Nuveen Real Estate, one of the largest real estate investment managers in the world with more than $154 billion of assets under management, announced that it has invested in MyPlace, a vertically-integrated self-storage platform, that was recently launched by thirty-year industry veteran, Kurt O’Brien, the founder and former CEO of Simply Storage.
MyPlace will operate nationally but will primarily focus on secondary markets across the Midwest, Sunbelt, and Mountain West with strong demographic trends and limited self-storage supply. With a focus on technology, MyPlace will leverage its expertise to automate many of its facilities and streamline operations. MyPlace and Nuveen started acquiring assets together in 2022 and have approximately $300 million of assets under management across both value-add and core-plus strategies – the partnership aims to strategically grow its AUM to approximately $1 billion over the next two years.
“We are thrilled to partner with a proven leader, like O’Brien, who is aligned with our growth and operational goals in a sector we continue to prioritize. We believe our investment in MyPlace allows us to control best-in-class operations to drive further value for our investors,” said Michael Hunter, Global Co-head of Housing and Alternatives at Nuveen Real Estate.
“Benefiting from non-cyclical demand drivers, limited cap-ex, and favorable demographic tailwinds, the outlook for the self-storage sector is a compelling opportunity. We believe our carefully crafted acquisition and management strategy will position us well for continued outperformance in the sector,” echoed Nuveen’s Melissa Reagen, Managing Director, and Portfolio Manager of the U.S. Strategic Alternatives Fund — a diversified real estate fund investing across alternative sectors, including self-storage.
Nuveen Real Estate, one of the largest self-storage owners globally, will continue to invest in the sector through both one-off buying as well as selective portfolio acquisitions funded by existing Nuveen accounts and dedicated third-party capital. Through MyPlace, Nuveen will bring direct operational capabilities to its investment platform.
“I look forward to once again constructing a company that uses cutting edge technology, builds on all of my experience and leverages the results that have consistently delivered exceptional performance over my career,” said O’Brien. “I’m excited to partner with Nuveen and look forward to growing our platform with best-in-class talent. We could not be more excited about the timing as the investment climate favors efficient and well capitalized operators.”
MyPlace was founded in Orlando, FL, by O’Brien, who has twice built two of the largest private self-storage platforms in the U.S. Notably, O’Brien’s last self-storage company, Simply Self Storage, was once the largest private self-storage operator before it was sold in two parts to iStorage and Blackstone for a combined valuation of approximately $2.5 billion. O’Brien is regarded as having helped institutionalize the storage industry, given his three decades of tenure, and has previously worked with investors, including Brookfield, Blackstone, GE Capital, and Oaktree. Alongside roughly $7 billion of total transactions experience, O’Brien has also developed dozens of assets and managed hundreds.
Nuveen started investing in self-storage in 2003 and remains a top-15 private owner in the sector, having nearly doubled its AUM since 2019 following the formation of Hunter’s alternative real estate team that focuses on emerging and niche asset classes. Nuveen’s investment in MyPlace follows other similar strategic transactions it has more recently made, having invested in several leading real estate operating companies, over the last several years.
John Simonis and Dan Hagedorn of Reed Smith provided legal services to Nuveen and Larry Medvinsky and Tushna Gamadia of Morrison & Foerster provided legal services to Kurt O’Brien.
Nuveen Real Estate
Nuveen Real Estate is one of the largest investment managers in the world with $154 billion of assets under management.
Managing a suite of funds and mandates, across both public and private investments, and spanning both debt and equity across diverse geographies and investment styles, we provide access to every aspect of real estate investing.
With over 85 years of real estate investing experience and more than 765 employees* located across 30+ cities throughout the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific, the platform offers unparalleled geographic reach, which is married with deep sector expertise.
For further information, please visit us at nuveen.com/realestate
