Hines has made its debut in the European self-storage sector via the acquisition of a three-asset portfolio in the southeast of England.
The portfolio, acquired on behalf of Hines European Real Estate Partners 3 (HEREP III) from a local private family proprietor, comprises 1,449 self-storage and office units across three trading assets in Ashford, Chatham and Ebbsfleet. Hines has engaged with one of the leading self-storage operators in the UK, Storage King, on specialist management and branding for the portfolio.
The three acquired assets offer modern market-leading specifications and benefit from a range of amenities for customers and occupiers including EV charging spaces, cycle storage, co-working facilities and outdoor breakout space. Hines plans to further increase the quality of the portfolio’s specification through investment in sustainability credentials, most immediately focused on operational energy use and exploring opportunities for the installation of solar infrastructure.
Greg Cooper, managing director and head of UK Industrial & Logistics at Hines, commented: “The nascent UK self-storage sector is propelled by long-term demographic and consumer trends likely to drive increased demand in the years to come, particularly in densely populated commuter towns in the South-East of England. Combining Hines’ six decades of experience as an active asset manager and developer and Storage King’s position as a leading operator in this sector, we believe we have the perfect partnership with which to build a new growing offering in the market.”
Paul White, senior managing director at Hines and fund manager for the HEREP series said: “As always, we are first and foremost focused on the fundamentals story. In self-storage, especially in the UK, we see rising, unmet demand meeting highly constrained supply. From an investment perspective, the sector remains highly fragmented. This is the right moment to channel time and effort into aggregating a meaningful, high-performing platform, as an agent of the inevitable consolidation in the space. We’re excited to see where this theme can take us, in the UK and beyond.”
JLL acted as advisor to Hines on the acquisition.
Image source - Pexels.
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