CHICAGO-Following in the wake of success of the multifamily market, the self-storage industry is having some of its best years, according to a third-quarter overview report by locally based MJ Partners Real Estate Services. The company examines and reports on the public self-storage companies, including Glendale, CA-based Public Storage, one of the country’s largest REITs, and Wayne, PA-based CubeSmart, formerly U-Store-It.

Marc Boorstein, an MJ partner, tells GlobeSt.com that in Q3, the large firms showed strong revenue growth of 4% to 5.8%, and net operating income growth of 7.3% to 8.6%. Occupancy ranged from 80.8% at CubeSmart to 91.7% at Public Storage.

Flush with cash and manageable debt, these large public companies are going on an acquisitions tear, he says. Two weeks ago, CubeSmart agreed to acquire 22 storage properties of about 1.6 million square feet from Storage Deluxe for $560 million, a portfolio mostly located in the New York City area. Salt Lake City-based Extra Space has purchased 48 properties this year for about $223 million, and Public Storage invested in eight properties for about $182 million. Just in the third quarter, Buffalo, NY-based Sovran, operating under the name Uncle Bob’s Self Storage, has acquired $310 million worth of properties.