With Revenues Up 11%, Strategic Storage Trust VI to Close Primary Portion of Public Offering
Strategic Storage Trust VI, Inc., a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust sponsored by an affiliate of SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc., recently announced operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Total revenues were approximately $7.3 million, a year-over-year increase of 11%, i.e., March 2024’s nearly $6.58 million.
Earlier today, its board of directors approved closing the primary portion of its public offering, effective May 30, 2025. When approving the closedown, the board considered factors such as the costs and internal resources associated with maintaining a public registration of its common stock; the size of its portfolio, currently 26 properties; and prioritizing the company’s focus on continued portfolio stabilization and performance.
The board may also choose to close the public offering prior to that date, according to the company.
The primary investment strategy of Strategic Storage Trust VI, Inc., or SST VI, is to invest in income-producing and growth self-storage facilities and related self-storage real estate investments in the United States and Canada.
Highlights of Quarterly Operations
“This quarter marks an important milestone for our company as we report our first same-store results,” commented H. Michael Schwartz, president and chief executive officer of SST VI. “I’m pleased to share that these results exceeded our expectations and reflect the underlying strength and quality of our portfolio across both the United States and Canada.”
Distributions paid in cash to common and preferred stockholders, as well as operating partnership unitholders totaled $6.88 million, of which $1.6 million distributions that were reinvested. This reflects an 8.86% increase from total distributions at the same point last year.
Nonetheless, the company noted that it had not yet been able to pay distributions from its cash flows from operations, but rather from debt financing or from proceeds from the issuance of common stock in its offerings. Further, it noted that distributions from sources other than cash flows from operations may reduce the amount of proceeds available for investment and operations or cause the company to incur additional interest expense as a result of borrowed funds.
The REIT stated that from inception through the first quarter of 2025, it has paid cumulative distributions of approximately $57 million, as compared to cumulative net loss attributable to common stockholders of approximately $121.6 million.
The REIT increased same-store revenues and net operating income by 6.8% and 13.6%, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2025, as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2024. It increased same-store average physical occupancy by approximately 2.1% to 92% for the same period, up from 89.9% from the same period in 2024. Finally, it increased same-store annualized rent per occupied square foot by approximately 3.7% to $17.01 in Q1 2025 versus $16.40 in Q1 2024.
SST VI reported a net loss of approximately $7.24 million for the quarter ending March 31, compared to a year-over-year net loss of approximately $8.98 million. Excluded from those figures was total property net operating income, which rose roughly 20% year-over-year from approximately $3.3 million to $3.96 million.
Debt Transactions
During the quarter, the REIT entered into a CAD $64 million financing with the National Bank of Canada. The four-property, three-year loan matures in January 2028. Monthly payments consist of both principal and interest, calculated using a 25-year amortization. Amounts outstanding bear an interest rate equal to CORRA, plus a CORRA adjustment of approximately 0.3%, plus 2.25%. In addition, SST VI entered into an interest rate swap agreement with a notional amount of CAD $64 million, whereby CORRA is fixed at approximately 3.03% that fixes the all in interest rate at 5.58% through the maturity of the loan. This addressed the company’s 2025 maturities and reduced the portfolio’s interest rate by approximately 100 basis points, or bps, as compared to previous financing arrangements.
On March 6, 2025, SST VI entered into a credit agreement with Meridian Credit Union Limited with a maximum borrowing capacity of approximately CAD $16 million. At close, it had borrowed approximately CAD $2.1 million. The Meridian Loan is secured by a first mortgage on the REIT’s development property in Etobicoke, Ontario Canada. According to the company, proceeds of the Meridian Loan will be used to fund development of a self-storage facility on the Etobicoke property. As of March 31, 2025, it had approximately CAD $2.1 million outstanding and approximately CAD $13.9 million of available capacity.
The Meridian Loan has an initial term of three years, maturing on March 5, 2028, with two six-month extension options. Payments under the Meridian Loan are payable monthly and interest-only.
Finally, the REIT entered into a CAD $164.5 million financing in early March with QuadReal Finance LP. This seven-property loan has an initial term of five years, maturing on April 1, 2030. Payments are interest-only and payable monthly, with the full amount of the outstanding balance of the due on the maturity date. Upon the closing of the loan, the company drew approximately CAD $147 million as the initial advance. The interest rate on the advance bears interest at an annual fixed rate equal to 5.59%. This activity also addressed the upcoming maturities and reduced the portfolio’s interest rate by approximately 170 bps as compared to the previous loans.
“We completed the refinancing of all our Canadian debt at significantly lower interest rates. This strategic move enhances our financial flexibility and positions us well for continued operational and capital efficiency moving forward,” said Schwartz.
As of May 16, 2025, SST VI has a portfolio of 13 operating properties in the United States comprising approximately 9,015 units and 1,080,000 rentable square feet (including parking); 11 properties with approximately 10,200 units and 1,067,000 rentable square feet (including parking) in Canada, joint venture interests in two operational and three development properties in two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Québec) and one wholly owned development property in Ontario.
SST VI is an affiliate of SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc. (NYSE:SMA), a self-managed real estate investment trust. As of May 16, 2025, SmartStop has an owned or managed portfolio of 220 operating properties in 23 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, comprising approximately 157,100 units and 17.7 million rentable square feet. SmartStop and its affiliates own or manage 41 operating self-storage properties in Canada, which total approximately 34,400 units and 3.5 million rentable square feet.
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