London, June 13, 2022 – Heitman LLC (“Heitman”), a global real estate investment management firm, has announced the closings of three new sites across the UK that will be developed or converted into self-storage facilities as part of the Space Station platform. The expansion acquisitions were made on behalf of an affiliate of Heitman. Through its initial acquisition of the Space Station platform in late 2020 and continued acquisitions to expand the platform, Heitman has added further storage density in key target regions of the country including Birmingham and Yorkshire.
Consistent with Heitman’s requirements, the sites will be developed to high-quality storage specifications and operated under the Space Station banner, targeting best-in-class ESG credentials in line with Heitman’s 2030 net-zero carbon goal. This continues the strategy to grow the Space Station platform as Heitman builds an institutional portfolio of self-storage assets in the UK.
“We’ve already experienced significant value uplift across our European self-storage holdings and are pleased to continue to aggregate high-quality, strategically located UK self-storage assets for the Space Station portfolio,” said Caleb Mercer, Heitman Managing Director of European Real Estate Investment. “We remain acquisitive and will continue to strategically add assets to the portfolio as we believe there is significant opportunity to create value while benefiting from the growth of this still developing European sector.”
“We have long-focused our European efforts on the region’s alternative sectors – specifically self-storage, senior housing, student living, and rented-residential – given their diverse and unique set of demand drivers that are delinked from broader economic cycles,” said Tony Smedley, Heitman Managing Director and Head of European Private Equity. “Strategically, we are focused on investing in assets that combine growth potential with competitive risk-adjusted returns. Given the relative nascency of the specialty sectors in Europe, we believe the region offers a compelling combination of resilient cash flows, demographic driven growth, and continued institutionalization of these more niche asset classes.”
“The Heitman investment into Space Station has created an excellent partnership, combining market-leading sector knowledge with operational excellence,” said Kevin Prince, CEO of Space Station. “These latest acquisitions fit perfectly into our expansion strategy but represent just a small portion of our pipeline. We intend to continue growing the platform through development of land, conversion of existing, suitable warehouses and adding trade acquisitions where we believe to be appropriate.”
Space Station Site Details
- Space Station Castle Bromwich: Heitman forward purchased a 42,000 square foot self-storage facility with direct visibility to Chester Road.
- Space Station Stirchley: Heitman forward funded a 62,000 square foot self-storage facility on a main road leading into Birmingham city centre.
- Space Station Hall Green: Heitman acquired the Hall Green site through a direct sale, and will redevelop the site into a 61,000 square foot self-storage facility.
Heitman has been an investor in self-storage since 1996 and plans to continue the expansion of Space Station through further acquisitions of assets and businesses across the country. Heitman manages more than $7 billion of self-storage assets across the globe. Specific to the UK and Europe, a Heitman-managed investment vehicle owned 51% of the region’s largest self-storage operator, Shurgard, for more than 10 years prior to its IPO in 2018.
