Cushman & Wakefield’s Michael Mele, Executive Vice Chair, Luke Elliott, Vice Chair, and Anthony Licari, Associate, who lead the firm’s Self Storage Advisory Group, represented the seller in the transaction for the two buildings, which were acquired by North Palisade Partners. By leveraging its national investor network spanning East and West Coast capital, Cushman & Wakefield secured a West Coast group making its first East Coast acquisition. The team navigated a complex assignment involving two adjacent assets at different stages of stabilization, one in late‑stage lease‑up with rental rate upside and the other newly delivered at certificate of occupancy, which the buyer opened earlier this month.
The two brick buildings are located at the intersection of Spring Garden Street and North Christopher Columbus Boulevard in Northern Liberties and represent the adaptive reuse of the historic Philadelphia Warehousing and Cold Storage complex, a multi‑phase redevelopment with several distinct components. The transaction involved only the self‑storage condominium units, while other portions of the complex, including areas planned for future residential use, are owned separately and were not part of this sale.
Once a legacy industrial corridor, the area has evolved into a high-density, walkable neighborhood, supported by over 4,200 new residential units delivered or planned within a half-mile radius. The assets are surrounded by major developments including The Piazza Alta, Dwell and the Rivermark waterfront project.
“This clustering of high-end development activity is reshaping the neighborhood’s demographic profile and creating sustained demand for Class-A self-storage product,” said Mele. “This investment offered a rare opportunity to acquire a large-scale, well positioned asset in an infill location. The value-add strategy included bringing the existing facility to market rates and leasing up the newly redeveloped space, which recently received its certificate of occupancy.”
“This portfolio offers a compelling blend of stability and growth,” said Steve Cobbs, Managing Director of Self-Storage at North Palisade Partners. “With one asset producing strong in-place cash flow and the other positioned for lease-up, we are able to generate positive NOI immediately while executing a clear value-add strategy in one of Philadelphia’s most dynamic neighborhoods.” The acquisition represents North Palisade’s first East Coast asset and expands North Palisade’s national self-storage footprint to more than 520,000 rentable square feet and roughly 6,700 units, all located in Class-A, infill markets. North Palisade is targeting the aggregation of $400 million self-storage assets nationally.