California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) has committed an initial $150m (€175m) to a newly created US self-storage separate account managed by investment manager Nuveen.
US financial services giant TIAA, Nuveen’s parent, via its general account will make a $16.6m equity commitment, representing 10%, to create the $166.6m separate account focused on acquiring and developing self-storage assets across the investment risk spectrum.
Self-storage firm MyPlace Self-Storage will serve as the operating partner and property manager for the account, Nuveen said.
Melissa Reagen, portfolio manager at Nuveen Real Estate, said: “Self-storage has proven to be a resilient asset class with strong fundamentals. Typically driven by life cycle events – such as getting married, moving homes and having children – demand is consistent through economic cycles.
“With our strategic focus on undersupplied markets, our collaboration with CalSTRS and MyPlace is well positioned to deliver strong performance while expanding our footprint in this space.”
Kurt O’Brien, founder of MyPlace Self-Storage, said: “This investment highlights the continued long-term growth potential of the self-storage sector. Combining our operational expertise with Nuveen’s investment approach allows us to deliver significant value for our investors like CalSTRS.”
Michael Hunter, global head of housing and alternatives at Nuveen Real Estate, said: “Since we began our partnership with MyPlace in 2022, together we have acquired over $300m in assets under management across more than a dozen states and we look forward to continuing this growth trajectory with CalSTRS, given our strong conviction in the self-storage sector.”
Nuveen Real Estate has been investing in self-storage since 2003 and currently manages $2.7bn in self-storage assets across more than 170 facilities across the US.
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