CubeSmart vs. Extra Space Storage:Two Paths to Self-Storage Dominance

The U.S. self-storage industry has evolved from a fragmented collection of mom-and-pop facilities into a $39–45 billion institutional asset class, and two publicly traded REITs — CubeSmart and Extra Space Storage — represent starkly different strategies for capturing that growth. Extra Space Storage, now the largest operator by total managed portfolio after its $12.7 billion Life Storage merger in 2023, generates $3.26 billion in annual revenue and operates over 4,200 locations. CubeSmart, roughly one-third the size at $1.07 billion in revenue and 1,533 locations, has instead built its identity around high-barrier coastal markets and a disciplined, capital-efficient growth model. Together, they illustrate the central tension in modern self-storage: pursue scale at all costs or focus on quality over quantity.

From U-Store-It to CubeSmart: A Corporate Reinvention

CubeSmart’s origin story begins in July 2004, when brothers Robert and Barry Amsdell formed U-Store-It Trust as a Maryland REIT, consolidating roughly 202 self-storage facilities concentrated in Ohio, Florida, and the Midwest. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange on October 27, 2004, under the ticker “YSI,” raising approximately $460 million in its IPO at $16 per share. The early years were turbulent. The Amsdell family’s involvement generated internal friction, culminating in litigation that was resolved in 2007 with a $121 million acquisition of 14 disputed facilities.

The turning point came in April 2006, when Dean Jernigan — the industry veteran who had founded Storage USA in 1994 — joined as CEO. Jernigan brought aboard Christopher P. Marr as CFO, and together they executed a sweeping portfolio transformation. Between 2006 and 2008, the pair sold nearly one-third of the properties inherited from the Amsdell era and recycled proceeds into roughly $2 billion in acquisitions, shifting the portfolio from low-barrier Midwestern markets toward higher-density, higher-income coastal locations. The company relocated its headquarters from Cleveland to Malvern, Pennsylvania, in December 2008.

On September 14, 2011, U-Store-It officially rebranded as CubeSmart — an $8 million campaign that reflected more than a cosmetic change. Where “U-Store-It” placed responsibility on the customer, “CubeSmart” signaled a service-oriented, technology-forward identity. The ticker changed from YSI to CUBE. That same year, CubeSmart executed its most transformative early deal: the $560 million Storage Deluxe acquisition of 22 Class-A facilities in greater New York City, instantly establishing the company as a dominant player in the nation’s most supply-constrained market. When Jernigan retired in January 2014, Marr assumed the CEO role and has led the company since.

CubeSmart’s subsequent growth has been deliberate rather than explosive. The $1.69 billion acquisition of Storage West in December 2021 — 59 properties across Southern California, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Houston — marked its largest single deal. More recently, CubeSmart acquired an 85% interest in the Hines Portfolio (14 stores in Dallas-Fort Worth) for $157.3 million in late 2024, and in early 2025 completed the $452.8 million HVP IV acquisition of 28 stores across nine states. In February 2026, the company announced a $250 million joint venture with CBRE Investment Management targeting self-storage acquisitions in high-growth markets.

Extra Space Storage: From a Montana Shed to the S&P 500

Extra Space Storage’s history stretches back nearly five decades to 1977, when Kenneth M. Woolley, inspired by market research during his Stanford MBA, built his first facility — “Secure-It Mini Storage” — in Billings, Montana. Woolley established Extra Space Development Company in 1979, merged with the William Warren Group in 1993, and formalized the Extra Space Storage brand in 1998 around three pillars: employee focus, fairness in business, and technological sophistication.

The company’s IPO on August 20, 2004 raised approximately $290 million, landing on the NYSE just weeks before CubeSmart’s own debut. For the next two decades, Extra Space pursued aggressive organic and acquisitive growth. Joseph D. Margolis — a Harvard-educated attorney who first encountered the company in 1998 as a joint venture partner with Prudential Real Estate Investors — became CEO on January 1, 2017, when the portfolio stood at 1,427 stores.

The company’s growth inflection came through three landmark acquisitions. The $590 million purchase of Storage Express in September 2022 added 107 remote-managed properties across Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky, along with proprietary E-Tracker software. The $180 million Bargold acquisition that same year brought specialized urban storage solutions in New York City. But the deal that redefined Extra Space — and the entire industry — was the all-stock Life Storage merger, announced April 3, 2023, and closed on July 20, 2023. Valued at approximately $12.7 billion including assumed debt, the transaction added over 1,200 stores across 19 states, creating a combined platform of 3,500+ locations with a pro forma enterprise value of roughly $47 billion.

