Prime Group Holdings Make Second Canadian Acquisition, Plans More

Posted by Modern Storage Media on May 15, 2024 5:50:13 AM

Prime Group Holdings, LLC, which raised its first private equity real estate fund dedicated to self-storage in 2015 and has a sizable presence across the United States, has made its second Canadian acquisition. This comes off the heels of the firm's first foray into Canada with the acquisition of a self-storage property in Sherwood Park, Alberta in December 2023.

The new property, located in Burnaby, British Columbia, is comprised of 1,018 units (67,476 rentable square feet) and 63 parking spaces. However, Robert Moser, Prime's founder, principal and CEO, says he is not yet at liberty to name the vendor or purchase price of the property. We do know that it was previously occupied by a business operating under the name of U-Lock Mini Storage, which has six other British Columbia locations.

Prime Group will manage the three-story facility at 4240 Manor St., which was converted to self-storage use in 2015. One key attraction of the Metro Vancouver site is visibility from, and accessibility to, the Trans-Canada Highway. Like all Prime Group-owned self-storage properties, it will operate under the Prime Storage brand.

“We thoroughly evaluated the Metro Vancouver market, and Burnaby in particular, which shows compelling demand drivers similar to those we have targeted in the U.S.,” Moser said in a press release. “Burnaby is an inner suburb of Vancouver with a dynamic economy. It is home to two major universities, leading tech companies, large retail centers, rapid transit lines, business parks, and film studios. The densely populated market has driven strong rents as a result of both residential and retail demand for local self-storage options.”

The Burnaby facility was approximately 70 per cent occupied upon acquisition and Moser is confident Prime Group’s operations team can increase that number, along with the value of the company’s investment.

Prime Group, which now owns and operates 302 self-storage assets and manages additional assets worth more than $4 billion on behalf of a global institutional investor base, is looking to continue making more Canadian acquisitions.

“We are thrilled to continue strategically expanding Prime Group’s institutional portfolio and self-storage expertise in the Canadian market,” Moser says. "Vancouver and other major Canadian metros have many sub-markets with particularly affluent and growing populations, economic development and limited self-storage supply. We have a robust pipeline of opportunities and we look forward to continuing to purchase high-quality assets in similar cities across Canada.”