Crowdfunding has helped to launch many projects from revamping Reading Rainbow to helping to start a comic book about self storage. Popular crowdfunding sites like Go Fund Me, Kickstarter and Indiegogo have become increasingly popular, sometimes for raising money for controversial things, such as funds for officer Darren Wilson, whose shooting of teenager Mike Brown caused weeks worth of riots in the town of Ferguson, Missouri.
Crowdfunding has stepped in once again to help a self storage company fund its operations. Realty Mogul, an online real estate capital platform that aims to connect investors with real estate opportunities, recently announced that it had funding a newly acquired self storage facility, Store Smart Self Storage, through the use of crowdfunding.
Realty Mogul did not call on the help of sites like Kickstarter or Go Fund Me. Instead, various accredited institutional investors made a contribution of over $3 million which helped StoreSmart to take ownership of the facility. StoreSmart bought a 112, 030 square foot self storage facility in Melbourne, Florida known as Apollo Storage. StoreSmart’s aim is to rebrand and lease the property before eventually reselling it at the end of a specified time.
CEO and founder of Realty Mogul, Julliene Helman, noted,“Self-storage facilities continue to be a popular asset class for real estate crowdfunding because they consistently produce steady income to investors. Regardless of how the economy is doing, people will always need to store their stuff. In addition, Reliant, the real estate management affiliate of StoreSmart, conducted a study based on a variety of factors and confirmed that potential demand for self-storage space in this market is strong.”
In addition to that, managing Principal of Smartmart Self-Storage, Lewis G. Pollack, stated,“We are always aggressively seeking new investment opportunities. Realty Mogul has been a great partner in marketing the Apollo Storage investment opportunity to accredited and institutional investors, which resulted in quick and efficient funding of the transaction.”
Located on North Apollo Boulevard, the Apollo Self Storage has been in operation since 2006. The facility has nine buildings that span over 10 acres. The future expansion of the facility will add nearly 50 units. The property currently includes metal buildings with keypad entry and climate controlled storage.
