U-Store It Trust Acquires Storage Facilities for $309.5 Million

U-Store It Trust, a REIT focused on self-storage facilities, has acquired 99 self-storage facilities for a total purchase price of $309.5 million. The acquisitions will add 5.1 million square feet to its portfolio.

The company will acquire 67 self-storage facilities from National Self Storage for $217 million. These facilities total approximately 3.6 million rentable square feet, and are located in the company's existing markets in Southern California, Arizona, and Tennessee, and in new markets Texas, Northern California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.

The company also said it has entered into a contract to acquire 18 self-storage facilities for $34 million from Liberty Self-Stor, Ltd. The facilities total approximately 863,000 rentable square feet, and are located in Ohio and New York.

The company will also purchase six self-storage facilities from A-1 Self Storage for $28.1 million. The facilities total approximately 240,000 rentable square feet, and are located in Connecticut and New York. In addition, the company has agreed to acquire three facilities for an aggregate purchase price of $14.9 million. The facilities total approximately 200,000 rentable square feet, and are located in north Dallas and Orlando, Fla.

On March 1, U-Store It acquired five self-storage facilities in central Connecticut, totaling approximately 237,000 rentable square feet, and operated under the Ford Storage Brand name. The purchase price was $15.5 million.

U-Store It Trust went public in 2004, and quickly added 47 properties to its total of 155. This purchase will create synergies with its properties U-Store It owns in existing markets, as well as gain access to new markets the company has been looking to enter, said Steven G. Osgood, president and CFO, U-Store It Trust.

There are between 37,000 to 40,000 self-storage facilities in the U.S., Osgood said. U-Store It Trust plans to make additional acquisitions at the level of $100 million to $150 million this year. Approximately $50 million of those will be properties owned by Rising Tide, a self-storage company which shares owners with U-Store It. U-Store-It has the option to purchase Rising Tide assets when they are 85 percent rented.

In a statement, the company said it expects to finance the aggregate purchase price and related closing costs through $63 million of newly-issued units of its operating partnership, approximately $180 million of assumed and new first mortgage debt, and a draw on their existing revolving credit facility. The acquisitions are expected to close by the end of the second quarter of this year.