UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 20182020

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number: 000-55617

StrategicSmartStop Self Storage Trust II,REIT, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

10 Terrace Rd,

Ladera Ranch, California 92694

(Address of principal executive offices)

(877) 327-3485

(Registrant’s telephone number)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of the Form 10-K or any amendment of this Form 10-K.  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company”, and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial account standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☒☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

There is currently no established public market for the registrant’s shares of common stock. Based on the $10.65$10.40 offering price of the Class A shares and the Class T shares in effect on June 30, 2018,2020, the aggregate market value of the stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on such date was approximately $610,512,879.$623,169,019.

As of March 22, 2019,18, 2021, there were 50,638,53176,092,445 outstanding shares of Class A common stock and 7,562,1277,948,354 outstanding shares of Class T common stock of the registrant.

Documents Incorporated by Reference:

None.The registrant incorporates by reference in Part III (Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14) of this Form 10-K portions of its Definitive Proxy Statement for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained in this Form 10-K of StrategicSmartStop Self Storage Trust II,REIT, Inc., other than historical facts, may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We intend for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the applicable safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, as applicable. Such statements include, in particular, statements about our plans, strategies, and prospects and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including known and unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Therefore, such statements are not intended to be a guarantee of our performance in future periods. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “seek,” “continue,” or other similar words. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date this report is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K, and we do not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Any such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors and are based on a number of assumptions involving judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive, and market conditions, allincluding without limitation changes in the political and economic climate, economic conditions and fiscal imbalances in the United States, and other major developments, including wars, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, including the outbreak of which arenovel coronavirus (COVID-19), military actions, and terrorist attacks.  The occurrence or severity of any such event or circumstance is difficult or impossible to predict accurately. To the extent that our assumptions differ from actual results, our ability to realize the plans, strategies and prospects contemplated by such forward-looking statements, including our ability to generate positive cash flow from operations and provide distributions to stockholders, and our ability to find suitable investment properties, may be significantly hindered.

For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with our business, and important factors that could cause our actual results to vary materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, please refer to the factors listed and described under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the “Risk Factors” sections of the documents we file from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, this report and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained from our website at www.strategicreit.com.

SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISK FACTORS

Below is a summary of the principal risk factors we face. Please read it carefully and refer to the more detailed descriptions of the risk factors in Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”

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PART

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PART I

OverviewCorporate History

StrategicSmartStop Self Storage Trust II, Inc.,REIT, Inc, a Maryland corporation (the “Company”), was formed on January 8, 2013 under the Maryland General Corporation Law for the purpose of engaging in the business of investing inis a self-managed and fully-integrated self storage facilities. The Company’sreal estate investment trust (“REIT”). We acquire, own and operate self storage facilities—including facilities owned by us as well as those owned by the entities sponsored by us. As of March 17, 2021, we owned 136 self storage facilities located in 18 states (Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington) and the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. As discussed herein, we, through our subsidiaries, also served as the sponsor of Strategic Storage Trust IV, Inc., a public non-traded REIT (“SST IV”) through March 17, 2021, and currently serve as the sponsor of Strategic Storage Growth Trust II, Inc., a private non-traded REIT (“SSGT II”) and Strategic Storage Trust VI, Inc., a private non-traded REIT (“SST VI”) (SSGT II, SST VI, and prior to March 17, 2021, SST IV, the “Managed REITs”), and operate the properties owned by the Managed REITs, consisting of 37 properties and approximately 30,000 units and 3.1 million rentable square feet. Our year-end is December 31. As used in this report, “we,” “us,” “our,” and “Company” refer to StrategicSmartStop Self Storage Trust II,REIT, Inc. and each of our subsidiaries.

SmartStop Asset Management, LLC,Significant Acquisitions and Transactions

SST IV Merger

On March 17, 2021, we closed on our merger with SST IV (the “SST IV Merger”). As a Delaware limited liability company (our “Sponsor”) organized in 2013, wasresult, we acquired all of the sponsor of our Offering of shares of common stock, as described below. Our Sponsor is a company focused on providing real estate owned by SST IV, consisting of (i) 24 self storage facilities located in 9 states comprising approximately 18,000 self storage units and approximately 2.0 million net rentable square feet, and (ii) SST IV’s 50% equity interest in six unconsolidated real estate ventures located in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada (the “JV Properties”). The JV Properties consist of three operating self storage properties and three parcels of land being developed into self storage facilities, with subsidiaries of SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust, an unaffiliated third party (“SmartCentres”). Additionally, we obtained the rights to acquire, upon its completion, a self storage property that is being developed in San Gabriel, California.

 See Note 16 - Subsequent Events, for additional information related to the SST IV Merger.

New Credit Facility

On March 17, 2021, we, through SmartStop OP, L.P. (our “Operating Partnership”), entered into a credit facility with KeyBank, National Association as administrative agent, with an initial aggregate amount of $500 million (the “Credit Facility”), which consists of a $250 million revolving credit facility and a $250 million term loan. The revolving credit facility has an initial term of three years, with a one year extension option, and the term loan has a term of five years, with no extension option. Borrowings under the new Credit Facility may be in either U.S. dollars or Canadian dollars. Upon the closing of the Credit Facility, we immediately made the following drawdowns: (i) under the Credit Facility revolver (A) $199 million in USD borrowings and (B) CAD$2.5 million in Canadian dollar borrowings (approximately $2 million equivalent in U.S. dollars), and (ii) under the Credit Facility term loan (A) $150 million in US borrowings and (B) CAD$124.7 million in Canadian dollar borrowings (approximately $100 million equivalent in U.S. dollars), for an aggregate amount of approximately $451 million. We used the proceeds primarily to pay off certain existing indebtedness as well as indebtedness of SST IV in connection with the SST IV Merger.

 See Note 16 - Subsequent Events, for additional information related to the Credit Facility.

Self Administration Transaction

On June 28, 2019, we acquired the self storage advisory, asset management and property management services. Our Sponsor owns 97.5%businesses and certain joint venture interests (the “Self Storage Platform”) of SmartStop Asset Management, LLC, our former sponsor (“SAM”), along with certain other assets of SAM (collectively, the economic interests (and 100% of the voting membership interests) of Strategic Storage Advisor II, LLC (our “Advisor”) and owns 100% of Strategic Storage Property Management II, LLC (the “T2 Property Manager”“Self Administration Transaction”).  In addition, asAs a result of the Self Administration Transaction,we became self-managed and now, through our subsidiaries, serve as the sponsor of the Managed REITs. In addition, we have the internal capability to originate, structure and manage additional investment products (the “Managed REIT Platform”) which would be sponsored by SmartStop REIT Advisors, LLC (“SRA”), our indirect subsidiary. See Note 4 – Self Administration Transaction and Note 11 – Related Party Transactions of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, for more information.

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SSGT Mergers

On October 1, 2018, we, our Operating Partnership, and SST II Growth Acquisition, LLC, our wholly-owned subsidiary (“SSGT Merger (defined below)Sub”), certainentered into an Agreement and Plan of our properties are managedMerger (the “SSGT Merger Agreement”) with Strategic Storage Growth Trust, Inc. (“SSGT”), a non-traded REIT then sponsored by SAM, and SS Growth Property Management, LLC, which is also 100% ownedOperating Partnership, L.P. (“SSGT OP”).  Pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the SSGT Merger Agreement, on January 24, 2019: (i) we acquired SSGT by way of a merger of SSGT with and into SSGT Merger Sub, with SSGT Merger Sub being the surviving entity (the “SSGT REIT Merger”); and (ii) immediately after the SSGT REIT Merger, SSGT OP merged with and into our SponsorOperating Partnership, with the Operating Partnership continuing as the surviving entity and remaining a subsidiary of the Company (the “GT Property Manager”“SSGT Partnership Merger” and, together with the T2 Property Manager, our “Property Manager”SSGT REIT Merger, the “SSGT Mergers”).  SSGT was a REIT with stated investment objectives to acquire opportunistic self storage properties, including development and lease-up properties. See Note 3, Real Estate Facilities—Merger with Strategic Storage Growth Trust, Inc., of the section titled “Certain Relationships and Related Transaction and Director Independence—Certain Relationships and Related Transaction—Property Management Agreements,” below,Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, for more information.

On October 1, 2015, SmartStop Self Storage, Inc. (“SmartStop”) and Extra Space Storage Inc. (“Extra Space”), along with subsidiaries of each of SmartStop and Extra Space, closed on a merger transaction (the “Extra Space Merger”) in which SmartStop was acquired by Extra Space for $13.75 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately $1.4 billion. At the closing of the Extra Space Merger, our Sponsor was sold to an entity controlled by H. Michael Schwartz, our Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, and became our sponsor. Equity

The former executive management team of SmartStop continues to serve as the executive management team for our Sponsor. In addition, the majority of our management team at the time of the Extra Space Merger continues to serve on our management team, as well as the management team of our Advisor and Property Manager.

We have no employees. Our Advisor, a Delaware limited liability company,Company was formed on January 8, 2013. Our Advisor is responsible for managing our affairs on a day-to-day basis and identifying and making acquisitions and investments on our behalf2013, under the terms of the advisory agreementMaryland General Corporation Law.  We commenced our initial public offering in January 2014, in which we have with our Advisor (our “Advisory Agreement”). The officers of our Advisor, as well as a majority of the officers of our Sponsor, are also officers of us.

Our Articles of Amendment and Restatement, as amended, authorized 350,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Class A Shares”) and 350,000,000 shares of Class T common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Class T Shares”) and 200,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.001. We offered a maximum of $1.0 billion in common shares for sale to the public (the “Primary Offering”) and $95.0 million in common shares for sale pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan (collectively, the “Offering”).

On January 10, 2014,   At the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) declared our registration statement effective. On May 23, 2014, we satisfied the $1.5 million minimum offering requirementstermination of our Offering and commenced formal operations. Onoffering in January 9, 2017, our Offering terminated. Wewe had sold approximately 4848.4 million shares of Class A Sharescommon stock (“Class A Shares”) and approximately 77.3 million shares of Class T Sharescommon stock (“Class T Shares”) for approximately $493 million and $73 million respectively, in our Offering. Onrespectively.

In November 30, 2016, prior to the termination of our Offering, we filed with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-3, which registered up to an additional $100.9 million in shares under our distribution reinvestment plan (our “DRP Offering”). The DRP Offering may be terminated at any time upon 10 days’ prior written notice to stockholders. As of December 31, 2018,2020, we had sold approximately 2.75.3 million Class A Shares and approximately 0.40.8 million Class T Shares for approximately $27.8$55.5 million and $4.2$8.5 million, respectively, in our DRP Offering.  As

On October 29, 2019 (the “Commitment Date”), we entered into a preferred stock purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Extra Space Storage LP (the “Investor”), a subsidiary of December 31, 2018, we owned 83 self storage properties locatedExtra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE: EXR), pursuant to which the Investor committed to purchase up to $200 million in 14 statesshares (the aggregate shares to be purchased, the “Preferred Shares”) of our Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series A Convertible Preferred Stock”), in one or more closings (each, a “Closing,” and Ontario, Canadacollectively, the “Closings”). The initial closing (the Greater Toronto Area).“Initial Closing”) in the amount of $150 million occurred on the Commitment Date, and the second and final closing in the amount of $50 million occurred on October 26, 2020.

The shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock rank senior to all other shares of our capital stock, including our common stock, with respect to rights to receive dividends and to participate in distributions or payments upon any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company. Dividends payable on each share of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock will initially be equal to a rate of 6.25% per annum. If the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock has not been redeemed on or prior to the fifth anniversary date of the Initial Closing, the dividend rate will increase an additional 0.75% per annum each year thereafter to a maximum of 9.0% per annum until the tenth anniversary of the Initial Closing, at which time the dividend rate shall increase 0.75% per annum each year thereafter until the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock is redeemed or repurchased in full.  See Note 8, Preferred Equity, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, for more information.

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On April 19, 2018,20, 2020, our board of directors, upon recommendation of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, approved an estimated value per share of our common stock of $10.65$10.40 for our Class A Shares and Class T Shares based on the estimated value of our assets less the estimated value of our liabilities, or net asset value, divided by the number of shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis, calculated as of December 31, 2017. See Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities—Market Information, for a description of the methodologies and assumptions used to determine, and the limitations of, the estimated value per share.2019.

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As a result of the calculation of our estimated value per share, beginning in May 2018,2020, shares sold pursuant to our distribution reinvestment planDRP Offering are being sold at the estimated value per share of $10.65$10.40 for both Class A Shares and Class T Shares.

Our operating partnership,COVID-19

The global economy has been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including in the United States and in the markets in which we operate. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting effects, including shutdowns or weakness in national, regional and local economies have affected our business, primarily starting in late March of 2020. During the second quarter of 2020, many of the factors underlying the demand for self storage were negatively impacted, but improved during the third and fourth quarters. Future governmental orders or broad economic weakness could adversely impact our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations, however, the extent and duration to which our operations will be impacted is highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.

Strategic Storage Trust VI

We, through our subsidiary, SRA, now serve as sponsor for SST VI, a private REIT focused on acquiring income and growth self storage properties.  On March 10, 2021, SmartStop OP made an investment of $5.0 million in Strategic Storage Operating Partnership II,VI, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (our “Operating Partnership” (“SST VI OP”), was formed on January 9, 2013. During 2013, our Advisor purchased limitedthe operating partnership interests in our Operating Partnership for $200,000 and on August 2, 2013, we contributed the initial $1,000 capital contribution we received to our Operating Partnershipof SST VI, in exchange for the general partner interest. In conjunction with the Toronto Merger (as defined in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements) we issued an aggregate of approximately 483,197 Class A Units of our Operating Partnership to the common stockholders of Strategic Storage Toronto Properties REIT, Inc. (“SS Toronto”), consisting of Strategic 1031, LLC (“Strategic 1031”), a subsidiary of our Sponsor, and SS Toronto REIT Advisors, Inc., an affiliate of our Sponsor. Our Operating Partnership owns, directly or indirectly through one or more special purpose entities, all of the self storage properties that we have acquired and the self storage properties we will acquire in the future. On October 1, 2018, in conjunction with the amalgamation of our Canadian entities, Strategic 1031 exchanged 483,124 Class A Units of our Operating Partnership and received 483,124 shares of our Class A common stock.  As of December 31, 2018, we owned approximately 99.96% of the common units of limited partnership interestsinterest in SST VI OP. On March 11, 2021, SST VI OP, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired its first self storage facility in Phoenix, Arizona for approximately $16 million. SST VI commenced a private offering in the first quarter of 2021. Given our Operating Partnership. The remaining approximately 0.04%current level of ownership, we initially expect to consolidate SST VI in our financial statements until the equity raised in SST VI’s private offering increases the level of outside ownership.

In connection with SST VI’s acquisition of the common units are owned by our Advisor, and SS Toronto REIT Advisors, Inc. As the sole general partner of our Operating Partnership,Phoenix property, we have the exclusive powerprovided a $3.5 million mezzanine loan to manage and conduct the business of our Operating Partnership. We conduct certain activities through our taxable REIT subsidiary, Strategic Storage TRS II, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “TRS”), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of our Operating Partnership.  

On October 1, 2018, we entered intoSST VI’s operating partnership with an initial interest rate of 8.5% and term of six months; as well as a merger agreement with Strategic Storage Growth Trust, Inc., or SSGT,180 day extension option which, we referif exercised, would increase the interest rate to as the SSGT Merger. The SSGT Merger was approved by SSGT's stockholders on January 18, 2019, and it was completed on January 24, 2019. See Note 119.25%. In addition to the consolidated financial statements, Subsequent Events—Merger with Strategic Storage Growth Trust, Inc., for additional information related toaforementioned mezzanine loan, SST VI financed the SSGT Merger.

