Carey buys mini-storage

Published Aug 6, 2012 at 6:00 pm (Updated Aug 6, 2012)

W.P. Carey made a $17 million acquisition of five self-storage properties, three of which were in the Baton Rouge market. W.P. Carey is a publicly traded investment-management company that provides long-term sales, “lease-back” and build-to-suit financing for companies worldwide, and manages global investment portfolios of approximately $12.5 billion.

The three mini-storage facilities it recently bought in the Baton Rouge market were formerly owned by Cubesmart. The locations are Interline Avenue, Dawnadele Road, and South Harrell's Ferry Road.

The property at 8969 Interline Ave. consists of 86 units with an average unit size of about 133 square feet. According to court documents, this facility sold for $428,514, or about $5,162 per unit.

The mini-storage facility at 11500 South Harrell's Ferry Road was purchased for $1.6 million. This facility originally had 471 units, but after the road widening of South Harrell's Ferry Road, ended up with 323 units. Of those 323 units, about 60 are climate-control. At $1.6 million, the sale price calculates to $4,950 per unit.

The facility at 9530 Dawnadele Road has 484 units. According to sale documents, this property sold for $3,896,486, or about $8,050 per unit.

Cubesmart will continue to manage and operate the facilities for the new owner, and no change in operation or management is planned. All three facilities combined equate to a sale price of $5,925,000 for a total of 893 units, or a sale price per unit of about $6,635.

In the news release announcing the acquisitions, W. P. Carey says it also acquired facilities in Mississippi and Alabama. The specifics about the Mississippi and Alabama facilities were not available.

Simpson's automotive sells

Simpson's Automotive Repair Facility at 1334 Florida Street in Baton Rouge has sold. This modern car repair facility is located on Florida Street about one-third of a mile east of Interstate 10. The automotive-repair facility takes advantage of the fact that few automotive service facilities are available to people who work in the downtown area. The Simpson's had acquired the property and developed the automotive repair facility over the past couple of decades. Colson Investments purchased the property June 29 for $2 million. The property consist of an L-shaped site containing about 75,000 square feet with about 195 feet of frontage on the south side of Florida Street, and 320 feet on the west side of 14th Street. The improvements contain a total area of 20,700 square feet, of which 17,620 square feet is automotive shop space and 3,080 square feet is office/showroom space. The sale at $2 million calculates to $96 per square foot. The new owner will continue to operate as Simpson's Automotive Repair, and patrons should notice no difference in service.

Small office condo sells

GLB Siegen LLC, represented by Gary Black, has purchased an office condominium unit within the Siegen Lane Office Park development on Siegen Lane, just south of Perkins Road. GLB Siegen purchased Units 201 & 202, which combined contain about 2,300 square feet. The sale price at $300,000 equates to about $130 per square foot. Units within this development have ranged in price from $130 to $140 per square foot in recent years. The new owner intends to occupy the property. The sale closed on June 29.

College Drive property sells

A 45,000-square-foot tract of land on College Drive formerly leased by Chick-fil-A has been sold to Half Pack from Keelung.

Grey Mullins with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate brokered the transaction, along with George Kurz of Kurz & Hebert Real Estate. The land sold for $2.1 million, or about $46.50 per square foot. The purchasers say they were more interested in the income from the ground lease being paid by Chick-fil-A than the price of the property.

Camp Bow Wow coming

Drew Pearson with Waters & Pettit Commercial Real Estate brokered a one-acre site on Pecue Lane near the Woman's Hospital for the future construction of a pet care facility to be known as Camp Bow Wow. Camp Bow Wow is part of the increasing trend toward specialized treatment for pampered pets. The sale took place for $425,000 on July 19. The seller was Gina K. Schellhase. The purchaser is Detlefs Pecue Lane Properties. At $425,000, the sale price calculates to about $9.75 per square foot.