CHICAGO-Strategic Storage Trust Inc., a non-traded self-storage center REIT that’s sponsored by Strategic Capital Holdings, has entered the local area with the $11.7 million buy of three self-storage facilities. The properties include about 2,000 units here and in Cicero, IL.
Michael Schwartz, chairman and CEO of the Ladera Ranch, CA-based trust, says the sites were purchased from an institutional investor. The properties had been branded under the Lake Forest, IL-based Metro Self Storage name. Each property now is rebranded under SSTI’s SmartStop name.
The sites include 690 units at 1000 E. 95th St., near Chicago State University, and 590 units at 2244 S. Western Ave. in the Pilson neighborhood of Chicago, and 750 units at 5701 W. Ogden Ave. in Cicero. The properties are less than 8 years old, Schwartz says, and are about 81% occupied.
He says he’s been trying to get into Chicago, to diversify the company’s portfolio of 38 properties in 15 states. “We hadn’t been able to find the right value until now. With this we were able to buy a cluster, a beachhead with the potential for more acquisitions in the area,” Schwartz tells GlobeSt.com.
The properties mirror the current self storage market, which has averaged around 80% to 85% occupied for the past few years, he says. “Self storage has seemed to be recession resilient,” Schwartz says. “This Chicago portfolio is still stable, even though we’re entering the slow period for this product, people tend not to move during the holidays. We think we have a nice portfolio that’s well positioned for the economic recovery.”
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