Joe Margolis, CEO of Extra Space Storage (NYSE: EXR), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2018 Annual Conference in San Francisco.
Margolis described the acquisition market as “challenging” due to the variety of capital chasing exposure to self-storage. Extra Space, however, has many sources of proprietary or quasi-proprietary acquisition pipelines, allowing the REIT to acquire about $600 million net in assets this year. “We’re happy with that level,” he said.
Margolis also discussed the REIT’s marketing strategy and pointed out that the company’s data analytics expertise has resulted in a seat on Google’s advisory committee. “That’s a competitive advantage that has driven our industry-leading results,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Margolis observed that the self-storage industry is in the midst of a development cycle, with new properties being delivered in many markets. Extra Space has a highly diversified portfolio across primary and secondary markets—some of which are in the depths of the development cycle while others are coming out of the cycle. “We feel that diversity will take the volatility out of our returns,” he said.