The T2 Property Manager was formed on January 8, 2013, and the GT Property Manager was formed on March 12, 2013. Our Property Manager derives substantially all of its income from the property management services it performs for us. Our Property Manager may enter into sub-property management agreements with third party management companies and payacquisition, in part, of its management fee to such sub-property manager. From October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2017, our Property Manager contracted with Extra Space for Extra Space to serve as the sub-property manager for each of our properties located in the United States pursuant to separate sub-property management agreements for each property.  

On October 1, 2017, our Property Manager terminated the sub-property management agreements with Extra Space and our Property Manager began managing all of our United States properties directly. In connection therewith, an affiliate of our Property Manager reacquired the rights to the “SmartStop^® Self Storage” brand in the United States. As a result, we also began using the “SmartStop® Self Storage” brand at our United States properties effective October 1, 2017. For more information, please see Note 7 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this report.

All properties owned or acquired in Canada are managed by a subsidiary of our Sponsor and are branded using the SmartStop® Self Storage brand.

Our dealer manager is Select Capital Corporation, a California corporation (our “Dealer Manager”). Our Dealer Manager was responsible for marketing our shares offered pursuant to our Primary Offering. Our Sponsor owns a 15% non-voting equity interest in our Dealer Manager. Affiliates of our Dealer Manager own a 2.5% non-voting membership interest in our Advisor.

Our Sponsor owns 100% of the membership interests of Strategic Transfer Agent Services, LLC, our transfer agent (our “Transfer Agent”). On May 31, 2018, the Company executed an agreement (the “Transfer Agent Agreement”), with our Transfer Agent to provide transfer agent and registrar services to us that are substantially similar to whatobtaining a third party transfer agent would provide inmortgage loan on the ordinary courseproperty of performing its functions asapproximately $9 million, which had an initial interest rate of 3.5%, and a transfer agent. Our Transfer Agent may retain and supervise third party vendors in its efforts to administer certain services. Please see Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements – Related Party Transactions – Transfer Agent Agreement.

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As we accepted subscriptions for shares of our common stock, we transferred all of the net offering proceeds to our Operating Partnership as capital contributions in exchange for additional units of interest in our Operating Partnership. However, we were deemed to have made capital contributions in the amount of gross proceeds received from investors, and our Operating Partnership was deemed to have simultaneously paid the sales commissions and other costs associatedthree year term, with the Offering. In addition, our Operating Partnership is structured to make distributions with respect to limited partnership units that are equivalent to the distributions made to holders of common stock. Finally, a limited partner in our Operating Partnership may later exchange his or her limited partnership units in our Operating Partnership for shares of our common stock at any time aftertwo one year following the date of issuance of their limited partnership units, subject to certain restrictions outlined in our Operating Partnership’s limited partnership agreement (the “Operating Partnership Agreement”). Our Advisor is prohibited from exchanging or otherwise transferring its limited partnership units so long as it is acting as our Advisor pursuant to our Advisory Agreement.extension options.

Industry Summaryand Competition

“Self storage” refers to properties that offer do-it-yourself, month-to-month storage unit rental for personal or business use. Self storage offers a cost-effective and flexible storage alternative. Customers rent fully-enclosed spaces that can vary in size according to their specific needs. Customers typically have access to their storage units from 6:00AM – 10:00PM (365 days per year), and some of our facilities provide 24-hour access. Customers have responsibility for moving their items into and out of their units. Self storage unit sizes typically range from five feet by five feet to 10 feet by 30 feet.

Self storage provides a convenient way for individuals and businesses to store their possessions, whether due to a life change or simply because of a need for extra storage space. According to the 20192020 Self Storage Almanac, self storage facilities generally have a customer mix of approximately 77%79% residential, 19%14% commercial, 2%4% military and 2%3% students. The mix of residential customers using a self storage property is determined by a property’s local demographics and often includes people who are looking to downsize their living space or who are not yet settled in a large home. The items that residential customers place in self storage properties range from furniture, household items and appliances to cars, boats and recreational vehicles. Commercial customers tend to include small business owners who require easy and frequent access to their goods, records or extra inventory, or storage for seasonal goods. Self storage properties provide an accessible storage alternative at a relatively low cost. Properties generally have on-site managers who supervise and run the day-to-day operations, providing customers with assistance as needed.

The six key demand drivers of self storage are: (1) population growth; (2) percentage of renter-occupied housing units; (3) average household size; (4) average household income; (5) supply constraints; and (6) economic growth. Customers choose a self storage property based largely on the convenience of the site to their home or business. Therefore, high-density, high-traffic population centers are ideal locations for a self storage property. A property’s perceived security and the general

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professionalism of the site managers and staff are also contributing factors to a site’s ability to secure rentals. Although most self storage units are leased to customers on a month-to-month basis, customers tend to continue their leases for extended periods of time. However, there are seasonal fluctuations in occupancy rates for self storage properties. Generally, there is increased leasing activity at self storage properties during the late spring and early summer months due to the higher number of people who relocate during this period.

As population densities have increased in the U.S., there has been an increase in self storage awareness and development. According to the 20192020 Self Storage Almanac:

The growth in the industry has created more competition in various geographic regions.regionsand the extent of competition in a market area depends significantly on local market conditions. This has led to an increased emphasis on site location, property design, rental rates, innovation and functionality to accommodate local planning and zoning boards and to distinguish a facility from other offerings in the market. This is especially true for new sites slated for high-density population centers. We believe we will compete successfully on these bases. However, many of our competitors are larger and have substantially greater resources than we do. Such competitors may, among other possible advantages, be capable of paying higher prices for acquisitions and obtaining financing on better terms than us.

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Self storage operators have placed increased emphasis on offering ancillary products that provide incremental revenues. Moving and packing supplies, such as locks and boxes, and the offering of other services, such as tenant insurance, protection or insurance plans, or other indemnity programs and truck rentals, help to increase revenues. As more sophisticated self storage operators continue to develop innovative products and services such as online rentals, 24-hour accessibility, digital gate access and unit security, climate-controlled storage, wine storage, customer-service call center access and after-hours storage, local operators may be increasingly unable to meet higher customer expectations, which could encourage consolidation in the industry.

We also believe that the self storage industry possesses attractive characteristics not found in other commercial real estate sectors, including the following:

General Business OverviewStrategies

Unlike many other REITs and real estate companies, we are an operating business. We acquire, own operate and manageoperate self storage facilities. Our self storagefacilities—including facilities offer inexpensive, easily accessible, enclosed storage units or parking spacesowned by us as well as those owned by our Managed REITs. We are also continually looking for investment opportunities to residential and commercial users ongrow our business in a month-to-month basis. Most ofway that achieves our facilities are fenced with computerized gates and well lighted. Many of our properties are single-story, thereby providing customers with the convenience of direct vehicle access to their storage units. At certain facilities, we offer climate controlled units that offer heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. Many of our facilities also offer outside vehicle, boat and recreational vehicle storage areas. Our facilities are generally constructed of masonry or steel walls resting on concrete slabs and have standing seam metal, shingle, or tar and gravel roofs. Customers typically have access to their storage units from 6:00 AM – 10:00 PM, and some of our facilities provide 24-hour access. Individual storage units are secured by a lock furnished by the customer to provide the customer with control of access to the space.investment objectives.

Operational

As an operating business, self storage requires a much greater focus on strategic planning and tactical operation plans. Our in-house sales center allows us to centralize our sales efforts as we capture new business over the phone, email, web-based chat, and text mediums. As we have grown our portfolio of self storage facilities, we have been able to consolidate and streamline a number of aspects of our operations through economies of scale. For example, our size and geographic diversification, as well as institution of a blanket property and casualty insurance program over all properties owned or managed by our Property Managerus nationwide, reduces our total insurance costs per property. As weWe also utilize our digital marketing breadth and expertise which allows us to acquire facilities, increased diversification further mitigates against riskcustomers efficiently by leveraging our portfolio size and reduces the cost of insurance per property.technological proficiency. To the extent we acquired facilities in clusters within geographic regions, we see property management efficiencies resulting in reduction of personnel and other administrative costs.

Investment Objectives

Overview

We have invested a substantial amount of the net proceeds of the Offering and will continue to invest cash from operations in self storage facilities and related self storage real estate investments. We may also use such amounts to pay down debt or make distributions. We may use an unlimited amount from any source to pay our distributions. Our investment objectives, strategy and policies may be amended or changed at any time by our board of directors. Although we have no plans at this time to change any of our investment objectives, our board of directors may change any and all such investment objectives, including our focus on self storage facilities, if our board believes such changes are in the best interests of our stockholders. In addition, we may invest in real estate properties other than self storage facilities if our board deems such investments to be in the best interests of our stockholders. We cannot assure our stockholders that our policies or investment objectives will be attained or that the value of our common stock will not decrease.

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Primary Investment Objectives

Our primary investment objectives are to:

We cannot assure our stockholders that we will attain these primary investment objectives.

Liquidity Events

Subject to then-existing market conditions and the sole discretion of our board of directors, we intend to seek one or more of the following liquidity events within three to five years after completion of our Primary Offering:

However, we cannot assure our stockholders that we will achieve one or more of the above-described liquidity events within the time frame contemplated or at all. This time frame represents our best faith estimate of the time necessary to build a portfolio sufficient enough to effectuate one of the liquidity events listed above. Our charter does not require us to pursue a liquidity transaction at any time. Our board of directors has the sole discretion to continue operations beyond five years after completion of the Offering if it deems such continuation to be in the best interests of our stockholders. Even if we do accomplish one or more of these liquidity events, we cannot guarantee that a public market will develop for the securities listed or that such securities will trade at a price higher than what was paid for shares in our Offering. At the time it becomes necessary for our board of directors to determine which liquidity event, if any, is in our best interest and the best interests of our stockholders, we expect that the board will take all relevant factors at that time into consideration when making a liquidity event decision. We expect that the board will consider various factors including, but not limited to, costs and expenses related to each possible liquidity event and the potential subordinated distributions payable to our Advisor.

Our Self Storage Acquisition Strategy

We focus on investing in a portfolio of income-producing self storage facilities and related self storage real estate investments that are expected to support sustainable stockholder distributions over the long term. In order to implement ourOur primary investment strategy, we focus on income-producing self storage facilities located in primary and secondary markets. Many of these facilities have stabilized occupancy rates greater than 75%, but have the opportunity for higher economic occupancy due to the property management capabilities of our Property Manager.

We may make investments in mortgage loans secured by self storage facilities, including but not limited to, senior, mezzanine, or subordinated loans. We may alsoobjectives are to: (1) invest in self storage facilities internationally.

Self Storage Focus

“Self storage” refers to propertiesreal property in a manner that offer do-it-yourself, month-to-month storage unit rental for personal or business use. The self storage industry is highly fragmented, comprised mainly of local operators and a few national owners and operators, including, we believe, only seven publicly traded self storage REITs. As a result of the track record of our Sponsor and its affiliates in investing in self storage facilities, our experienced management team and the fragmented nature of the self storage industry, we believe there is a significant opportunity forallows us to achieve market penetration in our markets.

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We focus on pursuing investments in self storage facilities and related self storage real estate investments in markets with varying economic and demographic characteristics, including large urban cities, densely populated suburban cities and smaller rural cities,qualify as long as the property meets our acquisition criteria described below under “General Acquisition and Investment Policies.” We also expand and develop certain facilities we purchase in order to capitalize on underutilization and excess demand. The development of certain facilities we purchase may include an expansion of the self storage units or the services and ancillary products offered as well as making units availablea REIT for office space. Future investments will not be limited to any geographic area, to a type of facility or to a specified percentage of our total assets. We strategically invest in specific domestic or foreign markets when opportunities that meet our investment criteria are available. In general, when evaluating potential acquisitions of self storage facilities, the primary factor we consider is the property’s current and projected cash flow.

General Acquisition and Investment Policies

While we focus our investment strategy on self storage facilities and related self storage real estate investments, we may invest in other storage-related investments such as storage facilities for automobiles, recreation vehicles and boats. We may additionally invest in other types of commercial real estate properties if our board of directors deems appropriate; however, we have no current intention of investing more than 20% of the net proceeds of our Offering in such other commercial real estate properties. We seek to make investments that will satisfy the primary investment objective of providingfederal income tax purposes; (2) provide regular cash distributions to our stockholders. However, because a significant factorstockholders; (3) preserve and protect our stockholders’ invested capital; (4) achieve appreciation in the valuationvalue of income-producing real property is its potential for future appreciation, someour properties we acquire may haveover the potential for both growthlong term; and (5) grow net cash flow from operations in value and for providing regularorder to provide sustainable cash distributions to our stockholders.

Our Advisor has substantial discretion with respectstockholders over the long-term. We have adopted an investment allocation policy, pursuant to the selection of specific properties. However, each acquisition is approved by our board of directors. The consideration paid for a property will ordinarily be based on the fair market value of the property as determined by a majority of our board of directors. In selecting a potential property for acquisition, we and our Advisor consider a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

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There is no limitation on the number, size or type of properties that we may acquire. The number and mix of properties will depend upon real estate market conditions and other circumstances existing at the time of acquisition, such as our cash from operations or our ability to obtain financing. In determining whether to purchase a particular property, we may obtain an option on such property. The amount paid for an option, if any, is normally surrendered if the property is not purchased and may or may not be credited against the purchase price if the property is ultimately purchased.

Our Borrowing Strategy and Policies

Although we intend to use low leverage (less than 50% loan to purchase price) to make our investments, at certain times, our debt leverage levels may be temporarily higher. Our board of directors will regularly monitor our investment pipeline in relation to our projected fundraising efforts and otherwise evaluate market conditions related to our debt
leverage ratios.

We may incur indebtedness in the form of bank borrowings, purchase money obligations to the sellers of properties and publicly- or privately-placed debt instruments or financing from institutional investors or other lenders. We may obtain a credit facility or a separate loan for certain acquisitions. Our indebtedness may be unsecured or may be secured by mortgages or other interests in our properties. We may use borrowing proceeds to finance acquisitions of new properties, to pay for capital improvements, repairs or buildouts, to refinance existing indebtedness, to pay distributions, to fund redemptions of our shares or to provide working capital.

There is no limitation on the amount we can borrow for the purchase of any property. Our aggregate borrowings, secured and unsecured, must be reasonable in relation to our net assets and must be reviewed by our board of directors at least quarterly. Our charter limits our borrowing to 300% of our net assets, as defined, (approximately 75% of the cost basis of our assets), unless any excess borrowing is approved by a majority of our independent directors and is disclosed to our stockholders in our next quarterly report, with a justification for such excess.

We may borrow funds from our Advisor or its affiliates only if such loan is approved by a majority of our directors, including a majority of our independent directors, not otherwise interested in the transaction as fair, competitive, commercially reasonable and no less favorable to us than comparable loans between unaffiliated parties under
the circumstances.

Except as set forth in our charter regarding debt limits, we may re-evaluate and change our debt strategy and policies in the future without a stockholder vote. Factors that we could consider when re-evaluating or changing our debt strategy and policies include then-current economic and market conditions, the relative cost of debt and equity capital, any acquisition opportunities, the ability of our properties to generate sufficient cash flow to cover debt service requirements and other similar factors. Further, we may increase or decrease our ratio of debt to equity in connection with any change of our borrowing policies.

