BlackRock has added to its Australian self-storage platform with the purchase from Blackstone of a Western Australian business for more than A$150m (€86.4m).
StoreLocal, which BlackRock acquired on behalf of its funds in May last year for around A$400m, has purchased KeepSafe, which has eight facilities in Western Australia and one each in Victoria, Queensland and Northern Territory. The manager said the entire portfolio of KeepSafe assets will be rebranded as StoreLocal.
StoreLocal is Australasia’s fourth-largest self-storage operator, owning and managing more than 45 self-storage assets across Australia. Since taking over the business, BlackRock Real Estate has committed more than A$1bn of secured capital to StoreLocal to further drive its growth of through acquisitions and developments, as well as expansion of its third-party management platform and brand.
Ben Hickey, head of Australasia real estate, BlackRock, said: “Since BlackRock acquired a majority interest in StoreLocal eight months ago, the platform has scaled meaningfully, driven by selective, high-value acquisitions such as the KeepSafe portfolio. This operating scale is underpinned by StoreLocal’s leading innovation, such as its 24/7 unmanned, fully digitalised system.
“StoreLocal’s success to date is a testament to the platform’s competitive advantages within Australia’s self-storage sector, where low operating costs, consistent cash flows and stable tenant demand continue to make the sector attractive.”
Hans Pearson, co-founder and CEO of StoreLocal, said: “We are continuing our long-term strategy of building out a nationwide platform of institutional quality assets, which offers outstanding risk-adjusted returns through a highly diversified tenant base, low capex, and high operating margins.
“By adding to our existing multi-store Perth portfolio we are now the largest operator in the West, and we are well-positioned to service this fast-growing demographic.
“With the continued support of the BlackRock team we have been able to accelerate our strategy and goals. Importantly, we have demonstrated our transactional capability and capital depth to the market with this most recent portfolio acquisition at a time of industry consolidation and institutionalisation.”
This story was updated on 8 January 2026 to confirm that BlackRock acquired KeepSafe form Blackstone.
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