Pier 40: The Work Behind the Turnaround

At PrimeSpace Capital, asset management is about understanding why a property is performing the way it is and being willing to rethink the strategy when the market changes. Pier 40, our CubeSmart-managed facility in Philadelphia, is a strong example of that approach and of the work that goes into moving a property from lease-up toward stabilization.

Pier 40 is a historic waterfront property originally built in 1914 as a Philadelphia Port Authority warehouse. PrimeSpace took control of the project in 2023 and began transforming the underutilized space into a modern Class A self-storage facility. We initially opened approximately 27,000 square feet of existing storage space while construction continued throughout the rest of the property. By December 2024, that portion of the facility had reached 81% occupancy.

The next phase of the project proved more challenging. Historical work at the property had to be redone, which delayed construction and pushed the opening of the expanded facility later than originally anticipated. By the time the second phase opened in February 2025, several other self-storage properties in the surrounding market were also in lease-up. The combination of added supply and a later opening created a very different competitive environment than the one we had initially expected.

As the expanded facility came online, occupancy reached approximately 52% by July 2025, but growth began to stall. For roughly eight months, occupancy remained between 51% and 57%. Our asset management team, led by our Vice President of Operations, Carolyn Stratton, took a deeper look at the property and the market to understand where the strategy needed to change.

Carolyn and the team dug into rental rates, historical performance, competitor pricing, concessions, and market activity to understand exactly where Pier 40 stood within the market. From there, they reworked the broader lease-up strategy, including how rates were set, how performance was evaluated, and how the property was positioned against competing facilities. The goal was not simply to increase activity, but to understand what was holding the property back and determine where Pier 40 could find an edge in a more competitive market.

That analysis was paired with active execution at the property level. Under Carolyn’s leadership, the team adjusted rates, increased local marketing efforts, connected with nearby apartment communities and businesses, explored new promotional opportunities, and spent more time understanding how customers in the immediate area were finding and selecting storage. The strategy combined a deeper understanding of the numbers with a closer look at what was actually happening in the market.

Those changes began to produce results. In 2026, occupancy at Pier 40 increased from 54.9% to approximately 86%, and the property has now leased more than 75,000 square feet since the second phase opened in February 2025. The improvement reflects both the analytical work that went into rebuilding the lease-up strategy and the hands-on effort required to put that strategy into practice.

The experience also helped strengthen the way our asset management team monitors performance across the portfolio. Today, the team has a system in place that provides daily oversight of each asset, with built-in variance triggers designed to flag potential issues early on. Rather than waiting for a monthly report to reveal that performance has moved off track, the team can identify changes sooner, investigate what is driving them, and determine whether an adjustment is needed. This added visibility allows our team to be more proactive and stay closely connected to how each property is performing.

Pier 40 has reinforced an important part of how we approach asset management at PrimeSpace. Performance cannot always be improved by following the original plan more closely. Sometimes construction delays change the timing, new competition enters the market, or a property opens under different circumstances than expected. In those moments, the job is to understand what has changed, identify where the opportunity still exists, and build a strategy around the conditions that are actually in front of you.

Carolyn and the asset management team did exactly that at Pier 40. By combining detailed market analysis with active property-level management, they were able to rethink the lease-up strategy, regain momentum, and move the facility significantly closer to stabilization. Just as importantly, the lessons from Pier 40 have helped create a stronger framework for how we monitor and manage assets across the portfolio today.