Calif. firm buys Newark storage facility for $19M

NEWARK – A California-based real estate investment trust has acquired a newly completed self-storage facility in the Diamond State Industrial Park for about $19.7 million.

Strategic Storage Trust VI Inc. (SST VI), a real estate investment trust based in Ladera Ranch, Calif., is sponsored by an affiliate of SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc., one of the largest self-storage companies in North America.

SST VI announced April 26 that it acquired the CubeSmart Self Storage facility at 401 Bellevue Road that opened in August, and rebranded it as a Smart Stop location. The four-story facility is comprised of approximately 80,650 square feet of rental space in 830 units, all of which are climate-controlled – a feature that makes the facility competitive in a market that serves the areas of Wilson, Brookside, Ogletown, and the University of Delaware

The national self-storage developer SAFStor acquired the facility from a partner developer for $1.85 million in October 2020.

According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the purchase price for the Newark property was approximately $19.7 million, plus closing costs and acquisition fees. SST VI also announced an acquisition of an 810-unit facility in Levittown, Pa., which opened last year, for about $21 million.

SST VI reportedly funded the acquisitions with a combination of net proceeds from its private offering and tapping on a bridge loan and credit line with Huntington National Bank.

The Newark and Levittown facilities mark the 11th and 12th acquisitions for SST VI, which launched as a private REIT in early 2021. It has since purchased approximately $165 million of self-storage facilities and land parcels to be developed into self-storage.

“We are excited to add these two newly-constructed properties to the SST VI portfolio, and simultaneously enter the Philadelphia market,” said Wayne Johnson, chief investment officer of SST VI, in a statement. “With our tenth acquisition in the program, we believe we are amassing a very high-quality portfolio that we expect will create strong value for stockholders.”

The self-storage market has been booming for several years now, driven in part by the increase in housing, transition of retirees to smaller homes in coastal communities and increasing numbers of transplants coming for work in the First State.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect a delayed deed transfer.