By Jack Stubbs
On September 16th—as part of three separate transactions that were recently recorded—three warehouse/storage properties in Seattle and Auburn sold for a combined $40.3 million, King County records show.
The buyer of the properties was New York-based Life Storage Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages self-storage properties throughout the United States. The seller was Stor-More Self Storage, a storage company based in Lake Stevens, Washington.
The first property included in the transaction, located at 1704 and 1082 A St. SE in Auburn, comprises just under one acre and includes a mini-warehouse, according to public documents. The second property, located at 2850 SW Yancy St. across from Seattle’s Industrial District via the West Seattle Bridge, includes three warehouse/storage buildings that total roughly 47,700 square feet.
The final property in the transaction includes four mini-warehouse buildings—constructed in 1995—that together comprise just over 49,000 square feet, the largest of which is a 32,000 square foot property that sits on just under two acres.
Founded in 1982, Life Storage operates approximately 800 self-storage facilities encompassing more than 55 million square feet across 29 states, according to the company’s web site.
Over the last few months, there have been several transactions involving self-storage properties throughout the Puget Sound region. In May, Marcus & Millichap announced the $10.25 million sale of I-5 Mini Storage, an 83,315-square foot self-storage facility in Everett, which represented
approximately $123 per rentable square foot.
Christopher R. Secreto, Senior Vice President Investments at the Marcus & Millichap’s Seattle office and a Senior Director of the National Self-Storage Group, transactions involving self-storage facilities, in particular, are of increasing interest due to their geographical location in the expanding Pacific Northwest region.
“Everett I-5 Mini Storage attracted multiple offers and generated a highly-competitive bidding process,” Secreto said at the time of the transaction. “Buyers were attracted to the facility’s proximity to major employment hubs such as The Boeing Company’s Everett manufacturing plant and the Port of Everett, both of which are driving housing and self storage demand.”
