HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Newmark Knight Frank has closed the sale of a 50-property self-storage portfolio, marking the largest self-storage property transaction in real estate investment history.
The purchase, made by SROA Capital Fund VII, L.P., comprises 21,787 storage units and a total of 3,150,819 square feet of rentable space.
The properties, located across six states — Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan and Florida — will operate under the Storage Rentals of America brand.
By asset count, this transaction is the largest widely marketed, non-merger deal completed to date in the self-storage sector, according to NKF.
Vice Chairman Aaron Swerdlin and Executive Managing Director Kenneth Cox, who co-lead NKF’s self-storage group, represented the seller, a joint venture between an undisclosed institutional investment advisor and a publicly traded storage REIT. NKF team members Bert Sanders, Aaron Sommer and Fred Liesveld provided local representation for the seller. NKF Valuation & Advisory Executive Vice President and Self Storage Co-Leader Chris Sonne completed the property appraisals. The buyer is a joint venture between a state pension fund and an investment fund.
“The level of interest generated by this portfolio was a clear indicator of the overall health of the self-storage market,” said Swerdlin. “Achieving a successful sale like this reinforces industry confidence that self-storage remains one of the strongest asset classes, and continues to attract institutional capital.”
Swerdlin and Cox are recognized national experts in the self-storage field, guiding the strategy and development of NKF’s self-storage specialty practice across the country.
“During the offering process, this portfolio of seasoned, mature properties with a long, stable cash-flow history attracted interest from a broad spectrum of buyers,” Cox said. “That diversity of bidders—from pension funds and private equity to family offices, public REITs and private capital—confirms that self-storage is a mainstream asset class in high demand.”
“The self-storage sector remains well positioned to deliver strong operating performance,” Cox added. “Headline risk is primarily driven by new supply, but current interest rate conditions and steady revenue growth are limiting downside surprises.”
SROA Capital, based in West Palm Beach, Florida, is a vertically integrated self-storage operator founded in 2013 by real estate entrepreneur Benjamin Macfarland in partnership with Sidney Kohl (co-founder of Kohl’s Department Stores) and James Jenkins (co-founder of Alliant). SROA operates under the Storage Rentals of America brand.
July 12, 2019 Realty News Report Copyright 2019
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