Nuveen buys majority stake in Morningstar portfolio

Nuveen Real Estate, the real estate unit of TIAA, has purchased a majority stake in a portfolio of 21 Morningstar Storage facilities.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Nuveen Real Estate will hold 90 percent while Morningstar Storage retains the remaining 10 percent.

The portfolio comprises 11,130 units within 1.3 million square feet. The facilities are in nine markets across the South and Southeast, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, and Tallahassee, Fla.

“These properties provide Nuveen Real Estate immediate scale and exposure to one of the fastest-growing alternatives sectors of real estate in some of the most sought-after submarkets in the United States,” said William Harrison, Nuveen real estate’s managing director of housing, Americas.

Morningstar spaces are concentrated in cities characterized by interesting demographic trends and a growing population. The portfolio has an average age of 11 and an employment rate of 85 percent.