Carlyle Adds to Self-Storage Buying Spree With Queens deal

The Carlyle Group has snatched up a Queens self-storage facility as part of a four-property, $110 million deal.

The private equity giant purchased the Life Storage building at 87-16 121st Street from a joint venture between SNL Holdings and Equity Resource Investments for $50.3 million, according to property records.

That’s more than four times the $11 million the sellers paid for the Richmond Hill property in 2018. A construction loan issued the following year suggests the building was improved.

Carlyle purchased three Brooklyn self-storage facilities from the same joint venture. The sale was first reported by PincusCo.

Self-storage in New York City’s outer boroughs has been a hot ticket in recent years, especially as people moved during the pandemic but did not want to part with their stuff. The asset class tends to be a strong performer in cities with a high percentage of renters (New York City has the highest at 69 percent) and a tight housing market (the city’s vacancy rate is 1.4 percent).

The Chicago-based investment firm Heitman bought a Brooklyn self-storage facility from the same joint venture for $47 million. In a separate deal, Heitman paid $16 million for the ground lease on another self-storage building that SNL and Equity Resource Investments developed in the Bronx.

SNL, based in Lake Success, New York, partnered with Equity Resource Investments of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to develop 22 self-storage facilities between 2015 and 2019. The investment company sued SNL last year, alleging mismanagement and fraud and requesting damages of at least $3.7 million.

A spokesperson for Carlyle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.