What’s Happening Around the Country in the White-Hot Self-Storage Industry?
Meet Nicholas Malagisi,
a Northeastern US
Self-Storage Broker
Nicholas J. Malagisi serves
as National Director of SelfStorage and Senior Advisor for
Sperry Van Ness, specializing
in the purchase and sale of selfstorage properties. Since 1993,
Malagisi has participated in the
sale of over 70 properties valued
at $350 million from as small as
a single asset of $480,000 to an
11-property portfolio of $33 million.
Malagisi began his real estate
career with industry leader Public
Storage, where he was responsible
for site acquisition and development
of new properties in the Northeast.
He also began acquiring existing
self-storage facilities for Storage
Equities, Public Storage’s publicly
traded Real Estate Investment Trust
(REIT). Prior to joining Sperry Van
Ness, Malagisi was the principal
broker/owner of Storage Realty
Advisors, where he specialized in
the marketing, sales and disposition
of self-storage properties throughout
the Northeast United States.
How would you
characterize the market
for new development in
the Northeast? Have you
seen an increase in 2015
from previous years?
While my colleagues in the building
trades are all very busy designing
and planning for new projects with
their customers, most banks remain
cautious and conservative in their
lending for new projects. There
appear to be many expansions and
conversions of existing projects
underway, which does not necessarily
require bank financing. The exception
to this is in the boroughs of NYC,
where Public Storage is funding their
own development and construction.
Additionally, there are developers
from outside the Metropolitan NYC
area who are competing for locations.
One of the services that we offer at
Sperry Van Ness is preparation of
feasibility studies for new self-storage
projects. We are now being called at
www.theSBOA.com
least once a month to quote a new
project, whereas three or four years
ago, the demand for these services
was low. There are more requests for
us to find development sites and/or
conversion building opportunities each
year since the end of the recession.
strong broker should provide advice
and counsel throughout the selling
process to reduce the likelihood
of a buyer “re-trading”. The broker
should also prepare a professional
offering memorandum to improve
the presentation of the property.
What is the trend in cap
rates in the Northeast?
The self-storage facility is an incomeproducing asset and there is a
national market for this asset class,
besides the Big 4 Public Companies.
As National Director of Self Storage
for Sperry Van Ness Commercial
Realty, and speaker at many of
the state, regional and national
conferences/forums, I try to become
a resource for my clients and have a
long-term outlook on their business
and our industry. Make sure that you
have a professional representing and
advising you when the time comes
to value your self-storage facility. ()Aɥ