Acquisition Structure

Although we are not limited as to the form our investments may take, our investments in real estate will generally constitute acquiring fee title or interests in joint ventures or similar entities that own and operate real estate. We may also enter into the following types of leases relating to real property:

We make acquisitions of our real estate investments directly or indirectly through our Operating Partnership. We acquire interests in real estate either directly through our Operating Partnership or indirectly through limited liability companies or limited partnerships, or through investments in joint ventures.

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Conditions to Closing Acquisitions

Generally,decline any such opportunity, we will not purchase any property unless and until we obtain at least a Phase I environmental assessment and environmental history for each property purchased and we are sufficiently satisfied with the property’s environmental status. In addition, we will generally condition our obligationallocate it to close the purchase of any investment on the delivery and verification of certain documents from the seller or other independent professionals, including, but not limited to,
where appropriate:another program sponsored by us after considering various factors.

Joint Venture InvestmentsVentures

We may enter into joint ventures, general partnerships, co-tenancies and other participations with real estate developers, owners and others for the purpose of owning and leasing real properties. Among other reasons, we may want to acquire properties through a joint venture with third parties or affiliates in order to diversify our portfolio of properties in terms of geographic region or property type or to co-invest with one of our property management partners. Joint ventures may also allow us to acquire an interest in a property without requiring that we fund the entire purchase price. In addition, certain properties may be available to us only through joint ventures. For example, from time to timein connection with the Self Administration Transaction, we enter intoacquired a joint venture arrangementsarrangement with SmartCentres.SmartCentres pursuant to which we and SmartCentres work together to identify primarily self storage development opportunities in certain regions in Canada. In general, we have historically participated in these opportunities through one of our Managed REITs on a 50/50 basis with SmartCentres; however, we have several current purchase and sale agreements related to properties which may be acquired pursuant to the SmartCentres joint venture arrangement. Additionally, as discussed in Item 1 herein, on March 17, 2021 we closed on the SST IV Merger, whereby we acquired 6 SmartCentres joint venture properties. Historically, SmartCentres has been responsible for the development of the properties and we have been responsible for the operation of the facilities upon completion. For more information, please see Note 3—Real Estate Facilities—Joint Venture with SmartCentres.  In determining whetherFacilities and Note 16 – Subsequent Events of the Notes to recommend a particular joint venture, our Advisor will evaluate the real property which such joint venture owns or is being formed to own under the same criteria described elsewhere in this report.

We may enter into joint ventures with our Advisor or any affiliate thereofConsolidated Financial Statements, for the acquisition of properties, but only provided that:more information.

To the extent possible and if approved by our board of directors, including a majority of our independent directors, we will attempt to obtain a right of first refusal or option to buy if such venture partner elects to sell its interest in the joint venture entity or the property held by the joint venture. In the event that the venture partner were to elect to sell property held in any such joint venture, however, we may not have sufficient funds to exercise our right of first refusal to buy the venture partner’s interest in the property held by the joint venture. Entering into joint ventures with affiliates

Liquidity Events

Subject to then-existing market conditions, and in the sole discretion of our Advisor will resultboard of directors, we intend to seek one or more of the following liquidity events within the next few years: (1) merge, reorganize or otherwise transfer our company or

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its assets to another entity with listed securities; (2) commence the sale of all of our properties and liquidate our company; (3) list our shares on a national securities exchange; or (4) otherwise create a liquidity event for our stockholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is no requirement for us to complete one of these liquidity events and our board of directors has the sole discretion to continue operations indefinitely if it deems such continuation to be in certain conflictsthe best interests of interest.our stockholders.

Government Regulations

Our business is subject to many laws and governmental regulations. Changes in these laws and regulations, or their interpretation by agencies and courts, occur frequently.

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AmericansAccommodations for Persons with Disabilities Act

UnderWe are subject to various rules, regulations and standards with respect to accommodations we must make for individuals with disabilities. For example, in the United States, under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or ADA, all public accommodations and commercial facilities are required to meet certain federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. TheseWe are also subject to similar requirements became effective in 1992.Ontario, Canada, under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, or AODA. Complying with the ADAsuch requirements could require us to remove access barriers. Failing to comply could result in the imposition of fines by the federal governmentvarious governmental agencies or an award of damages to private litigants. Although we intend to acquire properties that substantially comply with these requirements, we may incur additional costs related to comply with the ADA.compliance. In addition, a number of additional federal, state and localgovernmental laws may require us to modify any properties we purchase, or may restrict further renovations thereof, with respect to access by disabled persons. Additional legislation could impose financial obligations or restrictions with respect to access by disabled persons. Although we believe that these costs will not have a material adverse effect on us, if required changes involve a greater amount of expenditures than we currently anticipate, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders could be adversely affected.

Environmental Matters

Under various federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be held liable for the costs of removing or remediating hazardous or toxic substances. These laws often impose clean-up responsibility and liability without regard to whether the owner or operator was responsible for, or even knew of, the presence of the hazardous or toxic substances. The costs of investigating, removing or remediating these substances may be substantial, and the presence of these substances may adversely affect our ability to rent units or sell the property, or to borrow using the property as collateral, and may expose us to liability resulting from any release of or exposure to these substances. If we arrange for the disposal or treatment of hazardous or toxic substances at another location, we may be liable for the costs of removing or remediating these substances at the disposal or treatment facility, whether or not the facility is owned or operated by us. We may be subject to common law claims by third parties based on damages and costs resulting from environmental contamination emanating from a site that we own or operate. Certain environmental laws also impose liability in connection with the handling of or exposure to asbestos containing materials, pursuant to which third parties may seek recovery from owners or operators of real properties for personal injury associated with asbestos-containing materials and other hazardous or toxic substances.

Other Regulations

The properties we acquire will be subject to various federal, state and local regulatory requirements, such as zoning and state and local fire and life safety requirements. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in the imposition of fines by governmental authorities or awards of damages to private litigants. We intend to acquire properties that are in material compliance with all such regulatory requirements. However, we cannot make assurances that these requirements will not be changed or that new requirements will not be imposed which would require significant unanticipated expenditures by us and could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Disposition PoliciesEmployees and Human Capital

As of December 31, 2018,2020, we had not disposedapproximately 400 employees, none of anywhich are represented by a collective bargaining agreement. We continually assess and strive to enhance employee satisfaction and engagement. We believe our relationship with our employees is good and that we provide them with adequate flexibility to meet personal and family needs. We also appreciate the importance of retention, growth and development of our self storage facilities.employees and we believe we offer competitive compensation (including salary and bonuses) and benefits packages to our employees. Further, from professional

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development opportunities to leadership training, we have development programs and on-demand opportunities to cultivate talent throughout our organization.

While our criteria for recruitment, hiring, development, training, compensation and advancement are based on qualifications, performance, skills and experience, we are growing our focus on diversity and inclusion strengths and opportunities and evaluating strategies to support further progress in that area. We generally intendalso endeavor to hold each propertymaintain workplaces that are free from discrimination or harassment on the basis of color, race, sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification or expression or any other status protected by applicable law. To that end, we acquire for an extended period. However, we may sellconduct annual training to raise awareness of (and with the goal of preventing) all forms of harassment and discrimination.

For a property at any time if,discussion of additional measures taken by us with respect to our employees in our judgment,response to the saleCOVID-19 pandemic, see the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Recent Market Conditions,” below.

Available Information

We make available on the property is in the best interests“Information – SEC Filings” subpage of our stockholders.

The determinationwebsite (www.strategicreit.com/site/sst2) free of whether a particular property shouldcharge our annual reports on Form 10-K, including this report, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, ownership reports on Forms 3, 4 and 5 and any amendments to those reports as soon as practicable after we electronically file such reports with the SEC. Our electronically filed reports can also be sold or otherwise disposed of will generally be made after consideration of relevant factors, including prevailing economic conditions, other investment opportunities and considerations specific toobtained on the condition, value and financial performance of the property. In connection with our sales of properties, we may lend the purchaser all or a portion of the purchase price. In these instances, our taxable income may exceed the cash received in the sale.

We may sell assets to third parties or to affiliatesSEC’s internet site at http://www.sec.gov.  Further, copies of our Advisor. OurCode of Ethics and the charters for the Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Corporate Governance CommitteeCommittees of our board of directors, which is comprised solely of independent directors, must review and approve all transactions between us and our Advisor and its affiliates.

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Investment Limitations in Our Charter

Our charter places numerous limitationsBoard are also available on us with respect to the manner in which we may invest our funds, most of which are required by various provisions of the Statement of Policy Regarding Real Estate Investment Trusts published by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA REIT Guidelines). Pursuant to the NASAA REIT Guidelines we will not:

Investment Allocation Policywebsite.

In the event that an investment opportunity becomes available, our Sponsor will allocate such investment opportunity to us, private programs and/or Strategic Storage Trust IV, Inc., a public non-traded REIT sponsored by our sponsor (“SST IV”) based on the following factors:

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If, after consideration and analysis of these factors, the investment opportunity is suitable for us, SST IV, or another private program sponsored by our Sponsor, then:

In the event all acquisition allocation factors have been exhausted and an investment opportunity remains suitable for two or more of us, private programs, or SST IV, then our Sponsor will offer the investment opportunity to the program that has had the longest period of time elapse since it was offered an investment opportunity. It will be the duty of our board of directors, including the independent directors, to ensure that this method is applied fairly to us.

Changes in Investment Policies and Limitations

Our charter requires that our independent directors review our investment policies at least annually to determine that the policies we are following are in the best interests of our stockholders. Each determination and the basis therefor is required to be set forth in the applicable meeting minutes. The methods of implementing our investment policies may also vary as new investment techniques are developed. The methods of implementing our investment objectives and policies, except as otherwise provided in our charter, may be altered by a majority of our directors, including a majority of our independent directors, without the approval of our stockholders. The determination by our board of directors that it is no longer in our best interests to continue to be qualified as a REIT shall require the concurrence of two-thirds of the board of directors. Investment policies and limitations specifically set forth in our charter, however, may only be amended by a vote of the stockholders holding a majority of our outstanding shares.

Investments in Mortgage Loans

As of December 31, 2018, we had not invested in any mortgages. While we intend to emphasize equity real estate investments and, hence, operate as what is generally referred to as an “equity REIT,” as opposed to a “mortgage REIT,” we may invest in first or second mortgage loans, mezzanine loans secured by an interest in the entity owning the real estate or other similar real estate loans consistent with our REIT status. We may make such loans to developers in connection with construction and redevelopment of self storage facilities. Such mortgages may or may not be insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration or another third party. We may also invest in participating or convertible mortgages if our directors conclude that we and our stockholders may benefit from the cash flow or any appreciation in the value of the subject property. Such mortgages are similar to equity participation.

Investment Company Act of 1940 and Certain Other Policies

We intend to operate in such a manner that we will not be subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940, or the 1940 Act. Our Advisor will continually review our investment activity to attempt to ensure that we do not come within the application of the 1940 Act. Among other things, our Advisor attempts to monitor the proportion of our portfolio that is placed in various investments so that we do not come within the definition of an “investment company” under the 1940 Act. If at any time the character of our investments could cause us to be deemed as an investment company for purposes of the 1940 Act, we will take all necessary actions to attempt to ensure that we are not deemed to be an “investment company.” In addition, we do not intend to underwrite securities of other issuers or actively trade in loans or other investments.

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Subject to the restrictions we must follow in order to qualify to be taxed as a REIT, we may make investments other than as previously described, although we do not currently intend to do so. We have authority to purchase or otherwise reacquire our common shares or any of our other securities. We have no present intention of repurchasing any of our common shares except pursuant to our share redemption program, and we would only take such action in conformity with applicable federal and state laws and the requirements for qualifying as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended (the “Code”).

Employees

We have no employees. The employees of our Advisor and its affiliates provide management, acquisition, advisory and certain administrative services for us.

Competition

The extent of competition in a market area depends significantly on local market conditions. The primary factors upon which competition in the self storage industry is based are location, rental rates, suitability of the property’s design and the manner in which the property is operated and marketed. We believe we will compete successfully on these bases.

Many of our competitors are larger and have substantially greater resources than we do. Such competitors may, among other possible advantages, be capable of paying higher prices for acquisitions and obtaining financing on better terms than us.

Industry Segments

We have internally evaluated all of our properties and interests therein as one industry segment and, accordingly, we do not report segment information.

Below are risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect our operations that we believe are material to stockholders. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we do not consider material based on the information currently available to us may also harm our business. Unless the context otherwise requires, references to stockholders are generally intended to be references to our common stockholders.

Risks Related to an Investment in StrategicSmartStop Self Storage Trust II,REIT, Inc.

We have incurred a net loss to date and have an accumulated deficit.deficit, and we may not be profitable in the future.

We incurred a net loss attributable to our common stockholders of approximately $3.7$54 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.2020. Our accumulated deficit was approximately $62.3$141 million as of December 31, 2018.2020. The extent of our future operating losses and the timing of when we will achieve profitability are uncertain, and we may never achieve or sustain profitability.

We have paid, and may continue to pay, distributions from sources other than cash flow from operations; therefore, we will have fewer funds available for the acquisition of properties, and our stockholders’ overall return may be reduced.

Our distributions during 2020 were funded using cash flow from operations, proceeds from our DRP Offering and other financing sources. In the event we do not have enough cash from operations to fund our distributions,future we may borrow, issue additional securities, or sell assets in order to fund the distributions or make the distributions out of proceeds from our DRP. We are not prohibited from undertaking such activities by our charter, bylaws or investment policies, and we may use an unlimited amount from any source to pay our distributions. For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, and 2016, we funded 100% of our distributions using proceeds from our Offering. For the year ended December 31, 2017, we funded 59% of our distributions using cash flow from operations and 41% using proceeds from our DRP Offering. For the year ended December 31, 2018,2020, we funded 54% of our distributions using cash flowflows from operations, 14% using cash provided by financing activities, and 46%32% using proceeds from our DRP Offering. If we fund distributions from financings, then such financings will need to be repaid, and if we fund distributions from offering proceeds,operating cash flows, then we will have fewer funds available for the acquisition of properties or working capital, which may affect our ability to generate future cash flows from operations and may reduce our stockholders’ overall returns. Additionally, to the extent distributions exceed cash flow from operations, a stockholder’s basis in our stock may be reduced and, to the extent distributions exceed a stockholder’s basis, the stockholder may recognize a capital gain.

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There is currently no public trading market for our shares and there may never be one; therefore, it will be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares. Our charter does not require us to pursue a liquidity transaction at any time.

There is currently no public market for our shares and there may never be one. Stockholders may not sell their shares unless the buyer meets applicable suitability and minimum purchase standards. Our charter also prohibits the ownership by any one individual of more than 9.8% of our stock, unless waived by our board of directors, which may inhibit large investors from desiring to purchase our stockholders’ shares. Moreover,As described below, our share redemption program includes numerous restrictions that would limit our stockholders’ ability to sell their shares to us. Our boardis partially suspended. If we lift such suspension of directors could choose to amend, suspend or terminate our share redemption program, upon 30 days’ notice.stockholders will continue to be limited in terms of the amount of shares which may be redeemed. Therefore, it may be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares promptly or at all. If our stockholders are able to sell their shares, they will likely have to sell them at a substantial discount to the price they paid for the shares. It also is likely that the shares would not be accepted as the primary collateral for a loan. Our stockholders should purchase the shares only as a long-term investment because of the illiquid nature of
the shares.

