The price is $30.5 million or $131.47 per rentable sf. The properties are at Allegheny and 3100 C St., in Germantown at 335 E. Price St., the intersection of Oregon Avenue and 23rd Street, and 5134 Lancaster Ave. in Overbrook. All are former industrial buildings that were converted to self storage within the past five to six years, according to Nick Malagisi, national director of self storage for Irvine, CA-based Sperry Van Ness and managing director of Sperry Van Ness/Storage Realty in Williamsville, NY.

Malagisi and Jeffrey Supnick of Mount Laurel, NJ-based Supnick Real Estate represented the buyer and seller in the transaction. OB operates the Simply Self Storage brand with an aggregate of more than 10.8 million sf of storage space in more than 180 self storage facilities in 18 states and Puerto Rico. An OB spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com it may expand two of the Philadelphia properties in the future, but declined to disclose the expansion capacity.

"The acquisition gives OB "a foothold in the nation's fourth largest market on the East Coast," Malagisi says. The portfolio was approximately 68% occupied at the close of the sale, "but three of the properties are still in rent-up," he says. "They are multi-floor buildings, and floors were converted in phases. The conversion of industrial buildings to self storage is common in cities," he adds.

While rental rates vary from property to property, Malagisi says a 10-by-10 foot unit in the Oregon facility rents for $120 per month. "The larger the unit, the lower the rate per sf," he adds. Philly Self Storage could not be reached by deadline.