A mystery sovereign wealth fund is the money behind Carlyle’s blockbuster sale of a New York self-storage portfolio, The Real Deal has learned.
Under the joint venture that acquired the 15-property package for $1.03 billion, Columbia, Missouri-based StorageMart holds a 20 percent stake while the unnamed sovereign wealth fund controls roughly 80 percent, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
Carlyle, the seller, will remain involved as asset manager for the sovereign investor. The structure explains why property deeds list Carlyle-affiliated addresses and why a $615 million loan on the portfolio from Kayne Anderson also traces back to the private equity giant.
The transaction, first reported by Real Estate Alert, marks the largest self-storage deal in New York in five years.
The roughly 1.3 million-square-foot portfolio totals almost 26,000 storage units and is about 78 percent physically occupied, per REA. Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle assembled the properties over time as part of a broader push into outer-borough storage.
Eastdil Secured brokered the sale, which is the biggest trade in the sector since StorageMart’s $3.2 billion purchase of 18 New York facilities from Edison Properties at the end of 2021, per REA.
StorageMart will rebrand the newly acquired properties, located in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island, under its Manhattan Mini Storage banner, according to a press release.
The facilities are relatively new, with an average age of four years, and in-place rents average $35.60 per square foot, per REA. Marketing materials suggested that improved management, stronger leasing and the burn-off of concessions could allow a new owner to triple net operating income within four years.
Eastdil declined to comment. Carlyle and StorageMart did not respond to requests for comment.
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