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Our share redemption program is partially suspended, and even if stockholders may be unable to sell their shares because their abilityare able to have their shares redeemed, pursuant to our share redemption program is subject to significant restrictions and limitations and if our stockholders are able to sell their shares under the program, our stockholders may not be able to recover the amount of their investment in our shares.

Even thoughPresently, our share redemption program may provideis suspended except for redemption requests related to the death or disability of such stockholder (including redemption due to confinement to a long-term care facility), or other exigent circumstances.

If our stockholders withshare redemption program is reinstated or a limited opportunitycommon stockholder is otherwise able to sellhave their shares to us after they have held them for a period of one year, ourredeemed, such stockholders should be fully aware that our share redemption program contains significant restrictions and limitations. Further, our board of directors may limit, suspend, terminate or amend any provision of the share redemption program upon 30 days’ notice. RedemptionRedemptions of shares, when requested, will generally be made quarterly.quarterly to the extent we have sufficient funds available to us to fund such redemptions. During any calendar year, we will not redeem in excess of 5% of the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the prior calendar year and redemptions will be funded solely from proceeds from our distribution reinvestment plan. We are not obligated to redeem shares under our share redemption program. Therefore, in making a decision to purchase our shares, ourcommon stockholders should not assume that they will be able to sell any of their shares back to us pursuant to our share redemption program at any time or at all.

The purchase price for shares we repurchase under our share redemption program will depend onis equal to the length of time our stockholders have held such shares. The purchase price will be as follows: 90.0%most recently published estimated net asset value per share of the redemption amount, as defined, after one year from the purchase date; 95.0% of the redemption amount after three years from the purchase date; and 100% of the redemption amount after four years from the purchase date. While we are offering shares, the redemption amount equals the amount the stockholder paid for the shares, until the offering price of such shares changes (as described inapplicable share class. Accordingly, our share redemption program). Accordingly, ourcommon stockholders may receive less by selling their shares back to us than they would receive if our investments were sold for their estimated values and such proceeds were distributed in our liquidation.

We have issued Series A Convertible Preferred Stock that ranks senior to all common stock and grants the holder superior rights compared to common stockholders, which may have the effect of diluting our stockholders’ interests in us and discouraging a takeover or other similar transaction.

We have issued Series A Convertible Preferred Stock that ranks senior to all other shares of our stock, including our common stock, and grants the holder (the “Preferred Investor”) certain rights that are superior to the rights of common stockholders, including with respect to the payment of distributions, liquidation preference, redemption rights, and conversion rights.

Distributions on the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock are cumulative and are declared and payable quarterly in arrears. We are obligated to pay the Preferred Investor its current distributions and any accumulated and unpaid distributions prior to any distributions being paid to our common stockholders and, therefore, any cash available for distribution is used first to pay distributions to the Preferred Investor. If we fail to pay distributions on the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock for four quarters (whether or not consecutive), the Preferred Investor is permitted to vote on any matter submitted to a vote of the common stockholders of the Company, upon which the Preferred Investor and common stockholders shall vote together as a single class. In such a case, the Preferred Investor’s vote would have a dilutive effect on the voting power of our common stockholders.

The Series A Convertible Preferred Stock has a liquidation preference in the event of our voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution, or winding up of our affairs (a “liquidation”) which could negatively affect any payments to the common stockholders in the event of a liquidation. Furthermore, the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock is redeemable in certain circumstances. A redemption of our Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, whether at our option or at the option of the holder of our Series A Preferred Stock, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, cash flow and the amount available for distributions to our common stockholders.

The Preferred Investor also has, upon the occurrence of certain events, the right to convert any or all of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock held by the Preferred Investor into shares of our common stock. The issuance of common stock upon conversion of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock would result in dilution to our common stockholders. As of December 31, 2020, we had $200 million of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock outstanding, which would represent approximately 24% of our common stock on an as converted, fully diluted basis. See Note 8, Preferred Equity, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, for more information.

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The Series A Convertible Preferred Stock also imposes several negative covenants on us such as not permitting us to exceed a leverage ratio of 60% loan-to-value or prohibiting us from entering into a merger with another entity whose assets are not at least 80% self storage related, in each case without an affirmative vote by the Preferred Investor. Because of these superior rights, the existence of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock could have the effect of discouraging a takeover or other transaction in which holders of some or a majority of our outstanding common stock might receive a premium for their shares.  

We may only calculate the estimated value per share for our shares annually and, therefore, our stockholders may not be able to determine the estimated net asset value of their shares on an ongoing basis.

On April 19, 2018,20, 2020, our board of directors approved an estimated value per share for our Class A shares and Class T shares of $10.65.$10.40. Our board of directors approved this estimated value per share pursuant to rules promulgated by FINRA, which require us to disclose an estimated per share value of our shares based on a valuation no later than 150 days following the second anniversary of the date on which we broke escrow in our Offering.FINRA. When determining the estimated value per share there are currently no SEC, federal and state rules that establish requirements specifying the methodology to employ in determining an estimated value per share; provided, however, that the determination of the estimated value per share must be conducted by, or with the material assistance or confirmation of, a third-party valuation expert or service and must be derived from a methodology that conforms to standard industry practice.

We calculated our estimated value per share as of December 31, 2019, which was prior to the emergence of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) in the United States.  At the time the estimated value per share was calculated, we were unable to quantify the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore the estimated value per share did not take into account the impact of the pandemic on our operations or the broader economic environment.  Future valuations of our properties or other assets and liabilities could be affected by COVID-19 or any associated weakened economic conditions.  We intend to use this estimated per share value of our shares until the next net asset valuation approved by our board of directors, which we are required to approve at least annually. We may not calculate the net asset value per share for our shares more than annually. Therefore, you may not be able to determine the net asset value of your shares on an ongoing basis.

In determining our estimated value per share, we primarily relied upon a valuation of our portfolio of properties as of December 31, 2017.2019. Valuations and appraisals of our properties are estimates of fair value and may not necessarily correspond to realizable value upon the sale of such properties; therefore our estimated net asset value per share may not reflect the amount that would be realized upon a sale of each of our properties.

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For the purposes of calculating the estimated value per share, an independent third party appraiser valued our properties as of December 31, 2017.2019. The valuation methodologies used to value our properties involved certain subjective judgments. Ultimate realization of the value of an asset depends to a great extent on economic and other conditions beyond our control and the control of our advisor and independent appraiser. Further, valuations do not necessarily represent the price at which an asset would sell, since market prices of assets can only be determined by negotiation between a willing buyer and seller. Therefore, the valuations of our properties and our investments in real estate related assets may not correspond to the timely realizable value upon a sale of those assets. Because the price you will pay for shares in this offering isour share prices are primarily based on the estimated net asset value per share, youour stockholders may pay more than realizable value when you purchase yoursuch shares are purchased or receive less than realizable value for your investment when you sell your shares.such shares are sold.

We may be unable to pay or maintain cash distributions or increase distributions over time.

There are many factors that can affect the availability and timing of cash distributions to stockholders. We are required to pay dividends with respect to our Series A Preferred Stock rate of 6.25% per annum. Distributions to our common stockholders will be based principally on distribution expectations of our investors and cash available from our operations. The amount of cash available for distribution will be affected by many factors, such as the yields on securities of other real estate programs that we invest in and our operating expense levels, as well as many other variables. Actual cash available for distribution may vary substantially from estimates. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will be able to pay or maintain distributions or that distributions will increase over time, nor can we give any assurance that rents from the properties will increase, that the securities we buy will increase in value or provide constant or increased distributions over time, or that future acquisitions of real properties will increase our cash available for distribution to stockholders. Our actual results may differ significantly from the assumptions used by our board of directors in establishing the distribution rate to stockholders. If we fail to pay distributions on the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock for four quarters (whether or not consecutive), the Preferred Investor is permitted to vote on any matter submitted to a vote of the common stockholders of the Company, upon which the Preferred Investor and common stockholders shall vote together as a single class. In such a case, the Preferred Investor’s vote would have a dilutive effect on the voting power of our common stockholders.

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If our Sponsor, Advisorwe lose or Property Manager loses or isare unable to retain itsour executive officers, our ability to implement our investment objectives could be delayed or hindered, which could adversely affect our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions and the value of our stockholders’ investment.

Our success depends to a significant degree upon the contributions of our executive officersofficers. While we have adopted an Executive Severance and the executive officersChange of our Advisor and Property Manager, including H. Michael Schwartz, Michael S. McClure, Matt F. Lopez, Wayne Johnson, and James Berg,Control Plan which is applicable to each of whom would be difficult to replace. Neither our Advisor nor our Property Manager, as applicable, hasthese officers, we do not have an employment agreement with any of these key personnel and we cannot guarantee that all, or any particular one, will remain affiliated with us and/or our Advisor or our Property Manager.employed by us. If any of these executive officers were to cease their affiliation with our Sponsor, our Advisor or our Property Manager,us, our operating results could suffer. If our Sponsor, our Advisorwe lose or our Property Manager loses or isare unable to retain itsour executive officers or doesdo not establish or maintain appropriate strategic relationships, our ability to implement our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, which could adversely affect our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate and the value of our stockholders’ investment.

Our Executive Severance and Change of Control Plan and the related agreements with our executive officers may result in significant expense for us and may deter a third party from engaging in a change of control transaction with us.

We have adopted an Executive Severance and Change of Control Plan that is applicable to our executive officers and have entered into an associated Severance Agreement with each of our executive officers.  Pursuant to such documents, if the officer’s employment is terminated other than for cause or if the officer elects to terminate his employment with us for good reason, we will make a severance payment equal to the officer’s highest annual compensation in the prior two years plus the officer’s average cash performance bonus earned for the prior three years, multiplied by an amount specified in the Executive Severance and Change of Control Plan, together with continuation of medical coverage for a period of time specified in the Executive Severance and Change of Control Plan.  In addition, certain outstanding equity awards may be subject to accelerated vesting or may remain eligible for vesting, as specified further in the Executive Severance and Change of Control Plan.  These agreements may result in a significant expense for us if an executive officer’s employment is terminated for certain reasons, and may discourage a third party from acquiring us.

Impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets resulting from the Self Administration Transaction may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Potential impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets, including trademarks and other acquired intangibles, resulting from the Self Administration Transaction could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. We assess our goodwill and other intangible assets and long-lived assets for impairment at least annually or upon the occurrence of a triggering event, as required by GAAP. We are required to record an impairment charge if circumstances indicate that the asset carrying values exceed their fair values. Our assessment of goodwill, other intangible assets, or long-lived assets could indicate that an impairment of the carrying value of such assets may have occurred that could result in a material, non-cash write-down of such assets, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and future earnings. See Note 5—Self Administration Transaction - Intangibles, Goodwill, and Certain Other Assets and Liabilities to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Our trademarks are important.

We own trademarks and other intellectual property rights, including but not limited to the “SmartStop®” and “Strategic Storage®” brands, which are important to our success and competitive position, and the loss of or our inability to enforce trademark and other proprietary intellectual property rights could harm our business. We will devote substantial resources to the establishment and protection of our trademarks and other proprietary intellectual property rights.

Our efforts to protect our intellectual property may not be adequate. Third parties may misappropriate or infringe on our intellectual property. From time to time, we may engage in litigation to protect our intellectual property, which could result in substantial costs as well as diversion of management attention. The occurrence of any of these risks could adversely affect our business and results of operations. See Note 5—Self Administration Transaction - Intangibles, Goodwill, and Certain Other Assets and Liabilities to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

We recently became a self-managed REIT and have limited operating experience being self-managed.

As a result of the Self Administration Transaction, we are a newly self-managed REIT. We no longer bear the costs of the various fees and expense reimbursements previously paid to our former external advisor and its affiliates; however, our expenses now include the compensation and benefits of our officers and employees, as well as overhead previously paid by our former external advisor and its affiliates. Our employees now provide services historically provided by the external advisors and their affiliates. We are subject to potential liabilities that are commonly faced by employers, such as workers’ disability and compensation claims, potential labor disputes, and other employee-related liabilities and grievances, and we

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bear the cost of the establishment and maintenance of any employee compensation plans. In addition, prior to June 28, 2019, we had not previously operated as a self-managed REIT and may encounter unforeseen costs, expenses, and difficulties associated with providing these services on a self-advised basis. If we incur unexpected expenses as a result of our self-management, our results of operations could be more negatively impacted than they otherwise would have been.

Strategic Transfer Agent Services, LLC, our Transfer Agent, has a limited operating history and a failure by our Transfer Agent to perform its functions for us effectively may adversely affect our operations.

Our Transfer Agent is a related party which was recently launched as a new business.party. While it is a registered transfer agent with the SEC, the business was formed onin October 21, 2017 and has not had any significantonly limited operations to date. Because of its limited experience, there is no assurance that our Transfer Agent will be able to effectively provide transfer agent and registrar services to us. Furthermore, our Transfer Agent will be responsible for supervising third party service providers who may, at times, be responsible for executing certain transfer agent and registrar services. If our Transfer Agent fails to perform its functions for us effectively, our operations may be adversely affected.

Our ability to operate profitably will depend uponcash could be adversely affected if the ability offinancial institutions in which we hold our Advisor to efficiently manage our day-to-day operations and the ability of our Property Manager to effectively manage our properties.cash fail.

We rely on our Advisor to manage our businessmaintain domestic cash deposits in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") insured banks and assets.in money market accounts. Our Advisor makes all decisions with respect to our day-to-day operations. In addition, we rely on our Property Manager to effectively manage our properties. Thus, the success of our business depends in large part on the ability of our Advisor and Property Manager to manage our operations. Any adversity experienced by any of these parties could adversely impact our operations and, consequently, our cash flow and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

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A high concentration of our properties in a particular geographic area would magnify the effects of downturns in that geographic area.

In the event that we have a concentration of properties in any particular geographic area, any adverse situation that disproportionately affects that geographic area would have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio. For the month of December, 2018, approximately 25.3%, 24.5%, 14.6%, and 10.3% of our annualized rental income was concentrated in California, Florida, Ontario, Canada, and North Carolina, respectively.

If our Property Manager suffers financialbalances may exceed FDIC insurance limits or other difficulties, our operating results and financial condition may be adversely impacted.

All of our properties are managed by our Property Manager. Accordingly, financial or other difficulties experienced by our Property Manager would have a greater impact on our operating results and financial condition that would be the case if the properties didotherwise not have common management. For example, a financial failure or bankruptcy filing involving our Property Manager, given that it manages all of our properties, could have a greater impact on our operating results and financial condition than a financial failure or bankruptcy filing involving a property manager that does not manage multiple properties of ours.

We are an “emerging growth company” under the federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JumpstartFDIC coverage. Our Business Startups Act,balances could be impacted if one or the JOBS Act, and are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from, or reduced disclosure obligations relating to, various reporting requirements that are normally applicable to public companies.

We could remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years, or until the earliest of (1) the last daymore of the first fiscal yearfinancial institutions in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billiondeposit monies fails or more, (2) December 31 of the fiscal year that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act (which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million, measured as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and we have been publicly reporting for at least 12 months) or (3) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three-year period. Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies are not required to (1) provide an auditor’s attestation report on management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (2) comply with new audit rules adopted by the PCAOB after April 5, 2012 (unless the SEC determines otherwise), (3) provide certain disclosures relating to executive compensation generally required for larger public companies or (4) hold shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation. If we take advantage of any of these exemptions, we do not know if some investors will find our common stock less attractive as a result.

