One Self Storage Developer's Decision to Sell Now

Real estate development company Miller-Valentine Group and Charleston-based Coastal Storage Group have sold three climate-controlled self storage facilities in the Charleston area to Public Storage.

Steve Koewler, president of Southeast business development for Miller-Valentine, said two of the facilities are located in Goose Creek and one is in North Charleston. He said Public Storage asked the sellers not to disclose the exact addresses of the storage facilities.

Koewler said as a real estate developer, he and his partner in the project, Aaron Rowley, are always trying to evaluate whether it’s best to hold their investments long term or to sell.

“There’s a lot of capital in the market, and they’re looking for high-quality assets,” he said. “And, you know, that’s why we decided to sell because, you know, the capital’s looking for good assets and we got, obviously, an offer that worked for us."

The transaction includes approximately 300,000 square feet of space and over 2,000 self-storage units. The facilities have been in operation since 2018.

“We strategically located the buildings, so I mean, that was a big part of why it was attractive to Public, because they were very good locations,” Koewler said. “So that’s why, I mean, it made sense.”

Koewler said he couldn’t disclose the price the facilities sold for because of a nondisclosure agreement with Public Storage.

Coastal Storage Group still owns a storage facility operated by LifeStorage on U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant and a facility operated by Extra Space Storage on Ashley Phosphate Road in North Charleston.

Miller-Valentine and Coastal Storage Group also own facilities in Myrtle Beach and Knoxville, Tenn. The companies are planning to build six additional facilities in Florida, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee this year.

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