The self-storage acquisition story in 2026 has been framed by two deals: Public Storage's $10.5 billion all-stock acquisition of National Storage Affiliates and the continuing aftermath of the StorageMart $1.03 billion Manhattan buy. Both are significant. Neither represents how the majority of self-storage capital is actually being deployed.
Merit Hill Capital has acquired 23 properties totaling more than 1.4 million square feet across 19 markets in the first months of 2026. The largest single asset was a 154,084-square-foot facility in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The firm does not publish a running deal count as a headline, but the aggregate tells the story: while the industry was watching billion-dollar consolidation, one of the sector's most disciplined acquirers was writing checks on assets that the big platforms do not compete for.
In April 2026, Merit Hill acquired an Extra Space Storage-branded facility in Delanco, New Jersey from Metropolis Development Group. The property totals 105,187 net rentable square feet in 766 climate-controlled units, with 99 additional covered and uncovered vehicle storage spaces. It is exactly the kind of asset the firm has spent two decades accumulating: quality, operationally sound, in a market the company has reason to believe will support rent growth.
What Does Merit Hill Capital Actually Do?
Merit Hill Capital is a New York-based investment firm focused exclusively on self-storage. CEO Liz Raun Schlesinger has run the same strategy since the company's founding: identify single properties and small portfolios with value-add potential, acquire them at prices that reflect current underperformance rather than stabilized value, improve occupancy and rates through professional management, and hold or refinance as the performance improves.
The firm has reviewed more than 11,800 potential self-storage properties and closed more than 550 acquisitions in 300-plus transactions. Its current portfolio spans more than 35 states. The strategy has never been about buying size. It has been about buying opportunity.
"We're typically not the group that's doing the big transaction of the year."
- Liz Raun Schlesinger, CEO, Merit Hill Capital
The management layer is outsourced to institutional operators. Merit Hill uses CubeSmart and Extra Space Storage as third-party managers on its acquired properties, a structural decision that keeps operating costs in line with REIT-level efficiency while allowing the firm to focus on deal sourcing and capital management rather than running facilities.
Why 2026 Is Good for This Strategy
The macro conditions that hurt new development and compressed REIT same-store revenue are, in many respects, the exact conditions that favor value-add acquisition. Street rates are down from 2023 peaks. Facilities built with optimistic underwriting that have not stabilized are sitting at occupancy levels that motivate sellers. Operators who acquired with floating-rate debt in 2021 and 2022 are running out of patience or runway.
Merit Hill's target profile is a facility in a market with at least 25,000 residents and demonstrated population growth that is performing below its potential due to undermanagement, poor rate strategy, deferred maintenance, or original underwriting that assumed conditions that did not materialize. In 2026, that description fits a larger share of available inventory than it did in 2021 or 2022 when the market was running hot and sellers held out for peak pricing.
The 23 properties closed in the first months of 2026 were acquired across 19 markets, a level of geographic spread that reflects disciplined sourcing rather than concentration in a few oversupplied metros. One of the firm's core advantages is its deal flow: after reviewing more than 11,800 properties and closing 550-plus transactions, the firm has relationships, market intelligence, and underwriting precedent that most buyers cannot replicate quickly.
What the Centerbridge Refinancing Signals
In early 2026, a joint venture between Merit Hill Capital and Centerbridge Partners secured $425 million in refinancing for a 78-property self-storage portfolio. The portfolio totals approximately 32,000 units and 4.7 million square feet. Net operating income across the portfolio has grown more than 18% since 2023.
The refinancing structure confirms what the acquisition strategy produces over a hold period. Merit Hill sources distressed or underperforming assets, deploys management expertise and operational discipline, and realizes the value improvement in the form of NOI growth that supports a significantly larger debt load at refinancing. The 18% NOI growth since 2023 on a 78-property portfolio is not a single-asset success story. It is evidence that the strategy scales.