Integration was remarkably swift: all Life Storage properties were onboarded within 19 days of closing, with 1.2 million customer records migrated and 88% of Life Storage staff retained. Extra Space was added to the S&P 500 in January 2016 and remains one of only two self-storage REITs in the index alongside Public Storage.

How the Numbers Compare Across Every Key Metric

The scale differential between these companies is substantial and growing. According to MMCG database, Extra Space generated $3.26 billion in revenue in fiscal 2024 (rising to $3.38 billion in 2025), versus CubeSmart’s $1.07 billionin 2024. Extra Space’s market capitalization sits at roughly $31 billion compared to CubeSmart’s $8.8 billion. The following table summarizes key operating and financial metrics drawn from SEC filings and company earnings releases.

Metric	CubeSmart (CUBE)	Extra Space (EXR)
2024 Revenue	$1.07B	$3.26B
2024 FFO / Share	$2.63	$8.12 (Core)
Q4 2024 Occupancy	89.3%	93.7%
Same-Store NOI (2024)	~-2.5%	-1.5%
Dividend Yield	~5.4%	~4.3%
P/FFO Multiple	~14.8x	~18.8x
Credit Rating (S&P)	BBB	BBB+
Total Stores	~1,533	~4,011
Owned Stores	631	~2,016
Managed Stores	902	~2,035
Employees	~3,100	~8,000

Operationally, Extra Space maintains a persistent occupancy advantage. Its same-store occupancy ended 2024 at 93.7%versus CubeSmart’s 89.3% — a gap of more than 400 basis points that reflects EXR’s greater geographic diversification and pricing power. Both companies experienced same-store NOI declines in 2024 as post-pandemic normalization pressured rates, but Extra Space’s decline was shallower at -1.5% versus CubeSmart’s estimated -2.5%.

Balance sheet dynamics tell a nuanced story. CubeSmart carries lower absolute debt (~$3 billion versus ~$12.6 billion for Extra Space) and enjoys a remarkably low weighted average interest rate of 3.0% compared to EXR’s 4.3%, a legacy of well-timed fixed-rate issuances. However, CubeSmart’s leverage relative to equity is actually higher at 1.15–1.34x debt-to-equity versus EXR’s ~0.89x. Extra Space holds the stronger credit profile, with S&P rating its debt BBB+ (stable) versus CubeSmart’s BBB, and Moody’s recently upgrading EXR’s outlook to positive.

For income-focused investors, CubeSmart offers the higher current yield at approximately 5.4% versus Extra Space’s 4.3%, and has maintained 16 consecutive years of dividend increases (albeit at a modest 2% annual rate recently). Extra Space has held its dividend flat at $6.48 per share since 2023, instead allocating $149.5 million to share repurchases in 2025.

Divergent Strategies for Third-Party Management and Sustainability

Both companies have built substantial third-party management platforms, but Extra Space’s is roughly twice the size. Extra Space manages 2,263 stores for third parties and joint ventures (as of year-end 2025), generating approximately $182 million in management fees and tenant insurance income in 2024. CubeSmart’s platform — launched in 2010 and now encompassing 902 managed stores across 39 states — is a growing but proportionally smaller operation. Extra Space’s Management Plus platform, now led by newly appointed President Noah Springer, has emerged as a critical strategic asset: it functions as a deal pipeline (bridge loans originated through the platform have a 24% conversion rate to acquisitions) and provides recurring fee income with minimal capital requirements.

On sustainability, both companies have invested meaningfully in solar energy. Extra Space began installing solar panels in 2010 and has built a portfolio of 15 megawatts across 150+ projects in 12 states, generating approximately 20 million kWh of carbon-free electricity annually. The program covers roughly 42% of wholly owned facilities, supported by partnerships with Pivot Energy and 1st Light Energy. Extra Space has won NAREIT’s prestigious “Leader in the Light” award three consecutive years (2020–2022) — the first self-storage company so recognized. CubeSmart has deployed solar installations across multiple properties with investments growing 200% between 2014 and 2016, complemented by $3+ million in LED lighting upgrades and a “Plant a Tree” program that has resulted in 90,000+ trees planted since 2010. CubeSmart reported a 9.8% reduction in energy and greenhouse gas consumption versus its baseline as of its 2020 sustainability report.