Additionally, the JOBS Act provides that an “emerging growth company” may take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies. This means an “emerging growth company” can delay adopting certain accounting standards until such standards are otherwise applicable to private companies. However, we are electing to “opt out” of such extended transition period, and will therefore comply with new or revised accounting standards on the applicable dates on which the adoption of such standards are required for non-emerging growth companies. Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that our decision to opt out of such extended transition period for compliance with new or revised accounting standards is irrevocable.

We may make loans to fund the development or purchase of income-producing self storage facilities, and we may invest in mortgage or other loans, but if these loans are not fully repaid, the resulting losses could reduce the expected cash available for distribution to our stockholders and the value of our stockholders’ investment.

We will use our cash from operations primarily to purchase income-producing self storage facilities, to repay debt financing that we may incur when acquiring properties, and to pay real estate commissions, acquisition fees and acquisition expenses relating to the selection and acquisition of properties, including amounts paid to our Advisor and its affiliates. However, from time to time, we may make loans to entities developing or acquiring self storage facilities, including affiliates of our Advisor, subject to the limitations in our charter. We may also invest in first or second mortgage loans, mezzanine loans secured by an interestother adverse conditions in the entity owning the real estatefinancial or other similar real estate loans consistent with our REIT status.credit markets. We may also invest in participating or convertible mortgages if our board of directors conclude that we and our stockholders may benefit from the cash flow or any appreciation in the value of the subject property. There can beprovide no assurance that these loans

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access to our cash and cash equivalents will not be repaid to us in part or in full in accordance with the terms of the loan or that we will receive interest payments on the outstanding balance of the loan. We anticipate that these loans will be securedimpacted by mortgages on the self storage facilities, butadverse conditions in the event of a foreclosure, there can be no assurances that we will recover the outstanding balance of the loan. If there are defaults under these loans, we may not be able to repossessfinancial and sell the underlying properties quickly. The resulting time delay and associated costs could reduce the value of our investment in the defaulted loans. An action to foreclose on a property securing a mortgage loan is regulated by state statutes and regulations and is subject to many of the delays and expenses of other lawsuits if the defendant raises defenses or counterclaims. In the event of default by a mortgagor, these restrictions, among other things, may impede our ability to foreclose on or sell the mortgaged property or to obtain proceeds sufficient to repay all amounts due to us on the mortgage loan.credit markets.

Our bylaws designate the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees.

Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, or, if that Court does not have jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, shall be the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders with respect to our Company, our directors, our officers, or our employees (we note we currently have no employees).employees. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the stockholder believes is favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees, which may discourage meritorious claims from being asserted against us and our directors, officers, and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our bylaws inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Following the consummation of the SSGT Merger, ourOur future results may suffer if we do not effectively manage our expanded operations.

Following the consummationas a result of the effect of recent mergers and other strategic transactions.

We consummated the SSGT Mergers in January 2019 and recently consummated the SST IV Merger we mayon March 17, 2021. We will likely continue to expand our operations through additional acquisitions and other strategic transactions, some of which may involve complex challenges. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to manage our expansion opportunities, integrate new operations into our existing business in an efficient and timely manner, successfully monitoring our operations, costs and service quality, and maintaining other necessary internal controls. There can be no assurance that our expansion or acquisition opportunities will be successful, or that we will realize our expected operating efficiencies, cost savings, revenue enhancements, synergies, or other benefits. Moreover, we assumed the liabilities of SSGT and SST IV in connection with the respective mergers. These liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our business to the extent we have not identified such liabilities or have underestimated the amount of such liabilities.

Privacy concerns could result in regulatory changes that may harm our business.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”) went into effect on January 1, 2020.  The CCPA is intended to protect consumer privacy rights, and, among other things, it provides California residents with the ability to know what information companies collect about them, to request, in certain circumstances, the deletion of such information, and to affirmatively opt out of the sale of their personal information. However, regulations from the California Attorney General have not been finalized, and it is expected that additional amendments to the CCPA will be introduced in 2020.  It therefore remains unclear what, if any, modifications will be made to the CCPA or how these will be interpreted.  While we believe we have developed processes to comply with CCPA requirements, a regulatory agency may not agree with certain of our

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implementation decisions, which could subject us to litigation, regulatory actions or changes to our business practices that could increase costs or reduce revenues.  Other states have also considered or are considering privacy laws similar to the CCPA.  Similar laws may be implemented in other jurisdictions that we do business in and in ways that may be more restrictive than the CCPA, increasing the cost of compliance, as well as the risk of noncompliance, on our business.

Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest

Our Advisor, Property Manager and their officers and certain of our key personnel will face competing demands relating to their time, and this may cause our operating results to suffer.

Our Advisor, Property Manager and their officers and certain of our key personnel and their respective affiliates are key personnel, advisors, managers, and sponsors of other real estate programs having investment objectives and legal and financial obligations similar to ours, including SST IV, and other private programs sponsored by our Sponsor may have other business interests as well.the Managed REITs. Because these persons have competing demands on their time and resources, they may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time between our business and these other activities. During times of intense activity in other programs and ventures, they may devote less time and fewer resources to our business than is necessary or appropriate. If this occurs, the returns on our stockholders’ investments may suffer.

Our officers and twoCertain of our directorsofficers face conflicts of interest related to the positions they hold with affiliated entities, which could hinder our ability to successfully implement our investment objectives and to generate returns to
our stockholders.

OurCertain of our executive officers and two of our directors are also officers of our Advisor, our Property Manager, and other affiliated entities, including our Sponsor, SST IV, and other private programs sponsored by our Sponsor.the Managed REITs. As a result, these individuals owe fiduciary duties to these other entities and their owners, which fiduciary duties may conflict with the duties that they owe to our stockholders and us. Their loyalties to these other entities could result in actions or inactions that are detrimental to our business, which could harm the implementation of our investment objectives. Conflicts with our business and interests are most likely to arise from involvement in activities related to (1) allocation of new investments and management time and services between us and the other entities, (2) our purchase of properties from, or sale of properties to,

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affiliated entities, (3) the timing and terms of the investment in or sale of an asset, (4) development of our properties by affiliates, and (5) investments with affiliates (6) compensation to our Advisor, and (7) our relationship with our Dealer Manager and Property Manager.affiliates. If we do not successfully implement our investment objectives, we may be unable to generate cash needed to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders and to maintain or increase the value of our assets.

Our Advisor will face conflicts of interest relating to the purchase of properties, including conflicts with SST IV, SSGT II, and such conflicts may not be resolved in our favor, which could adversely affect our investment opportunities.

We may be buying properties at the same time as one or more of the other programs managed by officers and key personnel of our Advisor, SST IV, a public non-traded REIT sponsored by our Sponsor that invests in self storage properties with assets of approximately $162 million as of December 31, 2018, SSGT II, which did not have any assets as of December 31, 2018, and other private programs sponsored by our Sponsor. Our Advisor and our Property Manager will have conflicts of interest in allocating potential properties, acquisition expenses, management time, services and other functions between various existing enterprises or future enterprises with which they may be or become involved and the Sponsor’s investment allocation policy may not mitigate these risks. There is a risk that our Advisor will choose a property that provides lower returns to us than a property purchased by another program sponsored by our Sponsor or its affiliates. We cannot be sure that officers and key personnel acting on behalf of our Advisor and on behalf of these other programs will act in our best interests when deciding whether to allocate any particular property to us. Such conflicts that are not resolved in our favor could result in a reduced level of distributions we may be able to pay to our stockholders and the value of their investment. If our Advisor or its affiliates breach their legal or other obligations or duties to us, or do not resolve conflicts of interest in the manner described herein, we may not meet our investment objectives, which could reduce our expected cash available for distribution to stockholders and the value of their investment.

We may face a conflict of interest if we purchase properties from, or sell properties to, our affiliates, of our Advisor.including the Managed REITs.

We may purchase properties from, or sell properties to, one or more affiliates of our Advisoraffiliates, including the Managed REITs, in the future. A conflict of interest may exist if such acquisition or disposition occurs. The business interests of our Advisor and its affiliates may be adverse to, or to the detriment of, our interests. Additionally, if we purchase properties from affiliates of our Advisor,affiliates, the prices we pay to these affiliates for our properties may be equal to, or in excess of, the prices paid by them, plus the costs incurred by them relating to the acquisition and financing of the properties. If we sell properties to affiliates of our Advisor,affiliates, the offers we receive from these affiliates for our properties may be equal to, or less than, the prices we paid for the properties. These prices will not be the subject of arm’s-length negotiations, which could mean that the acquisitions may be on terms less favorable to us than those negotiated in an arm’s-length transaction. Even though we willintend to use an independent third-party appraiser to determine fair market value when acquiring properties from, or selling properties to, our Advisor and its affiliates, we may pay more, or may not be offered as much, for particular properties than we would have in an arm’s-length transaction, which would reduce our cash available for investment in other properties or distribution to
our stockholders.

Furthermore, because any agreement that we enter into with affiliates of our Advisoraffiliates will not be negotiated in an arm’s-length transaction, our Advisorwe may be reluctant to enforce the agreements against itsthose affiliated entities.

Our Advisor will face conflicts of interest relating to the incentive distribution structure under our Operating Partnership Agreement, which could result in actions that are not necessarily in the long-term best interests of our stockholders.

Pursuant to our Operating Partnership Agreement, our Advisor and its affiliates will be entitled to distributions that are structured in a manner intended to provide incentives to our Advisor to perform in our best interests and in the best interests of our stockholders. The amount of such compensation has not been determined as a result of arm’s-length negotiations, and such amounts may be greater than otherwise would be payable to independent third parties. However, because our Advisor does not maintain a significant equity interest in us and is entitled to receive substantial minimum compensation regardless of performance, our Advisor’s interests will not be wholly aligned with those of our stockholders. In that regard, our Advisor could be motivated to recommend riskier or more speculative investments in order for us to generate the specified levels of performance or sales proceeds that would entitle our Advisor to distributions. In addition, our Advisor’s entitlement to distributions upon the sale of our assets and to participate in sale proceeds could result in our Advisor recommending sales of our investments at the earliest possible time at which sales of investments would produce the level of return that would entitle our Advisor to compensation relating to such sales, even if continued ownership of those investments might be in our best long-term interest.

Our Operating Partnership Agreement requires us to pay a performance-based termination distribution to our Advisor in the event that we terminate our Advisor prior to the listing of our shares for trading on an exchange or, absent such listing, in respect of its participation in net sale proceeds. To avoid paying this distribution, our board of directors may decide against

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terminating the Advisory Agreement prior to our listing of our shares or disposition of our investments even if, but for the termination distribution, termination of the Advisory Agreement would be in our best interest. In addition, the requirement to pay the distribution to our Advisor at termination could cause us to make different investment or disposition decisions than we would otherwise make in order to satisfy our obligation to pay the distribution to the terminated advisor.

Our AdvisorWe will face conflicts of interest relating to joint ventures that we may form with affiliates of our Advisor,affiliates, which conflicts could result in a disproportionate benefit to other joint venture partners at our expense.

We may enter into joint ventures with other programs sponsored by our Sponsor or its affiliates, including the Managed REITs, for the acquisition, development, or improvement of properties. Our AdvisorWe may have conflicts of interest in determining which program should enter into any particular joint venture agreement. The co-venturer may have economic or business interests or goals that are or may become inconsistent with our business interests or goals. In addition, our Advisorwe may face a conflict in structuring the terms of the relationship between our interests and the interest of the affiliated co-venturer and in managing the joint venture. Since our Advisor and its affiliates will control both the affiliated co-venturer and, to a certain extent, us, agreementsAgreements and transactions between us and the co-venturers with respect to any such joint venture will not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiation of the type normally conducted between unrelated co-venturers, which may result in the co-venturerco-venturers receiving benefits greater than the benefits that we receive. In addition, we may assume liabilities related to the joint venture that exceeds the percentage of our investment in the joint venture, and this could reduce the returns on investment.

Our Executive Chairman is a controlling person of an entity that owns a minority interest in our Operating Partnership and Class A Shares, and therefore may face conflicts with regard to his fiduciary duties to us and his fiduciary duties to that entity, including conditions pertaining to redemption of our common stock or the limited partnership interests and voting matters related to such interests.

Our Executive Chairman is a controlling person of SAM, our former sponsor, which indirectly currently owns an approximately 13% interest in limited partnership interests in our Operating Partnership and 0.8% of our common stock. Such limited partnership interests may be exchanged for our common stock in the future. In addition, in certain circumstances such as a merger, sale of all or substantially all of our assets, share exchange, conversion, dissolution or amendment to our charter, in each case where the vote of our stockholders is required under Maryland law, the consent of our Operating Partnership will also be required, which could result in our Executive Chairman being able to influence such matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders. This may result in an outcome that may not be favorable to our stockholders. Our Executive Chairman may also make decisions on behalf of SAM related to redemptions of either its limited partnership interests or its common stock which may negatively impact our stockholders.

There is no separate counsel for us and our affiliates, which could result in conflicts of interest.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP (Nelson Mullins) acts as legal counsel to us and also represents our Sponsor, Advisor and some of their affiliates.our affiliates, including the Managed REITs. There is a possibility in the future that the interests of the various parties may become adverse and, under the code of professional responsibility of the legal profession, Nelson Mullins may be precluded from representing any one or all of such parties. If any situation arises in which our interests appear to be in conflict with those of our Advisor or its affiliates, additional counsel may be retained by one or more of the parties to assure that their interests are adequately protected. Moreover, should a conflict of interest not be readily apparent, Nelson Mullins may inadvertently act in derogation of the interest of the parties, which could affect our ability to meet our investment objectives.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

The limit on the number of shares a person may own may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price to our stockholders.

In order for us to qualify as a REIT, no more than 50% of our outstanding stock may be beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (including certain types of entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year. To ensure that we do not fail to qualify as a REIT under this test, our charter restricts ownership by one person or entity to no more than 9.8% of the value of our then-outstanding capital stock or more than 9.8% of the value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of our then outstanding common stock. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our common stock.

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Our charter permits our board of directors to issue stock with terms that may subordinate the rights of common stockholders or discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that might result in a premium price to
our stockholders.

Our charter permits our board of directors to issue up to 900,000,000 shares of capital stock. In addition, our board of directors, without any action by our stockholders, may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares or the number of shares of any class or series of stock that we have authority to issue. Our board of directors may classify or reclassify any unissued common stock or preferred stock and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to distributions, qualifications and terms or conditions of redemption of any such stock. Thus, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of preferred stock with terms and conditions that could have a priority as to distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation over the rights of the holders of our common stock.stock, such as our Series A Convertible Preferred Stock. See the risk factor captioned “We have issued Series A Convertible Preferred Stock that ranks senior to all common stock and grants the holder superior rights compared to common stockholders, which may have the effect of diluting our stockholders’ interests in us and discouraging a takeover or other similar transaction.” in the section titled “Risks Related to an Investment in SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc.,” above. Preferred stock could also have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change in control of our company, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our common stock.

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We will not be afforded the protection of Maryland law relating to business combinations.

Under Maryland law, “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder (as defined in the statute) or an affiliate of an interested stockholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include a merger, consolidation, share exchange, or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities. An interested stockholder is defined as:

These prohibitions are intended to prevent a change of control by interested stockholders who do not have the support of our board of directors. SincePursuant to the statute, our charter contains limitations on ownershipboard of 9.8% or more of our common stock, we opted out ofdirectors has by resolution exempted business combinations between us and any person, provided that the business combinations statutecombination is first approved by our board of directors. We cannot assure you that our board of directors will not amend or repeal this resolution in our charter.the future. Therefore, we will not be afforded the protections of this statute and, accordingly, there is no guarantee that the ownership limitations in our charter would provide the same measure of protection as the business combinations statute and prevent an undesired change of control by an interested stockholder.

