Storage firm makes $34 million Tampa play

A Pennsylvania-based real estate investment trust has spent $34.12 million to acquire a pair of Tampa-area self-storage facilities amid ongoing consolidation in the sector.

Cubesmart Ltd. Partnership bought the properties at 31100 U.S. Highway 19 N., in Tampa, and at 2501 22nd Ave. N. in St. Petersburg, from a New York firm known as Tampa Storage 17 (FL) LLC, according to state records.

In a sign of how vibrant the self-storage market has become since the economic recession of the previous decade, Tampa Storage paid $17.52 million for the same properties in November 2012, property records indicate.

Self-storage facilities throughout Florida have gained value as household formations have increased and as apartment development has exploded in recent years.

The acquisition by Cubesmart, a REIT that controls 709 storage properties nationwide and more than a dozen along the Gulf Coast, also comes amid tremendous consolidation in the self-storage sector.

In Florida, the company owns nearly 80 properties, according to its website, clustered primarily around Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville. Prior to its March acquisitions, Malvern, Pa.-based Cubesmart owned just four properties in Lutz and Tampa in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Its first purchase in the Tampa area dates back to 2007, records show.

In all, Cubesmart is now one of the top four owners of self-storage properties nationwide, according to an industry trade magazine. Company officials declined to comment on the purchases.