LADERA RANCH, CA-Strategic Storage Trust Inc. has been buying self-storage facilities on an all-cash basis in assembling a portfolio of properties around the country, but the locally based non-traded REIT has now placed nearly $33 million of low-interest, long-term debt on an 11-property self storage portfolio located in various locations throughout the US. The CBRE Capital Markets Denver and Houston offices arranged the $32.59 million in permanent financing on behalf of SSTI, with vice chairman Eric Tupler and senior production analyst Josh Simon in Denver, along with Bernard Branca in the Houston office, arranging the first mortgage financing.

The refinance included a nine-year term, 30-year amortization, and a fixed interest rate of 5.43% on $29.85 million and 5.31% on the remaining $2.73 million. The 11 self-storage facilities are located in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia for a total of 7,794 units and 797,507 square feet. The properties had a stabilized average occupancy of 80% at the time of funding.

H. Michael Schwartz, CEO of Strategic Storage, commented regarding the financing: “We have been acquiring assets on an all-cash basis over the past few years, but given the current financing markets, found it accretive to finance this pool of assets with low leverage long-term debt.” He adds that the CB Capital Markets team customized the financing structure “to allow us to take advantage of low interest rates while still providing us flexibility within our business plan to release assets or substitute properties.”

Strategic Storage Trust Inc. is the fifth public self-storage company in the US and the first self-storage REIT in the public non-traded REIT marketplace. Its storage facilities are branded as SmartStop Self Storage throughout the country.

The portfolio includes a 620-unit property in Erlanger, KY; a 983-unit facility in Fort Lee, NJ; a 1,626-unit property located in Fort Lauderdale, FL; a 1,041-unit property in Davie, FL; a 517-unit facility in Las Vegas; a 500-unit property in Manassas, VA; a 506-unit property in Marietta, GA; a 439-unit property in Phoenix; a 468-unit facility in Pittsburgh; a 443-unit facility in Tempe, AZ and a 651-unit property in Weston, FL.