For the $425 million refinancing to work, the portfolio had to demonstrate lender-ready performance: stable occupancy, growing NOI, clean operational records, and a management structure that institutional debt sources trust. That is what the CubeSmart and Extra Space management partnership delivers on the operational side.
The refinancing also frees capital. Pulling equity out of a maturing portfolio creates the dry powder to fund the next round of acquisitions, which is precisely what the 23 properties in early 2026 represent.
How the Value-Add Accumulator Wins in a Bifurcated Market
The self-storage acquisition market in 2026 is bifurcated in a way that benefits firms like Merit Hill. At the top, mega-deals driven by REIT consolidation logic, $10.5 billion all-stock mergers, $1 billion institutional portfolio transactions, are absorbing the large-cap attention and the biggest pools of capital. At the middle, properties trading in the $2 million to $30 million range are being bought and sold with less competition from those same mega-platforms, at pricing that reflects actual current performance rather than a consolidation premium.
Merit Hill is not the only buyer in this tier. North Palisade Partners closed a two-property Philadelphia portfolio in Q1 2026 at 199,288 square feet and 2,298 climate-controlled units. Hinze Capital acquired Austin Stone Storage in Jonestown, Texas. Granger Development picked up Lone Star Self Storage in Waxahachie, Texas. The mid-market is active, and it is active with buyers who are underwriting fundamentals, not consolidation logic.
The supply pipeline contraction is a key backdrop for mid-market acquisitions in 2026. New completions are forecast at 2.4% of existing stock this year, down from 3.0% in 2025 and well below the 4.2% long-term average. In markets where Merit Hill is buying, the supply curve over the next 18 to 24 months is trending toward less competition, not more. An asset acquired at current soft pricing in a market where no new supply is planned is an asset that will look substantially better at a 2028 or 2029 exit.
The Numbers Worth Writing Down
- Merit Hill Capital 2026 acquisitions (year-to-date): 23 properties, 1.4M+ square feet, 19 markets
- Largest single 2026 acquisition: 154,084 square feet in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- April 2026 Delanco, NJ acquisition: 105,187 NRSF, 766 climate-controlled units, 99 vehicle spaces, from Metropolis Development Group
- Merit Hill + Centerbridge JV refinancing: $425M for 78-property portfolio, 32,000 units, 4.7M sq ft
- Portfolio NOI growth since 2023: more than 18%
- Merit Hill track record: 550+ acquisitions, 300+ transactions, 35-plus states
- Properties reviewed by the firm since inception: 11,800+
- Merit Hill acquisition targets: markets with 25,000+ residents, population growth, value-add potential
- 2026 completions forecast: 2.4% of existing stock, down from 3.0% in 2025
The Quiet Accumulator's Advantage
The $10.5 billion deal gets the headline. The 23 smaller deals are where the discipline lives. Merit Hill Capital's pace of acquisitions in early 2026, paired with the $425 million refinancing validation on a prior portfolio, represents a strategy that the industry's current rate environment is purpose-built for.
Distressed sellers, underperforming assets, and a supply pipeline finally contracting are all inputs that favor the value-add accumulator. The firms that have been doing this for twenty years with consistent underwriting, institutional management, and patient capital are positioned to do it better right now than they have been in at least three years. That is not a coincidence. It is what happens when a market corrects and the disciplined buyers who did not overpay at the peak get to work.
Sources
- Merit Hill, Centerbridge JV Lands $425M for Storage Portfolio, Multi-Housing News
- Merit Hill Capital Launches $300 Million Self-Storage Fund, Inside Self-Storage
- Merit Hill Capital Buys 6-Property Compass Self Storage Portfolio in Memphis, TN, Inside Self-Storage
- Self-Storage Real Estate Acquisitions and Sales: April 2026, Inside Self-Storage
- Self-Storage Real Estate Acquisitions and Sales: March 2026, Inside Self-Storage
- Merit Hill Capital — About, Merit Hill Capital
- Street Rates Decline Again as Self Storage Enters Busy Season, According to Yardi Matrix, Yardi