A Denver-based firm recently bought three storage-unit properties in Bend for $9.25 million total, according to Deschutes County property records.

NSA-Northwest Acquisitions Holdings LLC purchased the properties from RAVN West Properties LLC, a family firm with an office in Florida. The buyer paid $3.65 million for A-1 Westside Storage, 317 SW Columbia St.; $2.9 million for All Star Storage, 136 SW Century Drive; and $2.7 million for Old Mill Self Storage, 150 SW Industrial Way, according to deeds filed with the county in May.

NSA-Northwest Acquisitions is an arm of National Storage Affiliates, a real estate investment trust, or REIT, and one of the largest private self-storage operators in the country, according to John Egan, who writes for a blog at SelfStorage.com, an industry website.

Four self-storage firms last year formed National Storage Affiliates: Northwest Self Storage, Optivest Properties LLC, Guardian Self Storage and SecurCare Self Storage Inc., said Kevin Howard, of Portland, the founder and CEO of Northwest Self Storage. His company already owned a self-storage business in Bend at 100 NE Third St. and will manage the three recently purchased. He said those three will be rebranded as Northwest Self Storage.

National Storage Affiliates is the fifth-largest self-storage company in the U.S. and has plans to go public, Howard said.

A real estate investment trust provides a way for investors to earn income through ownership of commercial real estate without having to buy property, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website. Howard said a REIT offers several benefits: access to capital, liquidity, tax deferrals and the ability of each member to manage its own affairs.

Egan wrote by email that consolidation in promising markets has been an industry trend.

“In the past couple of years, major players in self-storage have been acquiring facilities around the country, especially in hot markets like Florida, California, Texas and North Carolina,” he wrote.

According to the Self Storage Association, an industry trade organization, self-storage is “the fastest-growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the last 40 years” and generated more than $24 billion in revenue last year. Still, the business is recovering from the recent recession.

“Self-storage, in general, goes with the real estate market,” said Lilo Pozzi, who managed the three properties in Bend for RAVN West. “So if real estate is up, self-storage is up, too.” She declined comment on the sale itself.

Howard said Bend may be overserved by self-storage businesses, but he foresees opportunity for his firm to buy up the competition.

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com