Technology represents another competitive frontier. Extra Space’s partnership with Onity (now a Honeywell brand) is deploying DirectKey smart lock technology that enables keyless smartphone access to storage units. Field trials recorded 99.8% reliability across nearly 5,000 door openings with projected battery life exceeding five years. This mobile-first approach aligns with broader industry trends: 63% of renters now prefer mobile-first booking and payment.

An Industry at an Inflection Point Between Supply and Demand

The self-storage sector sits at a critical juncture in early 2026. According to MMCG database, the industry encompasses over 52,300 facilities and 2.1 billion square feet of rentable space — roughly 6.3 square feet for every American. Approximately 11.1% of U.S. households currently rent a unit. The market grew at a 5.7% CAGR from 2020 to 2025, driven by pandemic-era relocations, remote work, and e-commerce growth, but the boom also triggered an unprecedented construction wave: $6.99 billion in new self-storage construction spending in 2023 alone, with 65.2 million square feet delivered in 2024.

That supply surge is now abating. Planned deliveries for 2025 dropped 26.7% from 2024 levels, and rising construction costs ($35–70 per square foot for climate-controlled builds) combined with elevated interest rates have caused a 14% decline in construction starts. This moderating supply pipeline is the single most important variable for both CubeSmart and Extra Space. CEO Margolis noted on Extra Space’s Q4 2025 earnings call that customer rates are strengthening and new supply is moderating — and indeed, Q4 2025 marked the company’s first quarter of positive same-store NOI growth (+0.1%) after nearly three years of declines.

The competitive landscape remains dominated by three public REITs. Public Storage leads in owned square footage with 226 million square feet (11.3% market share) and posted record revenue of $4.7 billion in 2024. Extra Space, at 14.4% of total managed inventory, is the largest by overall platform. CubeSmart holds approximately 2.6% by owned inventory (4.9% including managed stores). Yet these three giants combined control only about 35% of national inventory — the remaining 65% belongs to private equity firms, family businesses, and small operators, providing ample runway for continued consolidation. According to the Self Storage Association, public REITs now operate roughly 40% of national capacity, up from just 17% in 2000.

Macroeconomic headwinds persist. The housing market — historically responsible for roughly 50% of storage demand through relocations — saw transactions hit a 30-year low in 2024, with 56% of mortgage holders locked into sub-4% rates and reluctant to move. Insurance costs have risen 15–20% across operators, particularly in Florida, Texas, and California. Yet self-storage has proven remarkably resilient: over a 15-year horizon, the sector has outperformed industrial, multifamily, office, and retail in net operating income growth, with near-zero correlation to traditional stock-bond portfolios.

Conclusion: Complementary Strengths in a Consolidating Market

CubeSmart and Extra Space Storage represent two viable but fundamentally different approaches to the same opportunity. Extra Space has bet on transformative scale through the Life Storage merger, diversified revenue streams (bridge lending, insurance, management fees), and technological innovation via the Onity smart lock partnership. The result is the industry’s largest total platform and a premium market valuation at ~19x FFO. CubeSmart has pursued a more focused strategy centered on high-barrier urban markets — New York and New Jersey alone contribute 23% of same-store NOI — disciplined capital allocation, and a steadily growing management platform. It trades at a meaningful discount (~15x FFO) but offers a higher dividend yield and lower interest costs.

Both companies face the same near-term challenge: navigating through a post-pandemic normalization cycle characterized by softening occupancy, elevated new supply, and constrained housing mobility. The encouraging signal for both is the moderation of new construction — 2026 deliveries are projected at just 2.3% of existing stock — which should gradually restore pricing power. Extra Space’s Q4 2025 inflection to positive same-store NOI suggests the bottom may already be in. For CubeSmart, the February 2026 joint venture with CBRE Investment Management signals a new chapter of externally funded growth that could narrow the scale gap without straining the balance sheet.

In an industry where the top five operators still control barely a third of total inventory, both companies have substantial consolidation runway ahead. For lenders and investors evaluating self-storage exposure, the choice between CubeSmart and Extra Space ultimately distills to a preference: income and urban density (CUBE) versus growth and platform scale (EXR). Both remain compelling positions in what continues to be one of commercial real estate’s most durable asset classes.

February 26, 2026 by Michal Mohelský, J.D., principal of MMCG Invest, LLC, feaisbility study consultant

Sources & Methodology

Analysis prepared by MMCG Analytical Group using proprietary databases, SEC EDGAR filings, CubeSmart Investor Relations, Extra Space Storage Investor Relations, NAREIT, and CoStar Group data. All financial figures reflect publicly reported results. Market share and industry sizing based on MMCG proprietary analysis.

Other Sources:

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