Crow Holdings Capital Real Estate (CHCRE), a Dallas-based asset manager of private-equity real estate funds, has invested in 24 separate self-storage transactions since August 2015, growing its self-storage platform to more than 2 million square feet in 19,032 units, according to a press release. The company has more than doubled the size of its portfolio since April 1, when it reported more than 1 million square feet of net rentable square feet in 9,780 units.
“We are very pleased with the rate at which we have been able to deploy capital within the self-storage space, a sector that—consistent with our thesis—has demonstrated a less volatile and cyclical quality in comparison to other asset classes, while presenting attractive fundamentals moving ahead,” said Ben Doherty, head of the company’s self-storage investment strategies. “By focusing on the event-driven nature of self-storage, we look forward to working with industry and joint-venture partners towards the larger goal of creating value through rental rate growth and capital appreciation.”
The company continues to look for acquisition opportunities of “newer vintage” properties as well as joint-venture deals to develop new facilities. “Specifically, CHCRE is targeting well-located properties that provide an opportunity for operational improvement, expansion of the existing property, or the repurposing of existing buildings and development sites, where fundamentals warrant new product,” the release stated. Its investments have included capital to build Mason Road Self Storage in Richmond, Texas, as well as four multi-story self-storage developments from Baranof Holdings across North Carolina, Oregon and Texas.
CHCRE is the investment advisor to the remaining real estate funds first sponsored by parent company Crow Holdings. Since 1998, the funds have raised more than $6.8 billion in equity, including $875 million from Crow Family Holdings, a related entity formed in 1987 as a family office to own and manage the capital of the Trammell Crow family. CHCRE is managed and directed by a team of seven members, according to the release.
