The story
Founded by B. Wayne Hughes on Aug 14, 1972.1
Origins
The idea for Public Storage was conceived by Southern California real estate developer B. Wayne Hughes in the early 1970s. During a trip to Texas, he observed that local real estate developers were doing well creating mini-storage facilities outside of Dallas and Houston. He brought the self storage concept back with him to California. Hughes partnered with Kenneth Volk and the two founded Public Storage in August 1972 with a $50,000 initial investment, at first calling it "Private Storage Spaces Inc."
The first warehouse was built in 1972 in El Cajon, California with $50,000 in capital. According to Hughes, "Private Storage Spaces Inc." confused people into thinking it was private, so the name was changed to "Public Storage" to match the PS acronym. The founders initially planned to build storage warehouses as a temporary source of income until the land became more valuable and could be redeveloped for another use.
Within three months, the first location was breaking even with a 35% occupancy. The units were rented for a similar price per square foot as apartments or office space, but cost 35% to 40% less to build and maintain. A property management subsidiary called Public Storage Management Inc. was formed in 1973. By 1974, 20 locations had been built.
Real Estate Limited Partnership financing
Hughes disliked debt, so he financed the purchase and development of new properties primarily through real estate limited partnerships (RELPs). At first, Public Storage built warehouses and sold them to independent RELPs for a development fee. The company's own RELP, called Public Storage Partners Ltd, was formed in 1975 and closed its first deal for $3 million in investments two years later. Public Storage paid cash to acquire property and build a self storage facility, then used the property's income to pay investors back and earn a portion as profit. Public Storage Inc. also earned revenues from a portion of each deal that was made.
Early investors earned three to four times their money back due to increasing property values in Southern California, high occupancy rates, and increasing storage rental prices. By the mid-1980s, Public Storage was raising $200 to $300 million in investments each year. The RELP format allowed the firm to continue building more locations in the 1970s and 1980s when most of the industry had halted growth because of higher interest rates on loans. In the mid-1980s, co-founder Volk retired and his interest in Public Storage was purchased by Hughes. Forbes estimated that by this time the company was worth $800 million.
Investment funding was used to build mini-storage warehouses beyond California, targeting the 39 largest US cities. The firm opened self-storage locations in close proximity to each other, so the sites could share a development office, and justify local television advertising. The firm's growth slowed in the mid-1980s as new competition increased the cost of property and slowed the increase in rental prices to consumers. Poor weather and difficult labor markets outside of California delayed development projects; the company also made poor investments in office parks. Interest in real estate investing also diminished.
In 1984, PS Reinsurance was formed to sell insurance for a storage unit's contents.
By the late 1980s, the company opened its 1,000th Public Storage location and the company was three times larger than its nearest competitor in the US market. By 1989, $2.7 billion had been invested from 200,000 investors. Public Storage helped popularize the use of self-storage businesses as a real estate investment vehicle and became one of the longest-running RELP investment vehicles. By 1991, Public Storage had set up more than 150 RELPs and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
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Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)
According to Financial World, by 1989 the real estate limited partnership (RELP) market that Public Storage relied on for funding "all but vanished". A book by Public Storage Inc. said the Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced the tax benefits of RELPs and was followed by "a tough time for real estate companies." In December 1990, five of its partnerships were converted to REITs. It also began consolidating its partnerships and acquiring many of the companies in which it held an interest.
Storage Equities was founded by Public Storage in 1980 to purchase self-storage facilities. It was one of 17 self-storage REITs owned in part by Public Storage.
In 1995, PS Orangeco was created as a subsidiary, selling boxes, packaging, truck rentals, and other moving supplies.
In 1995, Public Storage and its subsidiaries were merged with its self-storage REIT, Storage Equities, in a $679 million transaction, and re-structured as a single REIT called Public Storage Inc.
In 1998, Public Storage acquired Storage Trust Realty in a $400 million transaction.
2000-present
In 2006, the company acquired Shurgard Storage Centers in a $5.5 billion transaction, acquiring 624 locations, including 141 in Europe. Public Storage had attempted to acquire the company in 2000 and again in 2005, but its offers were rejected.
In 2007, a customer's belongings were auctioned for non-payment while he was serving the US military in Iraq. After receiving negative publicity, Public Storage apologized and gave him $8,000 as compensation for his sold belongings.
In March 2010, the company acquired 30 locations from A-American Self Storage for $189 million. In December 2013, the company acquired a 44-property portfolio from Stor-All Storage for $430 million. In December 2020, the company acquired 36 properties containing 3.6 million net rentable square feet from Beyond Self Storage for $528 million. In April 2021, the company acquired the 48-property ezStorage portfolio, with properties in the Washington metropolitan area, for $1.8 billion.
In December 2021, the company acquired All Storage, owner of 56 self-storage properties containing 7.5 million net rentable square feet primarily in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, for $1.5 billion. In February 2023, the company bid to acquire Life Storage but was outbid by Extra Space Storage. In September 2023, the company acquired Simply Self Storage, with 127 properties comprising 9 million rentable square feet, from affiliates of The Blackstone Group, for $2.2 billion. In February 2026, the company announced a corporate relocation to Frisco, Texas.
In July 2026, the company announced the anticipated closing date for the acquisition of National Storage Affiliates (NSA) after approval by shareholders of NSA.
From Wikipedia’s article on Public Storage, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7