Blog

EU Investors Back $100 Million ‘COVID-19 Opportunity Fund’

Jameson Capital secured $25 million from two European cornerstone investors for a $100 million fund that will provide debt and take equity positions in real estate opportunities created COVID-19. Last-mile logistics, childcare, seniors living, self storage, data centres, medium density residential housing and healthcare are being targeted for the so-called special situations fund. As a secured lender will we will also share in exposure to any upside by taking a share of the profits at the end of the project” “We’ll be making loans to asset owners in various sectors,” said…

On the Rise: Self Storage Poised for a Bright Future in Southeast Asia

The demand for self storage in Southeast Asia has been growing steadily. Land is becoming scarce as cities become more densely populated, and the average house size is shrinking. As a result, many consumers are beginning to turn to self storage as an affordable solution to their lack of space. It’s likely that demand will remain, as storage is an essential need for many, whether for personal or business use. Here are some other things driving the market in the region: Land costs. Prices for residential, retail and industrial real…

Make Space Capital Partners I LP Acquires Storage Facility in Regina, Saskatchewan

Make Space Capital Partners I LP on behalf of its investors, and investors in Make Space Capital Partners Fund (together, “the Fund”), is pleased to announce the $4,420,000 acquisition of a stabilized self storage facility in Regina, Saskatchewan. This investment will add another 290 units and 57,300 ft2 of net rentable space to the current portfolio, as well as be the first Saskatchewan-based operation in the Fund. This facility provides stable revenues, as well as growth potential, making it an ideal acquisition for the fund.” Danny Freedman, owner of Make…

Fast Growing Self Storage Specialist Scoops Two More Business Awards

Newport-based Self-Storage expert, Storage Giant, has scooped its third and fourth awards of the year, by being named Business of the Year 2020 by the Business Growth Awards South Wales, as well as winning the Economic Contribution Award at the Business Growth Awards in Cardiff this month. The company, which started life as a single unit concern at the onset of the recession, and is now a multi-million turnover business, was given these two most recent accolades at an awards ceremony in Cardiff, having already been awarded Best Commercial &…

Safestore and Carlyle’s Joint Venture Acquires Self Storage Portfolio in The Netherlands

Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and Safestore (FTSE 250: SAFE) today announced that their joint venture, established in August 2019, has acquired Opslag XL, a self storage operator with three stores in The Netherlands. The portfolio comprises three high-quality self storage stores, including two freehold locations in The Hague and Hilversum regions and one short leasehold in Amsterdam. The assets total c.7,000 sq metres (75,000 sq ft) of maximum leasable area. The Dutch self storage market offers an attractive opportunity given it is a still highly fragmented…

Big Yellow Raises £100 Million for Acquisitions

The self storage company sold 7.75 million new shares for £12.90 each – a 0.9% discount to the closing price on 23 June. The shares represent 4.4% of Big Yellow’s ordinary share capital before the placing. The placing has been successfully completed, and we are very grateful to our shareholders for their support.” The placing raised £100m before costs. Announcing the share sale after the market closed on Wednesday, Big Yellow said it was raising cash to fund £145m of acquisitions. The company will pay £119m including debt to buy…

Successful Site Selection with Comprehensive Self Storage Market Data

The UK self storage market consists of a broad demographic, from one and two-store owners to large, multi-site operators like Safestore, Big Yellow, Access, Lok’n Store, Shurgard, Space Maker, Storage King and HSIL Property. Their brands and locations are widely recognized while smaller players tend to be privately owned and operate on a small-scale basis as local companies. The pandemic proved self storage to be a recession-tolerant industry, observing average price increases of £10.13 year over year. Paired with the fact that the UK is still relatively underserved at less…

Self Storage Giant Doubles Size of Wrexham Site After £150K Revamp

Business is booming for a fast-growing self storage company which has just re-opened one of its Wrexham storage parks after a £150,000 refurbishment. That included an extension to their Whitegates facility, on the town’s Queensway, by Lock Stock Self-Storage which has more than doubled its capacity to 130 units with a quarter of a million cubic metres of storage space. This was one of the company’s first sites and opened in 2003 and we added a second site on Ruabon Road four years ago and its 180 storage units are…

Carlisle, England

Market of the Month is a regular feature in List Self Storage where we focus on a particular city and then delve into StorTrack’s substantial data reserves to find some interesting and informative insights into the market from a self storage business perspective. This month, we take a look at Carlisle, England, the “Great Border City”. The City Home to the main campuses of the University of Cumbria and a variety of museums and heritage centres, Carlisle has a population of 109,183. During the Middle Ages, because of its proximity…

Janus International Completes Merger to Become Public Company

Janus International Group, a manufacturer of doors and other products for self-storage and industrial facilities, has joined the small cadre of publicly traded companies in the self storage industry. Janus’ stock started trading June 8 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock opened the day at $14 per share and closed at $13.89 per share. In December, Janus executives estimated the stock listing would lead to a market capitalization of $1.4 billion and an equity valuation of $1.9 billion. A ‘blank check’ merger Temple, GA-based Janus went public through…