Equity and joint venture capital for self storage

When does a storage developer need an equity partner?

The common trigger is the gap between what debt will fund and what the scheme costs. Senior development finance typically covers up to around 65 percent of cost, and even with a mezzanine layer on top the developer must still find 10 to 15 percent or more in cash, plus fees and contingency. A developer with a strong site and planning consent but limited free capital, or one whose capital is tied up in an earlier store that has not yet stabilised, uses an equity partner to bridge that gap.

Equity also suits situations debt handles badly: buying a site before planning is secured, funding a speculative conversion in an untested catchment, or carrying a scheme through a long lease-up where rolled interest on extra debt would bite. An equity partner shares the downside rather than charging for it, so the structure flexes when the programme slips. The price of that flexibility is sharing the upside, which is the trade every developer has to weigh.

How does a joint venture actually work?

A joint venture is a contractual or corporate partnership, usually a special purpose vehicle that owns the scheme, in which each party's contribution and reward are fixed at the outset. In a typical storage JV the developer contributes the site at an agreed value, runs the build and the lease-up, and may put in a cash stake alongside. The partner funds the remaining equity the development finance does not cover. Profits at refinance or sale are split in agreed proportions, often after each party has had its capital returned.

Many JVs add a waterfall: the partner's capital comes back first, then a preferred return on that capital, then the developer's capital, then the remaining profit is shared, sometimes with a promote that gives the developer a bigger slice above a hurdle. Who approves cost overruns, who decides when to refinance, what happens if occupancy lags the model, and how either party exits early all need agreeing while everyone is still friends. We structure these terms and make sure each side's lawyers are documenting the same deal.

What is preferred equity and where does it sit?

Preferred equity is capital that ranks between mezzanine debt and ordinary equity in the capital stack. It is not a loan, so there is no charge over the property and no default interest, but it carries priority: the preferred investor is repaid, with a preferred return often in the 8 to 15 percent range, before the ordinary equity sees a penny of profit. In exchange it usually takes little or none of the upside beyond that return.

For a self storage developer, preferred equity is a way to bring in capital that behaves more predictably than a full profit share without adding another secured lender to the intercreditor. It suits schemes where the senior lender will not consent to mezzanine debt, or where the developer wants to keep the whole upside above a fixed hurdle. We advise on which layer fits the scheme, then introduce investors who write that kind of cheque.

What does an equity investor look for?

An investor in a storage scheme underwrites the developer first. Track record delivering and operating stores, or a credible management arrangement with an established operator, matters more than anything else, because the investor's return depends on the trading business the developer builds. After that comes the scheme itself: the catchment, competing supply, the demand study, projected net achieved rate, the occupancy ramp to stabilisation and the realism of the cost plan and contingency.

Investors also look hard at alignment. A developer with meaningful cash of their own in the deal, contributing the site at a fair rather than inflated value, and taking their reward through a promote earned on performance is an easy partner to back. We package the scheme the way investors expect to see it, with the appraisal, the operating model and the sensitivity cases ready, because a well-prepared approach is usually the difference between a term sheet and a polite decline.

How long is the capital committed and how is it returned?

Storage equity is patient money. A new store typically takes 3 to 5 years to reach stabilised occupancy, so a development JV commonly runs 3 to 5 years from land purchase to exit. The capital is returned in one of two ways: a sale of the stabilised store, or a refinance onto a term loan against the trading valuation that repays the development finance and returns the equity with its profit share, while the developer keeps operating the asset.

The refinance route is the one most storage operators prefer, because the value created as EBITDA grows stays in their hands. A well-drafted JV agreement fixes the exit mechanics in advance, the target window, who triggers a sale or refinance, and how the asset is valued between the parties, and we structure those provisions at the start so the ending is already agreed.