Real estate investment firms The Hampshire Cos. and Harrison Street announced Tuesday a joint venture partnership to develop self storage facilities along the Interstate 95 Corridor from Washington D.C. to Boston.
The pair also announced the first investment of the joint venture, which will be the ground-up development of a seven-story self storage facility in Providence, Rhode Island. The project is expected to break ground in the first quarter of 2019, Hampshire and Harrison said.
“Although the eastern United States presents tremendous opportunity for self storage development, it is among the most crowded and competitive in the United States, which makes it difficult for new investors to enter the market,” James E. Hanson II, CEO and president of The Hampshire Cos., said.
“Our strategic programmatic partnership with Harrison Street provides us with a unique opportunity to successfully deploy capital into an increasingly competitive marketplace. It also enables our team to build upon our track record of success and pursue additional self-storage development opportunities over the next several years.”
Over the next several months, Morristown-based Hampshire and Chicago-based Harrison will announce more self storage projects, they said.
Currently, Hampshire has 12 self storage development projects underway, aggregating $217 million in investments, and is targeting another 12 additional projects with an aggregate value over $215 million.
Since 2005, Harrison, which currently has $18 billion in assets under management, has invested $2 billion across 223 storage properties and has sold 137 self storage properties for a gross value of $1 billion.
“We are pleased to partner with Hampshire, a best-in-class storage developer, as we identify attractive investment opportunities in a region with favorable demographics and high barriers to entry. Hampshire’s proven track record makes them a valuable partner for our team, and I am excited to leverage our deep sector expertise and resources that will benefit our investors and partners,” Christopher Merrill, co-founder and CEO, Harrison Street, said.
