Mill Capital Partners, LP, a New York-based private equity investment fund managed by Saw Mill Capital, LLC.

Storage Express Improves Indiana Purchase

Storage Express has completed renovations on the former Maxx Self Storage in Centerville, Indiana. Storage Express recently acquired the facility on Airport Road. The facility includes 25,000 rentable square feet. Improvements included a new gate, fencing, LED lighting, paving, paint, high-definition video cameras and an automated kiosk.

“With two other facilities within a five-mile radius, this Centerville facility was a good fit for us and for area residents,” said Jefferson Shreve, president of Storage Express.

Storage Express also recently acquired and renovated a storage facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It has opened three other locations in Indiana in the last year and has four expansion projects underway at existing properties in the state.

Founded in 1992, Storage Express operates 93 self storage locations in five states.