Multifamily investor WISCO buys St. Petersburg self-storage facility

Multifamily investor WISCO buys St. Petersburg self-storage facility
BUYER: Wisco LLC (principal: William Sultenfuss II), Tampa
SELLER: Super Storage II
PROPERTY: 6415 54th Ave. N., St. Petersburg
PRICE: $2.58 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $200,000, April 2003
TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Pinellas Park Title Co.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Tampa multifamily investor WISCO Holdings Inc. purchased the 44,867-square-foot Super Storage II self-storage facility for $2.58 million.

The price equated to $57 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for industrial space ($46) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Built in 2005, the self-storage facility occupies 2.44 acres of land. It features 424 units; 340 units of those units are climate controlled and another six are parking spaces. Property amenities include perimeter fencing, a gated entrance, video surveillance, roll-up doors and a manager's office. The property was more than 95% occupied at the time of the sale.

Michael A. Mele in Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office represented the seller. Mele and Francesco “Frank” Carriera also of Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office represented the buyer.

“The rates are a bit below the market, which generated a lot of the upside interest,” Mele says. “It was a pretty low [capitalization rate] at 6%. But this has the potential to be a 7% or 8% cap without too much trouble.”

WISCO, led by William Sultenfuss II, was attracted to the property both by the investment return and the additional diversification away from multifamily property, according to Mele.

Self-storage facilities are particularly popular right now, which has been reducing the return. Mele says he brokered $140 million worth of self-storage facilities last year, more than he's ever done, and that he's on track to hit that mark again this year.

“Occupancy has been rising for this product type, and it fared through the last recession and actually did pretty well,” he says.

The purchase entity, Wisco LLC, mortgaged the property to USAmeriBank for $2 million.