The Magellan Group, a Southern California real estate investment and development firm that operates the Magellan Storage brand, has completed its three-year, $375 million investment, development and disposition strategy with the sale of two properties in Commerce, Calif. The separate deals include a 144,000-square-foot Magellan Storage property and a 290,000-square-foot commercial complex. The assets sold for a combined $77.6 million, according to a press release.
The storage facility was acquired last month by Westport Properties Inc. (WPI), which operates 122 self-storage facilities under the US Storage Centers brand. Built in 1964 as an industrial building, it was converted to self-storage by Magellan and redeveloped to include climate control, gated access, vehicle storage, video cameras, and a retail store that sells moving and packing supplies.
“As the economic recovery began to materialize toward the end of the Great Recession, we chose to concentrate our investment, development and disposition efforts on our existing and new infill investments that, while more difficult and costly to assemble, entitle and develop, would nonetheless provide outsized returns as the overall market improved,” said Magellan Principal Kevin Staley.
The other commercial property, Commerce Business Center, was acquired by Blackstone Property Partners. The facility included 90,000 square feet of new construction by Magellan to “meet demand for smaller tenant spaces in the market,” the release stated.
Magellan has now closed on the sale of its six self-storage projects comprising about 6,000 units in the Los Angeles area, as well as more than 1 million square feet of commercial space in Commerce and El Monte, Calif. “We are pleased to have capitalized on strong market conditions in Southern California, and grateful for the long-standing support from our investors and lenders,” Staley said.
Founded in 1990, Magellan provides real estate development, investment, leasing and property management. It has acquired and developed more than 4.5 million square feet of industrial, self-storage and aviation properties with a total value of more than $500 million.