Arlen Nordhagen, chairman and CEO of National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE: NSA), joined Nareit in New York for a video interview at REITweek: 2019 Investor Conference.
In four years as a public REIT, National Storage Affiliates has acquired nearly $4 billion of assets. Nordhagen said he expects the company to be able to continue to grow at a “significant pace,” and has set a goal to grow at least 10% per year for the next several years. The company’s asset base is currently about $5 billion.
Looking at the firm’s national footprint, Nordhagen noted that Portland, Oregon; Denver; and Austin, Texas are oversupplied markets where the company has had to drop rates by 3 to 10%. However, the company has been able to raise rents 5 to 15% in Las Vegas and several of its California markets.
Nordhagen stressed that most of the REIT’s revenue growth comes from raising rents on existing customers.
Meanwhile, Nordhagen will be stepping down as CEO at year-end and taking on an executive chairman role. He will be replaced as CEO by Tamara Fischer, the current CFO.