News
PUBLIC STORAGE TELLS IT TO THE PUBLIC
November 18, 2010
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| Self-storage may not be recession proof (people stuff cash in mattresses, not storage units), but it's certainly recession resistant, according to Public Storage CFO John Reyes and CEO Ronald Havner Jr. (with NAREIT's Kurt Walten, left). The duo made their comments during NAREIT's REITWorld 2010 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. The REIT only dropped 4%, bottoming during Q4 '09, and has experienced an uptick ever since—this was the first time it experienced such a drop, they add. In Q3, its 2,000 facilities in 38 states, including 87 in Georgia, saw a move-in volume of 15,000, a 7% increase year-over-year. According to the company's Q3 filings, facilities in Georgia even saw weighted average occupancy move up from 88.8% to 90.3%. Year-to-date, Public Storage has invested in 40 storage facilities totaling 25M SF paying an average of $90/SF, and will spend $15M more by year?s end, they say. Many of the assets that Public Storage has purchased are bank foreclosures, which are cheaper to acquire and fix than to develop from the ground-up. They're particularly watching growth in the Southeast and on the West Coast. |