Our stockholders’ investment returns may be reduced if we are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. If we lose our exemption from registration under the 1940 Act, we will not be able to continue our business.

We do not intend to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (1940 Act). We intend that our investments in real estate will represent the substantial majority of our total asset mix, which would not subject us to the 1940 Act. In order to maintain an exemption from regulation under the 1940 Act, we must engage primarily in the business of buying real estate. If we are unable to invest a significant portion of the proceeds of our Offering in properties within applicable time periods, we may avoid being required to register as an investment company by temporarily investing any unused proceeds in government securities with low returns, which would reduce the cash available for distribution to investors and possibly lower our stockholders’ returns.

To maintain compliance with our 1940 Act exemption, we may be unable to sell assets we would otherwise want to sell and may need to sell assets we would otherwise wish to retain. In addition, we may be required to acquire additional income- or loss-generating assets that we might not otherwise acquire or forego opportunities to acquire interests in companies that we would otherwise want to acquire. If we are required to register as an investment company but fail to do so, we would be prohibited from engaging in our business, and criminal and civil actions could be brought against us. In addition, our contracts would be unenforceable unless a court required enforcement, and a court could appoint a receiver to take control of us and liquidate our business.

Our stockholders have limited control over changes in our policies and operations.

Our board of directors determines our major policies, including our policies regarding investments, financing, growth, REIT qualification and distributions. Our board of directors may amend or revise these and other policies without a vote of our stockholders. Under the Maryland General Corporation Law and our charter, our stockholders have a right to vote only on the following:

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The board of directors must declare advisable any amendment to the charter or any merger, consolidation, transfer of assets, or share exchange, prior to such amendment or transaction, under the Maryland General Corporation Law. All other matters are subject to the discretion of our board of directors. Therefore, our stockholders are limited in their ability to change our policies and operations.

Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to recover claims against our officers directors and our Advisordirectors are limited, which could reduce our stockholders’ and our recovery against them if they cause us to incur losses.

Maryland law provides that a director has no liability in that capacity if he or shethe director performs his or hertheir duties in good faith, in a manner he or shethe director reasonably believes to be in the corporation’s best interests, and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. Our charter in the case of our directors, officers, employees and agents, and our Advisory Agreement, in the case of our Advisor, requires us to indemnify our directors, officers, employees and agents and our Advisor and its affiliates, for actions taken by them in good faith and without negligence or misconduct. Additionally, our charter limits the liability of our directors and officers for monetary damages to the maximum extent permitted under Maryland law. As a result, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against our directors, officers, employees and agents and our Advisor and its affiliates, than might otherwise exist under common law, which could reduce our stockholders’ and our recovery against them. We have also entered into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers, which obligate us to indemnify such persons in certain circumstances, including if they are or are threatened to be made a party to, or witness in, any proceeding by reason of their status as a present or former director or officer of us. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our directors, officers, employees and agents or our Advisor and its affiliates in some cases which would decrease the cash otherwise available for distribution to our stockholders.

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Our board of directors may change any of our investment objectives, including our focus on self storage facilities.

Our board of directors may change any of our investment objectives, including our focus on self storage facilities. If our stockholders do not agree with a decision of our board to change any of our investment objectives, our stockholders only have limited control over such changes. Additionally, we cannot assure our stockholders that we would be successful in attaining any of these investment objectives, which may adversely impact our financial performance and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Our stockholders’ interests in us will be diluted as we issue additional shares.

Our stockholders will not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. Subject to any limitations set forth under Maryland law, our board of directors may increase the number of authorized shares of stock (currently 900,000,000 shares), increase or decrease the number of shares of any class or series of stock designated, or reclassify any unissued shares without the necessity of obtaining stockholder approval. All such shares may be issued in the discretion of our board of directors.  Further, our Series A Convertible Preferred Stock may be converted into our common stock under certain circumstances.  In addition, we have granted, and expect to grant in the future, equity awards to our independent directors and certain of our employees, including our executive officers, which to date consist of restricted stock of the Company and LTIP units of our Operating Partnership, which are convertible into shares of our common stock subject to satisfaction of certain conditions. Finally, a subsidiary of SAM owns units of limited partnership interest in our Operating Partnership which are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock under certain circumstances. Therefore, existing stockholders will experience dilution of their equity investment in us as we (1) sell additional shares in the future, including those issued pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan, or sell additional shares in the future (2) sell securities that are convertible into shares of our common stock, (3) issue shares of our common stock in a private offering of securities, (4) issue restricted shares of our common stock or other equity-based securities to our independent directors and executive officers, (5) issue shares to our Advisor, its successors or assigns, in payment of an outstanding fee obligation as set forth under our Advisory Agreement, or (6) issue shares of our common stock in a merger or to sellers of properties acquired by us in connection with an exchange of limited partnership interests of our Operating Partnership, existing stockholders will experience dilutionor (6) convert shares of their equity investment in us.our Series A Convertible Preferred Stock into shares of our common stock. Because the limited partnership interests of our Operating Partnership may, in the discretion of our board of directors, be exchanged for shares of our common stock, any merger, exchange or conversion between our Operating Partnership and another entity ultimately could result in the issuance of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, thereby diluting the percentage ownership interest of other stockholders. Because of these and other reasons, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution in their percentage ownership of our shares.

Payment of fees to our Advisor and its affiliates will reduce cash available for investment and distribution.

Our Advisor and its affiliates perform services for us in connection with the selection and acquisition of our investments and the management of our properties. They are paid substantial fees for these services, which reduces the amount of cash available for investment in properties or distribution to stockholders. As additional compensation for having sold Class T shares in the Offering and for ongoing stockholder services, we pay our dealer manager a stockholder servicing fee. The amount available for distributions on all Class T shares will be reduced by the amount of stockholder servicing fees payable to our dealer manager with respect to the Class T shares issued in the Primary Offering. Payment of these fees to our Advisor and its affiliates will reduce cash available for investment and distribution.

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We are uncertain of our sources of debt or equity for funding our future capital needs. If we cannot obtain funding on acceptable terms, our ability to make necessary capital improvements to our properties, pay other expenses, or expand our business may be impaired or delayed.

OurWe expect our primary use of capital has been, and will continue to be primarily usedpaying distributions to purchase real estateour stockholders and making capital investments into our assets and to pay various fees and expenses. The gross proceeds of the Offering will be used to purchase real estate investments and to pay various fees and expenses.our business.  In addition, in order to continue to qualify as a REIT, we generally must distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our taxable income each year, excluding capital gains. Because of this distribution requirement, it is not likely that we will be able to fund a significant portion of our future capital needs from retained earnings. We have not identifiedlimited any additional sources of capital for future funding, and such sources of funding may not be available to us on favorable terms or at all. If we do not have access to sufficient funding in the future, we may not be able to make necessary capital improvements to our properties, pay other expenses or expand our business.

Our Advisor may receive economic benefits from its status as a special limited partner without bearing any of the investment risk.

Our Advisor is a special limited partner in our Operating Partnership. As the special limited partner, our Advisor is entitled to receive, among other distributions, an incentive distribution of net proceeds from the sale of properties after we have received and paid to our stockholders a specified threshold return. We will bear all of the risk associated with the properties but, as a result of the incentive distributions to our Advisor, we may not be entitled to all of the Operating Partnership’s proceeds from a property sale and certain other events.

Risks Related to the Self Storage Industry

Because we are focused on the self storage industry, our rental revenues will be significantly influenced by demand for self storage space generally, and a decrease in such demand would likely have a greater adverse effect on our rental revenues than if we owned a more diversified real estate portfolio.

Because our portfolio of properties consists primarily of self storage facilities, we are subject to risks inherent in investments in a single industry. A decrease in the demand for self storage space would likely have a greater adverse effect on our rental revenues than if we owned a more diversified real estate portfolio. Demand for self storage space has been and could be adversely affected by weakness in the national, regional, and local economies and changes in supply of or demand for similar or competing self storage facilities in an area. To the extent that any of these conditions occur, they are likely to affect demand, and market rents, for self storage space, which could cause a decrease in our rental revenue. Any such decrease could impair our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders. We do not expect to invest in other real estate or businesses to hedge against the risk that industry trends might decrease the profitability of our self storage-related investments.

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We face significant competition in the self storage industry, which may increase the cost of acquisitions or developments or impede our ability to retain customers or re-let space when existing customers vacate.

We face intense competition in every market in which we purchase self storage facilities. We compete with numerous national, regional, and local developers, owners and operators in the self storage industry, including SST IV, other private programs sponsored by our sponsor,the Managed REITs and other REITs, someREITs. Moreover, development of self-storage facilities has increased in recent years, which own or may in the future ownhas intensified competition, and we expect it will continue to do so as newly developed facilities similar to, or in the same markets as, the self storage properties we acquire, and some of which will have greater capital resources, greater cash reserves, less demanding rules governing distributions to stockholders and a greater ability to borrow funds to acquire facilities. In addition, due to the relatively low cost of each individual self storage facility, other developers, owners and operators have the capability to build additional facilities that may compete with our facilities.are opened. In addition, competition for suitable investments may reduce the number of suitable investment opportunities available to us, may increase acquisition costs, and may reduce demand for self storage units in certain areas where our facilities are located, all of which may adversely affect our operating results. Additionally, an economic slowdown in a particular market could have a negative effect on our self storage revenues.

If competitors build new facilities that compete with our facilities or offer space at rental rates below the rental rates we charge our customers, we may lose potential or existing customers and we may be pressured to discount our rental rates to retain customers. As a result, our rental revenues may become insufficient to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders. In addition, increased competition for customers may require us to make capital improvements to facilities that we would not otherwise make.make, which could reduce cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

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The acquisition of new properties may give rise to difficulties in predicting revenue potential.

New acquisitions could fail to perform in accordance with our expectations. If we fail to accurately estimate occupancy levels, rental rates, operating costs, or costs of improvements to bring an acquired facility up to our standards, the performance of the facility may be below expectations. Properties we acquire may have characteristics or deficiencies affecting their valuation or revenue potential that we have not yet discovered. We cannot assure our stockholders that the performance of properties we acquire will increase or be maintained under our management.

We may be unable to promptly re-let units within our facilities at satisfactory rental rates.

Generally, our unit leases will beare on a month-to-month basis. Delays in re-letting units as vacancies arise would reduce our revenues and could adversely affect our operating performance. In addition, lower-than-expected rental rates and higher rental concessions upon re-letting could adversely affect our rental revenues and impede our growth.

We depend on theour on-site personnel to maximize customer satisfaction at each of our facilities, and any difficulties our Property Manager encounterswe encounter in hiring, training, and retaining skilled field personnel may adversely affect our rental revenues.

The customer service, marketing skills, knowledge of local market demand and competitive dynamics of our facility managers will beare contributing factors to our ability to maximize our rental income and to achieve the highest sustainable rent levels at each of our facilities. If our Property Manager iswe are unable to successfully recruit, train, and retain qualified field personnel, our rental revenues may be adversely affected, which could impair our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders.

Legal claims related to moisture infiltration and mold could arise in one or more of our properties, which could adversely affect our revenues.

There has been an increasing number of claims and litigation against owners and managers of rental and self storage properties relating to moisture infiltration, which can result in mold or other property damage. We cannot guarantee that moisture infiltration will not occur at one or more of our properties. When we receive a complaint concerning moisture infiltration, condensation, or mold problems and/or become aware that an air quality concern exists, we will implement corrective measures in accordance with guidelines and protocols we have developed with the assistance of outside experts. We cannot assure our stockholders that material legal claims relating to moisture infiltration and the presence of, or exposure to, mold will not arise in the future. These legal claims could require significant expenditures for legal defense representation which could adversely affect our revenues.

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Delays in development and lease-up of our properties would reduce our profitability.

We may acquire properties that require repositioning or redeveloping such properties with the goal of increasing cash flow, value or both. Construction delays to new or existing self storage properties due to weather, unforeseen site conditions, personnel problems (including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak), and other factors could delay our anticipated customer occupancy plan which could adversely affect our profitability and cash flow. Furthermore, our estimate of the costs of repositioning or redeveloping an acquired property may prove to be inaccurate, which may result in our failure to meet our profitability goals.  We may also encounter unforeseen cost increases associated with building materials or construction services resulting from trade tensions, disruptions, tariffs, duties or restrictions or an epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis, such as the COVID-19 outbreak.  Additionally, we may acquire a new property that has a relatively low physical occupancy, and the cash flow from existing operations may be insufficient to pay the operating expenses associated with that property until the property is adequately leased. If one or more of these properties do not perform as expected or we are unable to successfully integrate new properties into our existing operations, our financial performance and our ability to make distributions may be adversely affected.affected.

The risks associated with storage contents may increase our operating costs or expose us to potential liability that may not be covered by insurance, which may have adverse effects on our results of operations and returns to
our stockholders.

The self storage facilities we own and operate are leased directly to customers who store their belongings without any immediate inspections or oversight from us. We may unintentionally lease space to groups engaged in illegal and dangerous activities. Damage to storage contents may occur due to, among other occurrences, the following: war, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pollution, environmental matters, fires or events caused by fault of a customer, fault of a third party, or fault of our own. Such damage may or may not be covered by insurance maintained by us, if any. Our AdvisorWe will determine the amounts and types of insurance coverage that we will maintain, including any coverage over the contents of any properties in which we may invest. Such determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis by our Advisor based on

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the type, value, location, and risks associated with each investment, as well as any lender requirements, among any other factors our Advisorwe may consider relevant. There is no guarantee as to the type of insurance that we will obtain for any investments that we may make and there is no guarantee that any particular damage to storage contents would be covered by such insurance, even if obtained. The costs associated with maintaining such insurance, as well as any liability imposed upon us due to damage to storage contents, may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.

Additionally, although we require our customers to sign an agreement stating that they will not store flammable, hazardous, illegal, or dangerous contents in the self storage units, we cannot ensure that our customers will abide by such agreement. The storage of such materials might cause destruction to a facility or impose liability on us for the costs of removal or remediation if these various contents or substances are released on, from or in a facility, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.

Our operating results may be affected by regulatory changes that have an adverse impact on our specific facilities, which may adversely affect our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.

Certain regulatory changes may have a direct impact on our self storage facilities, including but not limited to, land use, zoning, and permitting requirements by governmental authorities at the local level, which can restrict the availability of land for development, and special zoning codes which omit certain uses of property from a zoning category. These special uses (i.e., hospitals, schools, and self storage facilities) are allowed in that particular zoning classification only by obtaining a special use permit and the permission of local zoning authority. If we are delayed in obtaining or unable to obtain a special use permit where one is required, new developments or expansion of existing developments could be delayed or reduced. Additionally, certain municipalities require holders of a special use permit to have higher levels of liability coverage than is normally required. The acquisition of, or the inability to obtain, a special use permit and the possibility of higher levels of insurance coverage associated therewith may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.

A failure in, or breach of, our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of our third party vendors and other service providers or other third parties, including as a result of cyber attacks, could disrupt our businesses, result in the disclosure or misuse of confidential or proprietary information, damage our reputation, increase our costs, and cause losses.

