Five Star Development LLC, which operates eight Five Star Storage properties in Minnesota and North Dakota, has purchased an additional three self-storage facilities in North Dakota. The company acquired Crossroads Storage and American Roughrider Storage in Fargo for $2.2 million as well as Legacy Storage Solutions in Bismarck for $5.6 million. The properties add more than 167,000 rentable square footage of storage space to Five Star’s portfolio, according to a press release.
The Fargo properties at 487 34th St. S. and 1402 27th Ave. S. had been managed by Five Star for seven years prior to the acquisition. Together, they comprise 52,440 rentable square feet of storage space. The owners of one site exchanged their property for ownership units in the company, the release stated. The second owner chose a traditional sale.
The acquisition of 3320 Hamilton St., which opened less than two years ago, allowed Five Star to enter a new market. It’s now the largest property in the operator’s portfolio, comprising 114,600 rentable square feet of storage space, according to the release. The facility was owned by a North Dakota-based real estate investment trust that specialized in senior- and retirement-community housing.
“We are extremely excited to have these three locations added to our portfolio, especially the addition of Legacy Storage Solutions in Bismarck, which helps to continue opening our operations across Interstate 94,” said Ben Hendricks, vice president of Five Star Storage.
The company has two more acquisitions under contract, including one in Fargo and another in St. Paul, Minn., also a new market for Five Star. The Fargo site neighbors a property the company purchased in February. It’ll be treated as an expansion and double the gross square footage of the original facility. The St. Paul site will be Five Star’s first retrofit development, the release stated. The company will also begin construction on a new ground-up facility in Grand Forks, N.D., this spring.
“Our company is focusing our expansion across our existing markets, and looking to new markets that fit our model and criteria within the upper midwest and eastern Rocky Mountain regions,” Hendricks said.
Including the acquisitions, Five Star now operates nine self-storage properties in Bismarck, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks and West Fargo, N.D., as well as two in Rogers and St. Michael, Minn. The North Dakota sites are operated from the company’s newly renovated flagship facility in Fargo.
