National Storage, Heitman Snap Up Self-Storage Portfolio For $1.3B
National Storage Affiliates Trust, in a joint venture with Heitman Capital Management, has acquired a portfolio of 112 self-storage properties from Simply Self Storage, a portfolio company of a private real estate fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management.
The JV is paying more than $1.3B for the assets.
Under the terms of the deal, National Storage owns 25% of the JV, while Heitman holds 75%. The portfolio includes properties in 17 states and Puerto Rico, and totals about 68,000 storage units.
Once the deal closes, National Storage plans to rebrand nearly all of the portfolio under its iStorage brand, and the company’s iStorage management platform will operate the properties.
About two years ago, Colorado-based National Storage formed a JV with a large state pension fund managed by Heitman Capital Management. In that deal, National Storage acquired iStorage's 66-property portfolio for roughly $630M.
The U.S. self-storage industry, though it enjoyed a spike in demand last year after Hurricane Harvey damaged Houston, seems to have leveled off after a number of years of growth.
The long-term future of the industry is a bit cloudy as well, with aging baby boomers downsizing and getting rid of possessions. Also, reports show millennials have accumulated fewer material items at this point in their lives than their parents, and so are less likely to require self-storage. That might change as the generation continues to age and a larger number of millennials form households.
To help finance its part of the recent acquisition, National Storage has priced its previously announced public offering of 5.9 million common shares, a move that will generate gross proceeds of about $177M. National Storage is contributing $160.8M for its share of the joint venture.