We rely heavily on communications and information systems to conduct our business. Information security risks for our business have generally increased in recent years in part because of the proliferation of new technologies; the use of the

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Internet and telecommunications technologies to process, transmit and store electronic information, including the management and support of a variety of business processes, including financial transactions and records, personally identifiable information, and tenant and lease data; and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, and terrorists, activists, and other external parties. As customer, public, and regulatory expectations regarding operational and information security have increased, our operating systems and infrastructure must continue to be safeguarded and monitored for potential failures, disruptions, and breakdowns. Our business, financial, accounting, and data processing systems, or other operating systems and facilities, may stop operating properly or become disabled or damaged as a result of a number of factors, including events that are wholly or partially beyond our control. For example, there could be electrical or telecommunication outages; natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes; disease pandemics; events arising from local or larger scale political or social matters, including terrorist acts; and as described below, cyber attacks.

Our business relies on its digital technologies, computer and email systems, software and networks to conduct its operations. Although we have information security procedures and controls in place, our technologies, systems and networks and, because the nature of our business involves the receipt and retention of personal information about our customers, our customers’ personal accounts may become the target of cyber attacks or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss, or destruction of our or our customers’ or other third parties’ confidential information. Third parties with whom we do business or who facilitate our business activities, including intermediaries or vendors that provide service or security solutions for our operations, and other third parties, could also be sources of operational and information security risk to us, including from breakdowns or failures of their own systems or capacity constraints. In addition, hardware, software or applications we develop or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security.

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While we have disaster recovery and other policies and procedures designed to prevent or limit the effect of the failure, interruption or security breach of our information systems, there can be no assurance that any such failures, interruptions or security breaches will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately addressed. Our risk and exposure to these matters remain heightened because of the evolving nature of these threats. As a result, cyber security and the continued development and enhancement of our controls, processes, and practices designed to protect our systems, computers, software, data, and networks from attack, damage or unauthorized access remain a focus for us. As threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate information security vulnerabilities. Disruptions or failures in the physical infrastructure or operating systems that support our businesses and customers, or cyber attacks or security breaches of the networks, systems or devices that our customers use to access our products and services, could result in customer attrition, regulatory fines, penalties or intervention, reputation damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, and/or additional compliance costs, any of which could have a material effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Furthermore, if such attacks are not detected immediately, their effect could be compounded. To date, to our knowledge, we have not experienced any material impact relating to cyber-attacks or other information security breaches.

If we enter into non-compete agreements with the sellers of the self storage properties that we acquire, and the terms of those agreements expire, the sellers may compete with us within the general location of one of our self storage facilities, which could have an adverse effect on our operating results and returns to our stockholders.

We may enter into non-compete agreements with the sellers of the self storage properties that we acquire in order to prohibit the seller from owning, operating, or being employed by a competing self storage property for a predetermined time frame and within a geographic radius of a self storage facility we acquire. When these non-compete agreements expire, we may face the risk that the seller will develop, own, operate, or become employed by a competing self storage facility within the general location of one of our properties, which could have an adverse effect on our operating results and returns to
our stockholders.

We face risks related to an epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis, such as the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

We face risks related to an epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which impacts the United States, Canada and the markets in which we operate and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects. Our rental revenue and operating results depend significantly on the demand for self storage space. While we have not seen a continuing material impact on the demand for self storage space resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic as of the date of this report, if the pandemic causes weakness in national, regional and local economies that negatively impact the demand for self storage space and/or increase

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bad debts, our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects could be adversely impacted. Additionally, we typically conduct aspects of our leasing activity at our facilities, as well as the offering of various ancillary products, including moving and packing supplies, such as locks and boxes, and other services, such as protection plans, tenant insurance or similar programs.  Accordingly, reductions in the ability and willingness of customers to visit our facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic could reduce rental revenue and ancillary operating revenue produced by our facilities.  Concerns relating to such a pandemic could also impact the availability of our personnel to report for work at our facilities, which could adversely affect our ability to adequately manage our facilities.  In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 there have been, and may continue to be, temporary shut downs or restrictions placed on businesses by cities, counties, states, or the federal government. These orders have impacted, and may continue to impact, our facilities and operations. The ultimate extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the breadth or severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions to contain or treat its impact, among others.

General Risks Related to Investments in Real Estate

Our operating results will be affected by economic and regulatory changes that have an adverse impact on the real estate market in general, and we cannot assure our stockholders that we will be profitable or that we will realize growth in the value of our real estate properties.

Our operating results will be subject to risks generally incident to the ownership of real estate, including:

These and other reasons may prevent us from being profitable or from realizing growth or maintaining the value of our real estate properties.

We may suffer reduced or delayed revenues for, or have difficulty selling, properties with vacancies.

We anticipate that the majority of the properties we own or will acquire will ultimately have stabilized occupancy levels (at or above 75%). However, certain of the real properties we own or will acquire may have some level of vacancy at the time of closing either because the property is in the process of being developed and constructed, it is newly constructed and in the process of obtaining customers, or because of economic or competitive or other factors. Shortly after a new property is opened, during a time of development and construction, or because of economic or competitive or other factors, we may suffer reduced revenues resulting in lower cash distributions to our stockholders due to a lack of an optimum level of customers. The resale value of properties with prolonged low occupancy rates could suffer, which could further reduce our stockholders’ returns.

25A high concentration of our properties in a particular geographic area would magnify the effects of downturns in that geographic area.

In the event that we have a concentration of properties in any particular geographic area, any adverse situation that disproportionately affects that geographic area would have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio. For the month of December 2020, approximately 24%, 21%, and 13% of our rental income was concentrated in California, Florida, and Ontario (Canada), respectively. Moreover, if the SST IV Merger had been effected prior to the month of December 2020, approximately 21%, 22%, and 11% of the combined company’s rental income for the month of December 2020 would have been concentrated in California, Florida, and Ontario (Canada), respectively.

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We may obtain only limited warranties when we purchase a property.

The seller of a property will often sell such property in its “as is” condition on a “where is” basis and “with all faults,” without any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose. In addition, purchase agreements may contain only limited warranties, representations, and indemnifications that will only survive for a limited period after the closing. Also, many sellers of real estate are single purpose entities without significant other assets. The purchase of properties with limited warranties or from undercapitalized sellers increases the risk that we may lose some or all of our invested capital in the property as well as rental income from that property.

Our inability to sell a property when we desire to do so could adversely impact our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders.

The real estate market is affected by many factors, such as general economic conditions, availability of financing, interest rates and other factors, including supply and demand, that are beyond our control. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any property for the price or on the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a property. Real estate generally cannot be sold quickly. Also, the tax laws applicable to REITs require that we hold our facilities for investment, rather than for sale in the ordinary course of business, which may cause us to forego or defer sales of facilities that otherwise would be in our best interest. Therefore, we may not be able to dispose of facilities promptly, or on favorable terms, in response to economic or other market conditions, and this may adversely impact our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders.

In addition, we may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will have funds available to correct such defects or to make
such improvements.

In acquiring a property, we may agree to restrictions that prohibit the sale of that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. These provisions would also restrict our ability to sell a property.

We may not be able to sell our properties at a price equal to, or greater than, the price for which we purchased such properties, which may lead to a decrease in the value of our assets.

We may be purchasing our properties at a time when capitalization rates are at historically low levels and purchase prices are high. Therefore, the value of our properties may not increase over time, which may restrict our ability to sell our properties, or in the event we are able to sell such property, may lead to a sale price less than the price that we paid to purchase the properties.

We may acquire or finance properties with lock-out provisions, which may prohibit us from selling a property, or may require us to maintain specified debt levels for a period of years on some properties.

Lock-out provisions are provisions that generally prohibit repayment of a loan balance for a certain number of years following the origination date of a loan. Such provisions are typically provided for by the Code or the terms of the agreement underlying a loan. Lock-out provisions could materially restrict us from selling or otherwise disposing of or refinancing properties. These provisions would affect our ability to turn our investments into cash and thus affect cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Lock-out provisions may prohibit us from reducing the outstanding indebtedness with respect to any properties, refinancing such indebtedness on a non-recourse basis at maturity, or increasing the amount of indebtedness with respect to such properties.

Lock-out provisions could impair our ability to take actions during the lock-out period that would otherwise be in our stockholders’ best interests and, therefore, may have an adverse impact on the value of the shares, relative to the value that would result if the lock-out provisions did not exist. In particular, lock-out provisions could preclude us from participating in major transactions that could result in a disposition of our assets or a change in control, even though that disposition or change in control might be in our stockholders’ best interests.

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Rising expenses could reduce cash available for future acquisitions.

Any properties that we buy in the future will be subject to operating risks common to real estate in general, any or all of which may negatively affect us. If any property is not fully occupied or if rents are being paid in an amount that is

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insufficient to cover operating expenses, we could be required to expend funds for that property’s operating expenses. Our properties will be subject to increases in tax rates, utility costs, operating expenses, insurance costs, repairs and maintenance and administrative expenses.

If we are unable to offset such cost increases through rent increases, we could be required to fund those increases in operating costs which could adversely affect funds available for future acquisitions or cash available for distribution.

Adverse economic conditions will negatively affect our returns and profitability.

The following market and economic challenges may adversely affect our operating results:

We are susceptible to the effects of adverse macro-economic events that can result in higher unemployment, shrinking demand for products, large-scale business failures, and tight credit markets. Because our portfolio of facilities consists of self storage facilities, we are subject to risks inherent in investments in a single industry, and our results of operations are sensitive to changes in overall economic conditions that impact consumer spending, including discretionary spending, as well as to increased bad debts due to recessionary pressures. A continuation of, or slow recovery from, ongoing adverse economic conditions affecting disposable consumer income, such as employment levels, business conditions, interest rates, tax rates, and fuel and energy costs, could reduce consumer spending or cause consumers to shift their spending to other products and services. A general reduction in the level of discretionary spending or shifts in consumer discretionary spending could adversely affect our growth and profitability.

Since we cannot predict when real estate markets may recover, the value of the properties we acquire may decline if market conditions persist or worsen. Further, the results of operations for a property in any one period may not be indicative of results in future periods, and the long-term performance of such property generally may not be comparable to, and cash flows may not be as predictable as, other properties owned by third parties in the same or similar industry.

Historically, we have relied on our sub-property manager to operate our self storage facilities in the United States, but we now operate all our self storage facilities through our Property Manager. Accordingly, we are subject to additional risks, such as inability to achieve similar results as our prior sub-property manager, as well as other risks inherent in managing the facilities.

Historically, our Property Manager has entered into sub-property management agreements with an affiliate of Extra Space to manage our self storage facilities located in the United States. As of October 1, 2017, our arrangement with Extra Space was terminated and our Property Manager began managing all of our properties directly. Please see Note 7 — Related Party Transactions – Property Management Agreement. There can be no assurances that our Property Manager will manage our properties as effectively as Extra Space. Accordingly, our operating results may suffer, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, as well as our ability to pay distributions to stockholders.

Our tenant insurance business isand tenant protection plan businesses are, in some cases, subject to significant governmental regulation, which may adversely affect our results.

OurDepending on the jurisdiction, we provide either tenant insurance business isor a tenant protection plan to customers at our properties. These businesses, including the payments associated with these arrangements, may be subject to significantstate-specific or provincial-specific governmental regulation. TheSuch regulatory authorities generally have broad discretion to promulgate, interpret and implement regulations, to adopt new or additional licensing requirements, to grant, renew and revoke licenses and approvals, to promulgate, interpret and implement regulations, and to evaluate compliance with regulations through periodic examinations, audits, investigations and investigations of the affairs of insurance providers. As a result ofinquiries. In addition, there has been and may continue to be regulatory or private action in any jurisdiction,the jurisdictions in which we may be temporarily or permanently suspended from continuing some or alloperate. The impact of our tenant insurance activities, or otherwise fined or penalized or suffer an adverse judgment, whichsuch actions could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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If we suffer losses that are not covered by insurance or that are in excess of insurance coverage, we could lose invested capital and anticipated profits.

Material losses may occur in excess of insurance proceeds with respect to any property, as insurance may not be sufficient to fund the losses. However, there are types of losses, generally of a catastrophic nature, such as losses due to wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, fires, hurricanes, pollution or environmental matters, which are either uninsurable or not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to limitations such as large deductibles or co-payments. Insurance risks associated with potential terrorist acts could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims. Additionally, mortgage lenders in some cases have begun to insistrequire that commercial property owners purchase specific coverage against terrorism as a condition for providing mortgage loans. It is uncertain whether such insurance policies will be available, or available at reasonable cost, which could inhibit our ability to finance or refinance our potential properties. In these instances, we may be required to provide other financial support, either through financial assurances or self-insurance, to cover potential losses. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will have adequate coverage for such losses. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 is designed for a sharing of terrorism losses between insurance companies and the federal government.government and requires that insurers make terrorism insurance available under their property and casualty insurance

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policies, but this legislation does not regulate the pricing of such insurance. We cannot be certain how this act will impact us or what additional cost to us, if any, could result. If such an event damaged or destroyed one or more of our properties, we could lose both our invested capital and anticipated profits from such property.

Delays in the acquisition, development and construction of properties may have adverse effects on our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.

Delays we encounter in the selection, acquisition and development of real properties could adversely affect our stockholders’ returns. From time to time we may acquire unimproved real property, properties that are in need of redevelopment or properties that are under development or construction. Investments in such properties will be subject to the uncertainties associated with the development and construction of real property, including those related to re-zoning land for development, environmental concerns of governmental entities and/or community groups and our builders’ ability to build in conformity with plans, specifications, budgets and timetables. If a builder fails to perform, we may resort to legal action to rescind the purchase or the construction contract or to compel performance. A builder’s performance may also be affected or delayed by conditions beyond the builder’s control.

Where properties are acquired prior to the start of construction or during the early stages of construction, it will typically take several months to complete construction and lease available space. Therefore, our stockholders could suffer delays in the receipt of cash distributions attributable to those particular real properties. We may incur additional risks when we make periodic progress payments or other advances to builders before they complete construction. These and other factors can result in increased costs of a project or loss of our investment. We also must rely on rental income and expense projections and estimates of the fair market value of a property upon completion of construction when agreeing upon a purchase price at the time we acquire the property. If our projections are inaccurate, we may pay too much for a property, and the return on our investment could suffer.

We disclose funds from operations and modified funds from operations, as adjusted, each a non-GAAP financial measure, in communications with investors, including documents filed with the SEC; however,SEC. However, funds from operations and modified funds from operations, as adjusted, are not equivalent to our net income or loss or cash flow from operations as determined under GAAP, and stockholders should consider GAAP measures to be more relevant to our operating performance.

