$38.7M Storage Property Deal Closes in South Carolina

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Strategic Storage Trust Inc. (SSTI) recently announced completing a three-phase acquisition of a 16-property storage portfolio. Totaling over 1.1 million square feet of storage space and around 8,560 self-storage units in various locations across South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, the portfolio has an estimated value of $75 million. H. Michael Schwartz, chairman and CEO of SSTI, said in a press release: “We now own and operate 108 properties in 17 states and Canada and will continue to expand in 2013.”

Of the 16 properties acquired in this phase, six are located in South Carolina’s Mount Pleasant and Charleston markets. Purchased for approximately $38.7 million, the South Carolina properties total 3,740 self-storage units, or around 459,000 square feet.

“Due to this last acquisition of six core properties, we are now one of the larger self-storage owner/operators in the Charleston/Mt. Pleasant markets,” estimated Schwartz.

Three properties were purchased in the Charleston area—the 390-unit, 46,700-square-foot 2343 Savannah Hwy. location; a 430-unit, 46,400-square-foot facility at 1533 Ashley River Rd.; and 1951 Maybank Hwy., consisting of 570 units totaling 66,300 square feet.

The Mt. Pleasant area portfolio also contains three properties—a 390-unit, 41,000-square-foot self-storage facility at 1117 Bowman Rd; one at 1904 Hwy. 17 North containing 590 units totaling 63,600 square feet; and a 195,100-square-foot, 1,370-unit location at 1108 Stockade Ln.

“The Charleston market has very high barriers to entry. We look forward to putting our marketing and management efforts to work to drive income and occupancy well past current levels,” said Wayne Johnson, senior vice president of acquisitions for SSTI.

The deal’s first phase increased SSTI’s portfolio with eight properties totaling 3,770 self-storage units and approximately 508,200 square feet in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, while the second phase brought 1,050 self-storage units and 142,700 square feet in two Georgia and South Carolina facilities.

Strategic Storage Trust Inc. is the only public non-traded self-storage REIT.  Since its 2008 inception, SSTI has amassed around 70,000 self-storage units and 8.7 million rentable square feet of storage space.

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