SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. Opens Newly Constructed Facility in the Greater Toronto Area
November 23, 2021 | SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc.
SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. (“SmartStop” or the “Company”), a self-managed and fully-integrated self storage company, today announced the opening of a newly constructed self storage facility in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in partnership with SmartCentres (TSX: SRU.UN). This is SmartStop’s 19th owned or managed location in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and 159th property in North America.
The ground-up, five-story development is located at 799 Milner Avenue in the Scarborough community. This prime location provides visibility from Highway 401, North America’s busiest highway, as well as Morningside Avenue. This facility serves the communities of Morningside, Malvern, Dean Park, Rouge and Highland Creek and is conveniently located within the SmartCentres Scarborough East shopping center that includes a Walmart Supercenter, McDonald’s and Boston Pizza. The property’s 980 units are 100% climate-controlled across approximately 99,000 square feet. The property offers customers a variety of amenities including state-of-the-art security systems, elevators, keypad access, a gated loading area and more.
“We are thrilled to open our fifth joint venture development in partnership with SmartCentres and the newest SmartStop location in the GTA,” said H. Michael Schwartz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SmartStop. “With strong demographics and limited self storage options, Scarborough is a fantastic market in which we expect this state-of-the-art facility to thrive. SmartCentres’ great locations and understanding of the needs of the local community have provided the foundation to develop another great facility together, helping us continue to execute our growth objectives in Canada.”
“SmartStop’s strength in the operation of self storage facilities combined with SmartCentres’ expertise in land development has proven a successful formula for both companies,” said Mitchell Goldhar, Executive Chairman, SmartCentres REIT. “Our Joint Venture partnership now includes five newly built self-storage buildings that are open and operating in the Greater Toronto Area, with an extensive pipeline of new locations to come.”
About SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. (SmartStop)
SmartStop is a self-managed REIT with a fully integrated operations team of approximately 400 self storage professionals focused on growing the SmartStop® Self Storage brand. SmartStop, through its indirect subsidiary SmartStop REIT Advisors, LLC, also sponsors other self storage programs. As of November 22, 2021, SmartStop is one of the largest self storage companies in North America, with an owned and managed portfolio of 159 properties in 19 states and Ontario, Canada and comprising approximately 108,000 units and 12.3 million rentable square feet. SmartStop and its affiliates own or manage 19 operating self storage properties in the Greater Toronto Area, which total approximately 16,200 units and 1.7 million rentable square feet. Additional information regarding SmartStop is available at www.smartstopselfstorage.com.
About SmartCentres
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class portfolio featuring 168 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has approximately $10.0 billion in assets and owns 33.9 million square feet of income producing value-oriented retail space with over 97% occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.
SmartCentres continues to focus on enhancing the lives of Canadians by planning and developing complete, connected, mixed-use communities on its existing retail properties. Project 512, a publicly announced $13.1 billion intensification program ($7.8 billion at SmartCentres’ share) represents the REIT’s current major development focus on which construction is expected to commence within the next five years. This intensification program consists of rental apartments, condos, seniors’ residences and hotels, to be developed under the SmartLiving banner, and retail, office, and storage facilities, to be developed under the SmartCentres banner.
SmartCentres’ intensification program is expected to produce an additional 55.2 million square feet (32.4 million square feet at SmartCentres’ share) of space, 27.3 million square feet (16.0 million square feet at SmartCentres’ share) of which has or will commence construction within the next five years. From shopping centres to city centres, SmartCentres is uniquely positioned to reshape the Canadian urban and urban-suburban landscape.
Media Contact
David Corak
VP of Corporate Finance
SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc.
949-542-3331
IR@smartstop.com
