NYCRF invests in European self-storage

The New York Common Retirement Fund has taken a 51% stake in Public Storage’s Shurgard Europe operations.

The $155 billion (€99.4 billion) New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYCRF) has acquired a majority 51 percent interest in Public Storage’s Shurgard Europe self-storage business for approximately €383 million.

The investment was a “growth opportunity” for the fund, Jim Fuchs, a spokesperson at NYCRF, told PERE. The fund has a six percent target allocation to real estate investments and is currently at 4.4 percent. 

Real estate returned 31.7 percent for the fund during the last fiscal year, according to Fuchs—the best return out of any asset class for the retirement fund. NYCRF also has a 6.5 percent allocation to private equity. 

The Public Storage investment is not NYCRF’s first direct real estate investment. It has previously teamed with Public Storage to expand and take affiliate PS Business Parks public. The US REIT acquires, develops and manages commercial office, industrial and flex properties throughout the US. 

Glendale, California-based Public Storage will continue to own the remaining 49 percent interest in the company. As at end of 2007, it had interests in 2,012 self-storage facilities with approximately 126 million net rentable square feet in the US. Shurgard Europe had 174 storage facilities with approximately nine million net rentable square feet in Europe.