Investment Trust Buys Phoenix-Area Self Storage

11658 W. Bell Road

Strategic Storage Trust VI, a SmartStop Self Storage REIT arm, has acquired a 665-unit self storage facility in Surprise, Ariz. The seller was Urban Self Storage, according to data from Yardi Matrix.

The 2017-built facility was 89 percent occupied at the time of the sale. The acquisition brings the Strategic Storage Trust VI portfolio to a total of four properties.

The two-story building, situated on roughly 3 acres at 11658 W. Bell Road, offers 72,800 rentable square feet in a mix of climate-controlled and non-climate-controlled units ranging between 25 and 300 square feet. The facility includes drive-up and elevator access and digital security system.

Located in a residential area close to a retail corridor on West Bell Road, some 21 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix, the property is one of 13 self storage facilities within a three miles radius.

The recently completed facility serves the growing Surprise demographic and is expected to perform better than older facilities in the area, Wayne Johnson, chief investment officer at Strategic Storage Trust VI, said in prepared remarks.

Phoenix storage

The Phoenix self storage sector continued to expand in July, according to a recent Yardi Matrix report. Rent rates for 10×10 non-climate-controlled units increased by 11 percent year-over-year, while rents for climate-controlled units of similar size grew by 16 percent since July 2020, significantly above national figures for both types of units.

Construction activity also experienced a strong increase in July. Properties under construction and in planning stages added up to 12.4 percent of the existing stock—up 80 basis points over the previous month and well above the national growth rate.