Invesco, Baranof Holdings Buy Phoenix Storage

641 E. Warner Road. Image courtesy of JLL Capital Markets

Invesco Real Estate has partnered with Baranof Holdings to acquire a 573-unit self storage facility in Chandler, Ariz. JLL Capital Markets arranged the $12.3 million transaction on behalf of the seller, Pegasus Group. CubeSmart is the manager of the asset.

The 1996-built facility offers 63,840 square feet of storage across six single-story buildings at 641 E. Warner Road. Storage spaces range from 12 to 300 square feet and include 106 climate-controlled units, drive-up access, as well as RV and boat parking spaces.

The property is in a dense residential area next to an industrial park some 22 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix. There are 19 facilities within a 3-mile radius, accounting for 9.3 square feet of storage space per capita. The figure is higher than Phoenix’s penetration rate of approximately 7.7 square feet, and considerably above the national average of 6.9 square feet per-person.

The JLL Capital Markets team that negotiated on behalf of the seller included Managing Directors Steve Mellon and Brian Somoza, and Director Carl Beardsley.

This was not the first time Invesco partnered with Baranof Holdings. In September, the two companies joined forces to acquire Solana Beach Storage, an 895-unit facility in Solana Beach, Calif. Cushman & Wakefield negotiated the $48.5 million transaction on behalf of the buyer.

A hot market for self storage

Despite the above-average penetration rate, Phoenix was also one of the most active markets in terms of construction activity as of September. The metro’s pipeline accounted for 13.3 percent of existing inventory, a 20 percent increase over the previous month, a recent Yardi Matrix report shows.

The metro was also one of the top five U.S. markets in terms of rent growth. In the 12 months ending in September, the asking rent went up 12 percent for the standard 10×10 non-climate-controlled units and 15 percent for the 10×10 climate-controlled units.