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Q&A: Storage broker Anne Blackwell joins EquiCap Commercial as partner

Source: SpareFoot Storage Beat, July 17, 2024


Self-storage broker Anne Williams Blackwell has joined EquiCap Commercial as a partner, and will be leading the firm’s newly created Memphis office. 

In taking on the new role, Blackwell has departed from a long career with the Memphis office of Marcus & Millichap. Blackwell was an establishing broker at the branch office when it opened in 2006. During her time, Blackwell brokered over 150 transactions valued at approximately $500 million.

The move marks the first expansion outside of its home office of St. Charles, IL for EquiCap Commercial, a self-storage brokerage founded by Scott Rihm and Jesse Luke over a decade ago. 

The Storage Beat caught up with Blackwell about her career, what prompted the change, and how she sees the current state of the industry.

What was your entry point into the self-storage industry?


Anne Blackwell: “I was selling residential houses, working nights and weekends as a Realtor. I loved real estate, but I got tired of selling houses. I was burnt out really. One day I answered a blind ad in the newspaper that said real estate experience was preferred. Five interviews later I am at Storage USA.”


“I was wanting to get into commercial real estate. That was my segue in. I knew nothing about storage, and I started with all the grunt work like putting together rent comps and cell towers leases—anything they needed me to do.”


And where did that lead next?

“If you follow the history, Storage USA got bought by General Electric, then by Extra Space. During the GE time, that is when I interviewed and took a job as a district manager. I had 15 properties under my management in the Memphis market, and that gave me operations experience.”

What surprised you most as you got to know the business as a district manager?

“We talk about self-storage being a  “needs-based” business, I don’t know if people understand that until you work the desk. Sometimes the drama that comes through that door you would not believe; they had a bad day, they are going through a divorce, someone died, and abused women running away in the middle of night that need a safe place to store stuff. Some of those customers can bring tears to your eyes.”

How did you end up getting into the brokerage side of things?

“Extra Space, when they bought us they shut down our office and moved everything to Salt Lake. They were very gracious and offered me a job to come, but that wasn’t in the cards for me.”

“We shook hands and departed and I pulled my license out of retirement and started the Memphis office of Marcus & Millichap. That’s what I’ve done for the past 18 years and I loved it.”

What prompted you to change firms?

“Jesse Luke the founder of EquiCap, he started out as an agent at Marcus around the same time as me. He was in our Chicago office and we became good friends way back then and stayed close over the years. He’s been trying to get me to come on board for about 10 years and for ten years I said no. I enjoy the big firm and the people I work with. They are friends and family.”

“The million dollar question is why? It’s like I just woke up one day and said, “Okay let’s talk..what would this look like?’ It was not an easy decision and it took a long time to get there.”

How would you describe the current conditions in the self-storage market right now?

“As far as the industry and what I am seeing, the last 18 months have seen the transition to higher interest rates and all the noise and headwinds of the industry. I feel like now we have settled into it, whatever that is. We are in a holding pattern. The change has happened and we are now waiting for the improvement and don’t feel like we are seeing it yet. Still quite a pause in the industry as far as buyers and sellers go.”

“Owners who would want to sell are waiting on the Federal Reserve to make a decision on rate decreases. They think it will stimulate the economy, and it may. Plus we got the presidential election which has its own set of noise, and that is every election. You could have the best two candidates, but still [sellers] tend to pause and wait six months to see what is going to happen.”

How are you seeing operators react to the slow down?

“On the operations side I think we are seeing new rate strategies and structures from the bigger operators. Is that here to stay? I don’t know. You have to wonder if the one month free special is a thing of the past. Now it is all about the teaser rates followed by aggressive existing customer rate increases. That’s a new trend that the industry is talking about.”

Are smaller operators following suit?

“Most of them aren’t even aware that it is happening.There are many independents and smaller operators they live in their 3 mile bubble. They own their business, they know their competitors and their customers and that’s it. Many are not aware the large operators are doing that, and they may lose customers to the operators who slash their street rates and they don’t understand why. I think state association advocates and brokers got to help educate the independents on how to compete.”

“The [REITs] have millions of data points between the three or four largest operators that tell them what’s working, and they are in a position to revenue manage at scale. Many independents are afraid to pass along a rent increase every five years…..let alone 3 to 4 months.”

What types sellers are you seeing in this current phase?

“The forefathers of the industry are retiring or passing away. My clients over the years have been this 60 to 70 year old who is settling the estate or selling the property, and that generation is not getting any younger. That is the generation that started the business, so consolidation is a real thing. If you look at stats over the last five or six years you see that trend of the larger operators are owning a bigger percent of our industry versus the previous five or 10 years and it will continue to accelerate as they continue to retire and pass away.

And what about the buyers?

“Private equity groups for the most part, that’s a broad umbrella but probably the best term. The REITs, the top 10, they are selective, they are looking for big portfolios. If they find that one off they will buy it. They are looking for scale. The private equity groups are actively out pursuing, whether they have $50 million or $200 million, they are out there looking for opportunities, and they think this is a great time to be buying because they are not scared of the interest rates.

Speaking of rates, what do you think will happen as mortgage rates come down and the housing market potentially picks back up?

“That will help the operations side. Occupancy has come down but it’s really down to about to normal levels, if you consider a 20 or 30 year history, right around that 90% mark. We over-occupied during the pandemic and post-pandemic slightly. So do operators want to get back up to 95% and push rates? Or do we settle back on 90%? It’s one of those trends where there are a lot of things changing in the operations of our business, but having the residential market back, that’s going to help the operations and ultimately helps seller pricing and things like that.”

And are you seeing any development? What kind?

“I’ve seen a lot of conversions lately, but not all make sense. Developers are finding these empty boxes and getting it for a low basis, and putting in 50,000 square feet of storage. I encourage anyone thinking about going this route to do the homework. Just because you can buy it for cheap doesn’t mean it makes sense to put that much supply in the market.”



---About the Reporter

Al Harris

Alexander Harris is a reporter covering the business of self-storage. He obtained his degree in journalism from Virginia Commonwealth University. He loves reading Elmore Leonard novels and listening to classic country music. You can call him Al.



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