TORONTO, ON—(Marketwired – Aug 10, 2016) – SmartStop Asset Management, LLC, a diversified real estate company with nearly $1 billion in assets under management, has hired Stefan Kulas, a sales and research executive formerly with Cushman & Wakefield, as managing director for the greater Toronto area (GTA). Kulas will assist in growing SmartStop's self storage portfolio in Toronto, which currently includes approximately 9,600 units and nearly 1 million rentable square feet. He will also be responsible for business development, new self storage acquisitions, redevelopment projects and third–party property management located in the Toronto market.
“Stefan brings excellent research and analytical skills to SmartStop, and we're looking forward to working with him as we grow the company's presence in the Toronto area,” said H. Michael Schwartz, chairman/CEO of SmartStop Asset Management, LLC.
At Cushman & Wakefield, Kulas started out as a research analyst and then became a sales representative for the company. Before that, Kulas was a private banking associate for high net worth clients at the Royal Bank of Canada.
“As a commercial real estate broker, I started to focus on self–storage opportunities because I saw the accelerating growth of the industry here in Canada,” Kulas said. “I am extremely excited about the incredible opportunity to lead Smartstop's expansion efforts here in the GTA.”
Kulas has a bachelor of commerce degree from McMaster University, is a licensed real estate agent in Ontario and holds a Canadian Securities Course certificate.
About SmartStop Asset Management, LLC
SmartStop Asset Management, LLC is a diversified real estate company with a managed portfolio that currently includes approximately 57,100 self storage units and approximately 6.2 million rentable square feet. The company is the asset manager for 86 self storage facilities located throughout the United States and Toronto, Canada. SmartStop Asset Management is the sponsor of both SSGT and Strategic Storage Trust II, Inc. (SSTII), a public non–traded REIT focusing on stabilized self storage properties. The facilities offer affordable and accessible storage units for residential and commercial customers. In addition, they offer secure interior and exterior storage units as well as outside storage areas for vehicles, RVs and boats. In 2015, key executives at Smartstop Asset Management negotiated the sale of SmartStop Self Storage Inc. (Smartstop), then a fully integrated, self–administered and self–managed self storage company, owning and/or operating 170 self storage properties in 21 states and Toronto, Canada, to Extra Space Storage Inc., the second–largest storage operator in the United States, in a merger transaction with SmartStop having an enterprise value of $1.4 billion.
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