In the third-largest investment sale ever in the self-storage space, CubeSmart purchased 36 self-storage properties for $326M. (You don't see people throwing around that kinda money on Storage Wars.)

NGKF executive managing director Aaron Swerdlin (pictured) and managing director Kenneth Cox repped sellers Clarion and Private Mini Storage. Aaron tells us it was one of the most unique portfolios he's ever seen. It's Texas-heavy, with 28 properties in Houston, seven in Austin, and one in Charlotte, NC. The size offered a chance for someone to enter the self-storage sector or the Texas markets in a big way, Aaron tells us. (If you're gonna dive into the pool, better make it a cannonball.) That drew a huge amount of attention, with over 50 potential buyers, including every major self-storage player. It was a speedy sale; Aaron says his team did a six-month process in three months.

CubeSmart is now the second-largest self-storage owner in Houston. It already had a Texas presence but had been selling its Class-B suburban product over the last few years. This also significantly upgrades the quality of its portfolio. Aaron says these properties are in the path of Houston's residential growth, including assets in The Woodlands, West Houston, and Pearland. This has been a year of massive self-storage investment sales. (As long as people keep buying skis, they'll need a place to store them.) Aaron says the 10-year average is between $880M and $1.3B in sales, but this year will top $2B. And that's despite fewer sales than the long-term average.