StorageMart to buy Manhattan Mini Storage

Columbia, MO-based StorageMart has struck a deal to purchase the 18-facility Manhattan Mini Storage portfolio in New York City. The portfolio spans 3.1 million square feet, offering a total of 56,000 self-storage units.

StorageMart, the world’s largest privately held self-storage operator, announced Nov. 12 that it entered a definitive agreement to purchase the entirety of the Manhattan Mini portfolio. The deal would vastly expand StorageMart’s presence in the city, building upon its five-facility foothold located in Queens, Brooklyn and New Jersey.

The exact purchase price was not disclosed. However, sources familiar with the deal told the Storage Beat that the total is approximately equal to the $3 billion price tag widely reported by the media in August when news first broke that Manhattan Mini Storage was exploring a sale. That price would likely make the transaction the largest self-storage purchase in history, trading for around $960 per square foot.

Started in 1978 by the late real estate magnate Jerry Gottesman, Manhattan Mini Storage grew in the ensuing decades to become the biggest self-storage operator in Manhattan. The company is owned by Edison Properties, a holding company created by Gottesman that today consists of more than 70 stakeholders, according to The Real Deal.

StorageMart retained Citigroup as its exclusive financial advisor, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP acting as legal counsel. Manhattan Mini Storage was represented by Kieran O’Shea of Eastdil Secured.

Photo credit: InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Originally published on SpareFoot.com