Thanks to a pandemic push, the self-storage market is taking off. Self-storage properties are among a handful of asset classes to shine during the pandemic, and the activity is reinforcing investor interest. Buchanan Street Partners has tracked the market activity and launched a self-storage investment platform with plans to buy $350 million to $500 million over the next five years. The recent market activity has underscored the firm's outlook and investment plans.

"As we expected, self-storage has continued to perform very well during the pandemic, further reinforcing our investment strategy," Timothy Ballard, president and CEO at Buchanan Street Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. "The pandemic reaffirmed the belief of self-storage being a recession resistant sector."

The demand is driven by heightened consumer interest in storage facilities, which have led to strong occupancies. "With consumer demand at an all-time high, the sector appears to have proven that it is a need among consumers," says Feerooz Yacoobi, VP at Buchanan Street Partners. "That's why in terms of occupancies, we're seeing same store pools among the REIT operators at an all-time high, in the mid-95% range. We think this sector will continue to weather the storm."