Abacus Capital, WDM Family Enterprises and Big Cypress Capital Announce $21.8 Million Sale of Johnston Corners Self-Storage Facility

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Abacus Capital ("Abacus"), WDM Family Enterprises ("WDM") and Big Cypress Capital ("Big Cypress") through its Headwaters Strategic Operator Platform (Headwaters), are pleased to announce the sale of Johnston Corners, a 117,405 square foot, 5-story, newly constructed, Class A, climate-controlled self-storage facility located on 0.7 acres at 10609 Johnston Road in Charlotte, NC.

The venture sold the trophy-quality asset for $21.8M (~$290/NRSF) to an unnamed global asset manager 38 months after initially closing on the land.

The sale represents Headwaters' third self-storage facility realization for its 6-property, 655,000 aggregate square foot, Class-A "build-to-core" self-storage portfolio targeting high growth East Coast submarkets.  Headwaters' other two exits within the past six-month period include its Metropolitan Washington, DC and South Tampa's Westshore Marina District properties – both of which represent realized exits to two leading global self-storage REITs, Extra Space Storage and Public Storage, respectively.  Headwaters' remaining self-storage portfolio consists of properties located in Baltimore's Canton neighborhood, Northeast Philadelphia's Grant Avenue corridor and downtown Durham, NC, which represents Headwaters second self-storage collaboration with Abacus and WDM and is expected to deliver in mid-2022.

Abacus Managing Partner, Wes McAdams, commented, "We are pleased to announce the successful exit of Johnston Corners, which has been a great performer since inception and will represent a terrific outcome for our clients and partners. Abacus and WDM are committed to the self-storage sector and look forward to many more similarly successful projects together in the future."

Ryan Downs of WDM Family Enterprises added, "We are thrilled with the work Abacus and the team behind Johnston Corners delivered.  This was a well-executed project in a fantastic location.  We are excited about working alongside Abacus in both the Charlotte and self-storage markets for years to come."

Big Cypress CEO and Co-CIO, Max Mazzone, said, ''This successful sale to a global institutional investor demonstrates our teams' abilities and commitment to developing Class-A self-storage properties within carefully targeted geographic areas most likely to generate strong interest from the industry's leading participants." Mr. Mazzone continued, "Build-to-core self-storage remains a key component of Headwaters' go-forward investment strategy and we are actively pursuing additional development projects located in high growth Sunbelt MSAs in partnership with our Headwaters Strategic Operator cohort, including the Abacus and WDM team." 

Cushman & Wakefield Self-Storage Advisory Group Executive Managing Director, Luke Elliott, said, "We truly enjoyed working with this top tier seller team, who was incredibly responsive, after having developed a quality facility.  We are proud to have partnered with them on a very smooth disposition at a record-breaking Charlotte value."

ABOUT ABACUS CAPITAL

Abacus Capital is a multi-strategy product type agnostic tactical real estate investor focused on the acquisition and development of differentiated commercial real estate in growth markets across the southeastern United States. Our mission is to identify real estate opportunities that we believe offer our investors the most compelling risk-adjusted returns in dynamic capital markets environments. The principals of Abacus Capital have over 30 years of real estate investing experience and have acquired or developed nearly 17.0M square feet of commercial real estate with a total capitalization in excess of $3.5B.

ABOUT WDM FAMILY ENTERPRISES

WDM Family Enterprises is an investment company focused on direct real estate and operating venture holdings in the southeastern United States.  WDM has a diverse portfolio of over three dozen investments spanning a range of sectors and locations.  The company's inhouse development capabilities and extensive construction industry expertise, through affiliate McKnight Construction Inc., combine to produce a consistent pipeline of opportunities.  The conservatively leveraged balance sheet allows WDM to cultivate its investments over long term hold periods.

ABOUT BIG CYPRESS CAPITAL'S HEADWATER STRATEGIC OPERATOR PLATFORM

Based in Naples, FL, Big Cypress Capital is an emerging investment management firm. Big Cypress Capital's Headwaters Strategic Operator Platform focuses on cultivating capital partnerships with real estate operators and institutional JV partners that result in long-term value creation within their platforms. Please visit bigcypresscap.com for more information.

Contact:
Karen Widmayer
301-661-1448
[email protected]

SOURCE Big Cypress Capital