Staff Report
Published Aug. 27, 2012

California-based Strategic Storage Trust Inc. has acquired eight self-storage properties in the Southeast, including four in South Carolina, for $25 million.

Acquired S.C. properties 512 Percival Road, Columbia: 490 units, 65,400 square feet 890 St. Peters Church Road, Lexington: 250 units, 35,400 square feet 120 Northpoint Drive, Lexington: 580 units, 86,500 square feet 298 Red Cedar St., Bluffton: 660 units, 78,900 square feet

The additional properties were purchased in Florida and Georgia.

The sites consist of about 3,770 self-storage units, which add approximately 508,200 square feet to Strategic Storage’s space inventory. All eight properties will be rebranded under the SmartStop Self Storage trade name.

“Due to this recent transaction, we have achieved a major milestone with the purchase of our 100th self-storage property,” said H. Michael Schwartz, chairman and CEO of Self Storage. “The self-storage sector’s consistently strong performance continues to drive our decision to expand our portfolio.”

The transaction is part of a three-phase acquisition of a 16-property portfolio that contains more than 1.1 million square feet and approximately 8,560 self-storage units in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Strategic Storage said it expects the remaining properties to close in the fourth quarter of 2012.

According to Wayne Johnson, senior vice president of acquisitions for Self Storage, the supply of self-storage space has more than doubled over the past 16 years while vacancy has remained relatively stable.

Strategic Storage Trust Inc., headquartered in Ladera Ranch, Calif., is a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust that invests in self-storage.