North Palisade Partners Expanding Self-Storage Platform, Taps New Team Leader

Los Angeles-based developer North Palisade Partners is expanding its self-storage platform, and has tapped an industry veteran to lead the charge.

The firm, which focuses on industrial, self-storage and industrial outdoor storage assets, has brought aboard Steve Cobbs as managing director of self-storage. Cobbs brings nearly 30 years of real estate experience to his new team, including over 10 years at Invesco, where he also most recently served as director of self-storage and helped create Invesco’s self-storage platform. Cobbs also serves on the board of directors for the California Self Storage Association. 

“The self-storage asset class has emerged as a growing aspect of North Palisade’s overall real estate investment portfolio,” Joe Mishurda, managing partner of North Palisade, said in a statement. “That growth has led to a need for a sector-specific team to continue building and maintaining our burgeoning portfolio.” 

At North Palisade, Cobbs will oversee management of the 330,000 square feet of self-storage property already owned by the firm, as well as new acquisitions, deal sourcing and due diligence. 

Cobbs said that he and his team plan to add between $400 million and $500 million worth of new assets to North Palisade’s portfolio over the next 36 months, including value-add and development projects. 

“We believe the current dislocation in values provides an opportune time to deploy capital,” Cobbs said.  

There’s little wonder why North Palisade wants to expand its self-storage platform so quickly. Despite tens of millions of square feet of self-storage assets delivered across the U.S. so far this year, construction on new self-storage property is expected to plunge by the end of the decade due to the sheer amount of abandoned properties and stalled projects, according to a report released earlier this year by Yardi Matrix. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at NTrombola@commercialobserver.com.