Women In Self-Storage: Martha Hargrove Leeder, DXD Capital

Martha Hargrove Leeder is no exception. Her role as managing director at DXD Capital is fulfilling for her, and it follows an accomplished music career as a band manager. It was an industry that enabled her to see under the hood of a big machine and taught her how to negotiate and raise funds for big projects.

 

We know you perked up when you read that part about the music bands, so get your reading glasses to find out more about why she is featured in this month’s “Women In Self-Storage.”

 

Leeder was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, with a younger sister who works today as a cattle rancher. Her mom is a commercial real estate attorney. Her dad also worked in real estate. “That exposure from an early age meant I was always learning about the industry and it always stuck with me,” she says.

 

After high school, she left home to attend the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating, she stayed there and began working in the music industry. “For the first part of my career, I managed and promoted bands. It’s an unusual background and a really great training ground for raising capital,” she says. “No. 1, it’s very competitive, and you work really long hours. You also deal with a variety of personalities and are exposed to a lot of different business verticals.”

 

She became familiar with all aspects of working with the artists: negotiating with record labels, large marketing teams, the logistics of setting up tours, and the distribution of music albums. On top of all of it, she also had to strike good deals and get people to buy the records or invest in the artists.

 

At some point, her job required her to move to New York City. While there, she obtained her master’s degree at NYU. “That was a really great experience. I really loved the classes at Stern Business School and found a lot of value in the network and advanced degree.”

 

 

As luck would have it, she was recruited to raise capital for Albuquerque Academy as the associate director for advancement for major gifts. “I thought that job would eventually lead me back to Texas, but I’ve been here in New Mexico for over 11 years,” she explains. “We raised $30 million for the school’s capital campaign. I was responsible for their major gifts program, and that’s where I met DXD Principal Drew Dolan. Back then, he was the president of Titan Development.” It was a chance meeting that led her to become vice president of investor relations at Titan for the following two and a half years.

 

This was the key role that allowed Leeder to expand her skills in real estate private equity. There she helped to raise the $112 million Titan Development Real Estate Fund I and its $98 million follow-up fund. In addition to raising capital, she formalized their investor reporting program and implemented an online investor portal to improve investor relations.

 

In 2016, they read about Radius+, a data analytics platform that specializes in self-storage data. They became clients of the service because it was the No. 1 data source for the industry.

 

Leeder and Dolan traveled to the Radius+ offices in midtown Manhattan, where they met some of the platforms’ employees, including Cory Sylvester, the other co-founder and principal at DXD. Titan had just entered the self-storage industry by investing in seven facilities; after meeting Sylvester, they had a better understanding of how data can help make investment decisions in self-storage and learned more about the nuances of the industry.

 

 

Soon after, Dolan and Leeder wanted to focus on self-storage. The reasons were varied. “It’s a business that behaves more like a commodity,” she explains. “So many asset classes rely on their operators, like senior living facilities or hotels. You’ve got to have the right operators, and it’s more about the operating business than the underlying real estate. But the more data you have for self-storage, the better your investment decisions. It becomes about timing and the site itself.”

 

Leeder and Sylvester decided to go into business together and start DXD Capital, knowing that their investment into data and technology gave them a significant competitive advantage. When they did, they asked Leeder to become their first employee. In less than a decade, they’ve raised $163 million from investors for self-storage funds and direct investments. This has positioned them as one of the best, and possibly the best, self-storage investment outfit in the industry.

 

“We are miles ahead of our competition,” she says, “and that’s because we are creating efficiencies at scale to make the best investments in the self-storage space. Our No. 1 goal is to get our investors the very best return.”

She’s also proud of the culture they’ve built. They’ve grown significantly since those early days just a handful of years ago. “Right now, we have a team of about 30 people, and together they have more than 200 years of experience in self-storage. They’re top performers in the industry.” She’s also proud that they have created a culture of empathy and opportunity. “Our group has a ton of energy and that’s underpinned by our commitment to creativity, innovation, and constant improvement. I really love that about the company.”

 

Of course, they’ve also faced challenges. The main ones relate to municipalities. “We’re in the business of mitigating risks,” she says. “We do this in a variety of ways. For example, once we start construction on a project, there may be issues with inspectors or staff changes at the municipal level. These are things we can’t control that can affect the timeline of the project.” But just as how she has gracefully transitioned from one industry to the next, she’s also good at pivoting to make things work. Even when they face obstacles at the municipal level, they find ways around it. “We typically find ways to cut timelines in other areas, such as getting temporary certificates of occupancy to speed up our delivery to the market.”

 

Despite the challenges, they’re proud that they have delivered 19 facilities across 17 states, from Nantucket to Maui, and that they’ve consistently raised capital for projects, including during the pandemic, which was a very difficult time to raise capital. To date, they have 250 investors, seven facilities under construction, and a pipeline of 29 more coming.

 

“We are just getting started and I look forward to being part of our team’s continued success,” she says. “My dream is to have DXD Capital become a household name as we grow.”

 

 

Leeder is a firm believer in connecting with other women within the self-storage industry. “We possess a magic network because it’s smaller,” she says. “I would advise any woman entering this space to connect to other women. I’m hoping to start a women in self-storage group to make it easier. We are always ready to help each other, and I know we can do a lot more of that.”

 

She’s grateful to be part of the industry. “This is a space that has been overperforming for around for about 40 years, but we’re only beginning to really innovate. It’s an exciting time to be at the forefront of something that’s becoming institutionalized.” She also believes that her exposure to real estate from an early age is what eventually led her to find her way back to it.

 

In her free time, Leeder likes to spend time with her cat and to travel with her husband, Tug. They also really enjoy their time in Santa Fe, a city they thoroughly love.

 

Finally, this one’s for all of you foodies out there: “The most common question around New Mexico is red or green? That refers to green or red chile. If I had to pick, it’d be red. It’s a little more subtle and more smoky.”

 

And there you have it. What’s better than some good food advice?

 

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