While a number of investors retreated from self-storage during a two-year valuation reset, Centerbridge Partners and Reframe Holdings are betting $500 million that the sector's pain is nearly over, and JPMorgan Chase just backed that thesis with $350 million in financing.
Walker & Dunlop arranged the debt with JPMorgan on behalf of the Centerbridge-Reframe joint venture. The partnership targets Class A and institutional-quality Class B self-storage facilities in top metropolitan areas nationwide.
Centerbridge and Reframe launched their partnership in the fourth quarter, as self-storage prices began to rebound from declines in 2023 and 2024. Annual sales volume plummeted from $25.5 billion each year from 2021 through 2023, CoStar data shows.
That volume dropped to $5.6 billion in 2024. The average price per square foot sank from $157 from 2021 through 2023 to $106 in 2024, according to CoStar. The industry reversal began in 2025, with annual volume rising to $7 billion at an average price of $115 per square foot.
In another recent announcement, Public Storage, which touts itself as one of the largest U.S. owners of self-storage facilities, said earlier this month it expects to get even bigger with a proposed multibillion-dollar acquisition of one of its rivals, National Storage Affiliates.
JPMorgan's commitment to Centerbridge and Reframe indicates that financing is available to back the return of further investments.
"Self-storage valuations have reset meaningfully over the past two years, and we believe this creates a rare window to aggregate institutional-quality assets with in-place cash flow at or below replacement cost," Matthew Dicker, co-founder of Reframe, said in a statement. "This debt facility provides us with the capital to move decisively."
New supply is also moderating across the sector. Matt Dabrowski, Centerbridge's co-head of real estate, added that his firm sees fundamentals stabilizing after a period of oversupply pressure.
"We believe the sector is well positioned for renewed growth," Dabrowski said.
JPMorgan's loan facility is anchored by six assets the joint venture already owns in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Austin, Texas; Gainesville, Florida; Bergenfield, New Jersey; and Syracuse and Rochester, New York.
Centerbridge brings deep sector experience to the venture. Since 2017, the firm has acquired about $3 billion of self-storage real estate across more than 375 U.S. assets totaling over 22 million square feet. It also holds positions in European self-storage.