We use, and we disclose to investors, funds from operations (“FFO”) and modified funds from operations (“MFFO”),FFO, as adjusted, which are non-GAAP financial measures. FFO and MFFOFFO, as adjusted, are not equivalent to our net income or loss or cash flow from operations as determined in accordance with GAAP, and investors should consider GAAP measures to be more relevant in evaluating our operating performance and ability to pay distributions. FFO and MFFO andFFO, as adjusted, differ from GAAP net income differ because FFO and MFFOFFO, as adjusted, exclude gains or losses from sales of property and asset impairment write downs, plus depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures are calculated to reflect FFO on the same basis. MFFO is definedIn determining FFO, as adjusted, we make further adjustments to FFO further adjusted forto exclude the following items included in the determinationeffects of GAAP net income (loss):non-real estate related intangible amortization, acquisition fees and expenses; amounts relating to straight line rents and amortization of above or below intangible lease assets and liabilities;related costs, contingent earnout expenses, accretion of discounts and amortizationfair value of premiums on debt investments; non-recurring impairments of real estate related investments; mark-to-market adjustments, included in net income; non-recurring gains or losses included in net income from the extinguishment or sale of debt, hedges,accretion of deferred tax liabilities, realized and unrealized gains/losses on foreign exchange transactions, and gains/losses on foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives or securities holdings where trading of such holdings is not a fundamental attribute of the business plan, unrealized gains or losses resulting from consolidation from, or deconsolidation to, equity accounting, adjustments relating to contingent purchase price obligations included in net income, and afterdesignated for hedge accounting. FFO, as adjusted, also reflects adjustments for consolidated and unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures, with such adjustments calculated to reflect MFFO on the

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same basis. The accretion of discounts and amortization of premiums on debt investments, unrealized gains and losses on hedges, foreign exchange, derivatives or securities holdings, unrealized gains and losses resulting from consolidations, as well as other listed cash flow adjustments are adjustments made to net income (loss) in calculating cash flows from operations and, in some cases, reflect gains or losses which are unrealized and may not ultimately be realized.

jointly owned investments.

Because of these differences, FFO and MFFOFFO, as adjusted, may not be accurate indicators of our operating performance, especially during periods in which we are acquiring properties. In addition, FFO and MFFOFFO, as adjusted, are not indicative of cash flow available to fund cash needs and investors should not consider FFO and MFFOFFO, as adjusted, as alternatives to cash flows from operations or an indication of our liquidity or indicative of funds available to fund our cash needs, including our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.

Neither the SEC nor any other regulatory body has passed judgment on the acceptability of the adjustments that we use to calculate FFO and MFFO.FFO, as adjusted. Also, because not all companies calculate FFO and MFFOFFO, as adjusted, the same way, comparisons with other companies may not be meaningful.

Costs of complying with governmental laws and regulations, including those relating to environmental matters, may adversely affect our income and the cash available for distribution.

All real property, including anyour self storage properties, we acquire, and the operations conducted on real property are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. These laws and regulations generally govern wastewater discharges, air emissions, the operation and removal of underground and above-ground storage tanks, the use, storage, treatment, transportation, and disposal of solid and hazardous materials, and the remediation of contamination associated with disposals. Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on customers, owners, or operators for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal. This liability could be substantial. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell or rent a property, or to pledge such property as collateral for future borrowings.

Some of these laws and regulations have been amended so as to require compliance with new or more stringent standards as of future dates. Compliance with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretation of existing laws may require us to incur material expenditures. Future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material environmental liability. Additionally, our customers’ activities, the existing condition of land when we buy it, operations in the vicinity of our properties, such as the presence of underground storage tanks, or activities of unrelated third parties may affect our properties. In addition, there are various local, state, and federal fire, health, life-safety, and similar regulations with which we may be required to comply, and that may subject us to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance. Any material expenditures, fines, or damages we must pay will reduce our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders and may reduce the value of our stockholders’ investments.

We cannot assure our stockholders that the independent third party environmental assessments we obtain prior to acquiring any properties we purchase will reveal all environmental liabilities or that a prior owner of a property did not create a material environmental condition not known to us. We cannot predict what other environmental legislation or regulations will be enacted in the future, how existing or future laws or regulations will be administered or interpreted, or what environmental conditions may be found to exist in the future. We cannot assure our stockholders that our business, assets,

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results of operations, liquidity, or financial condition will not be adversely affected by these laws, which may adversely affect cash available for distribution, and the amount of distributions to our stockholders.

Our costs associated withCosts of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Actgovernmental laws and regulations, including those relating to regulations accommodating disabilities, may affect cash available
for distribution.

Our properties will beWe are subject to various rules, regulations and standards with respect to accommodations we must make for individuals with disabilities. For example, in the United States, under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or ADA. Under the ADA, all places of public accommodationaccommodations and commercial facilities are required to comply withmeet certain federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. The ADA has separate complianceWe are also subject to similar requirements in Ontario, Canada, under the Accessibility for “public accommodations”Ontarians with Disabilities Act, or AODA. Under these regulations, places of public accommodation, which include our self storage facilities, are required to comply with certain requirements related to access and “commercial facilities” that generally require that buildings and services, including restaurants and retail stores, be made accessible and available to people with disabilities. The ADA’suse by disabled persons. These requirements could require removal of access barriers and could result in the imposition of injunctive relief, monetary penalties, or, in some cases, an award of damages. We will attempt to acquire properties that comply with the ADAsuch regulations or place the burden on the seller or other third party to ensure compliance with the ADA.such regulations. However, we cannot assure our stockholders that we will be able to acquire properties or allocate responsibilities in this manner. If we cannot, our funds used for ADAsuch compliance may affect cash available for distribution and the amount of distributions to our stockholders.

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If we sell properties by providing financing to purchasers, defaults by the purchasers would adversely affect our cash flows.

In some instances, we may sell our properties by providing financing to purchasers. When we provide financing to purchasers, we will bear the risk that the purchaser may default, which could negatively impact our cash distributions to stockholders. Additionally, the distribution of the proceeds of sales to our stockholders, or their reinvestment in other assets, will be delayed until the promissory notes or other property we may accept upon the sale are actually paid, sold, refinanced, or otherwise disposed of. In some cases, we may receive initial down payments in cash and other property in the year of sale in an amount less than the selling price and subsequent payments will be spread over a number of years. If any purchaser defaults under a financing arrangement with us, it could negatively impact our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to
our stockholders.

Property taxes may increase, which willwould adversely affect our net operating income and cash available
for distributions.

Each of the properties we acquire will be subject to real property taxes. Some local real property tax assessors may seek to reassess some of our properties as a result of our acquisition of the property. From time to time, our property taxes may increase as property values or assessment rates change or for other reasons deemed relevant by the assessors. RecentIn addition, state or local government shortfalls in tax revenuegovernments may cause pressure to increase tax rates or assessment levels.levels (See the risk factor immediately below). Increases in real property taxes will adversely affect our net operating income and cash available for distributions.

We willOur property taxes could increase due to reassessment or property tax rate changes.

Real property taxes on our properties may increase as our properties are reassessed by taxing authorities or as property tax rates change. For example, a current California law commonly referred to as Proposition 13 generally limits annual real estate tax increases on California properties to 2% of assessed value. Accordingly, the assessed value and resulting property tax we pay is less than it would be subject to additional risks if we continue to make international investments.

We have acquired, and may continue to acquire, properties located outside the United States, and we may make or purchase loans or participations in loans secured by property located outside the United States. These investments may be affected by factors peculiar to the laws and business practices of the jurisdictions in which the properties are located. These lawswere assessed at current values.  From time to time, proposals have been made to reduce the beneficial impact of Proposition 13, particularly with respect to commercial property, which would include self-storage facilities.  While these initiatives have failed to pass to date, there can be no assurance that Proposition 13 will not be repealed or amended at some point, which could cause our property tax expense to increase substantially, adversely affecting our cash flow from operations and business practices may expose us to risks that are different from and in addition to those commonly found in the United States. Foreign investments pose the following risks:net income.

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Investments in properties or other real estate investments outside the United States subject us to foreign currency risks, which may adversely affect distributions and our REIT status.

Revenues generated from any properties or other real estate investments we acquire or ventures we enter into relating to transactions involving assets located in markets outside the United States likely will be denominated in the local currency. Therefore, any investments we make outside the United States may subject us to foreign currency risk due to potential fluctuations in exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. As a result, changes in exchange rates of any such foreign currency to U.S. dollars may affect our revenues, operating margins, and distributions and may also affect the book value of our assets and the amount of stockholders’ equity.

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Changes in foreign currency exchange rates used to value a REIT’s foreign assets may be considered changes in the value of the REIT’s assets. These changes may adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT. Further, bank accounts in foreign currency which are not considered cash or cash equivalents may adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT.

Changes in the Canadian Dollar/USD exchange rate could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and value of the investment of our stockholders.

We have purchased and may continue to purchase properties in Canada. In addition, our Managed REITs own properties in Canada where we, through our subsidiaries, serve as the property manager. As a result, our financial results may be adversely affected by fluctuations in the Canadian Dollar/USD exchange rate. We cannot predict with any certainty changes in foreign currency exchange rates or our ability to mitigate these risks. Several factors may affect the Canadian Dollar/USD exchange rate, including:

These events and actions are unpredictable. In addition, the Canadian Dollar may not maintain its long term value in terms of purchasing power in the future. The resulting volatility in the Canadian Dollar/USD exchange rate could materially and adversely affect our performance.

We are subject to additional risks due to the location of any of ourthe properties that we either own or operate in Canada.

In addition to currency exchange rates, the value of any properties we purchase in Canada may be affected by factors peculiar to the laws and business practices of Canada. Canadian laws and customsbusiness practices may expose us to risks that are different from and in addition to those commonly found in the United States. Ownership and operation of foreign assets pose several risks, including, but not limited to the following:

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Risks Associated with Debt Financing

We have broad authority to incur debt, and high debt levels could hinder our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate and could decrease the value of our stockholders’ investments.

Our charter generally limits us to incurring debt no greater than 300%board may approve unlimited levels of our net assets before deducting depreciation or other non-cash reserves (equivalent to 75% leverage), unless any excess borrowing is approved by a majority of our independent directors and disclosed to our stockholders in our next quarterly report, along with a justification for such excess borrowing.debt. High debt levels would cause us to incur higher interest charges, would result in higher debt service payments, and could be accompanied by restrictive covenants. These factors could limit the amount of cash we have available to distribute and could result in a decline in the value of our stockholders’ investments.

If we or the other parties to our loans breach covenants thereunder, such loan or loans could be deemed in default, which could accelerate our repayment date and materially adversely affect the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

Certain of our loans are secured by first mortgages on some of our properties and other loans are secured by pledges of equity interests in the entities that own certain of our properties. Such loans also impose a number of financial or other covenant requirements on us. If we, or the other parties to these loans, should breach certain of those financial or other covenant requirements, or otherwise default on such loans, then the respective lenders, as the case may be, could accelerate our repayment dates. If we do not have sufficient cash to repay the applicable loan at that time, such lenders could foreclose on the property securing the applicable loan or take control of the pledged collateral, as the case may be. Such foreclosure could result in a material loss for us and would adversely affect the value of our stockholders’ investment in us. In addition, certain of these loans are cross-collateralized and cross-defaulted with each other such that a default under one loan would cause a default under the other loans. See Note 5,7 – Debt, and Note 11—16 – Subsequent Events—Merger with Strategic Storage Growth Trust, Inc.,Events of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information on such loans.

Discontinuation, reform, or replacement of LIBOR may adversely affect the amount of interest that we pay on our variable rate debt.

A significant portion of our borrowings are at variable rates of interest, primarily based on the London Interbank Offered Rate for deposits of U.S dollars (“LIBOR”). In July 2017, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the authority that regulates LIBOR) announced that it intends to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. The Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (“ARRC”), a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, announced replacement of U.S. dollar LIBOR with a new index calculated by short-term repurchase agreements, backed by U.S. Treasury securities called the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). The first publication of SOFR was released in 2018. Whether or not SOFR attains market traction as a LIBOR replacement tool remains in question and the future of LIBOR remains uncertain.  Providing some clarification, in November 2020, the ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”) announced that it will consult on its intentions to cease the publication of one week and two month USD LIBOR following the LIBOR publication on December 31, 2021, and to cease the publication of the remaining USD LIBOR settings following the LIBOR publication on June 30, 2023, effectively extending the transition timeline. At this time, it is unclear what LIBOR or new methods of calculating LIBOR will look like after 2021.

In conjunction with the transition away from LIBOR, we and our lenders will cooperate in establishing an alternate rate of interest, which we would expect to be comparable to LIBOR on a historical basis prior to such determination. However, during the time that an alternate rate of interest is determined, we may be limited in our ability to draw upon Eurodollar Loans and may be required to draw upon alternative base rate loans. See Note 7 – Debt and Note 16 – Subsequent Events of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information on such loans. In addition, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, is considering replacing U.S. dollar LIBOR with a newly created index, calculated with a broad set of short-term repurchase agreements backed by treasury securities. It is not possible to predict the effect of the foregoing, including any related reforms or the establishment of alternative reference rates in the U.S. or elsewhere. To the extent these interest rates increase, our interest expense will increase, in which event we may have difficulties making interest payments and funding our other fixed costs, and our available cash flow for general corporate requirements may be adversely affected.

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We have incurred and intend to continue to incur, mortgage indebtedness and other borrowings, which may increase our business risks.

We have placed, and intend to continue to place, permanent financing on our properties and we may obtain additional credit facilities or other similar financing arrangements in order to acquire additional properties. We may also decide to later further leverage our properties. We may incur mortgage debt and pledge all or some of our real properties as security for that debt to obtain funds to acquire real properties. If we default on our secured indebtedness, the lender may foreclose and we could lose our entire investment in the properties securing such loan, which could adversely affect distributions to our stockholders. To the extent lenders require us to cross-collateralize our properties, or our loan agreements contain cross-default provisions, a default under a single loan agreement could subject multiple properties to foreclosure.

In connection with the SSGTSST IV Merger, on January 24, 2019, we assumed certain loans and entered into a series new credit facility (See Note 16 Subsequent Events of new loans. See Note 11—Subsequent Events—Merger with Strategic Storage Growth Trust, Inc.,the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information on such loans.loans). Accordingly, we may be subject to an increased risk that our cash flow could be insufficient to meet required payments on our debt. Our increased indebtedness as a result of the SSGTSST IV Merger, compared to our level of indebtedness prior to the SSGTSST IV Merger, could have important consequences to our stockholders, including:

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In addition, we may borrow if we need funds to pay a desired distribution rate to our stockholders. We may also borrow if we deem it necessary or advisable to assure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. If there is a shortfall between the cash flow from our properties and the cash flow needed to service mortgage debt, then the amount available for distribution to our stockholders may be reduced.

Our obligation to make balloon payments could increase the risk of default.

Our debt may have balloon payments of up to 100% of the principal amount of such loans due on the respective maturity dates. Thus, such debt will have a substantial payment due at the scheduled maturity date, unless previously prepaid or refinanced. Loans with a substantial remaining principal balance on their stated maturity involve greater degrees of risk of non-payment at stated maturity than fully amortizing loans. As a result, our ability to repay the such loans on their respective maturity dates will largely depend upon our ability either to prepay such loans, refinance such loans or to sell, to the extent permitted, all or a portion of the properties encumbered by such loans, if any. Our ability to accomplish any of these goals will be affected by a number of factors at the time of attempted prepayment, refinancing, or sale, including, but not limited to: (i) the availability of, and competition for, credit for commercial real estate; (ii) prevailing interest rates; (iii) the net operating income generated by our properties; (iv) the fair market value of our properties; (v) our equity in our properties; (vi) our financial condition; (vii) the operating history and occupancy level of our properties; (viii) the tax laws; and (ix) the prevailing general and regional economic conditions.

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Lenders have required and will likely continue to require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions to our stockholders.

When providing financing, lenders often impose restrictions on us that affect our distribution and operating policies and our ability to incur additional debt. Loan documents we enter into may contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgage the property or discontinue insurance coverage or replace our Advisor.coverage. We are also required to obtain the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock before entering into certain transactions. These or other limitations may adversely affect our flexibility and limit our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders. If the limits set forth in these covenants prevent us from satisfying our distribution requirements, we could fail to qualify for federal income tax purposes as a REIT. If the limits set forth in these covenants do not jeopardize our qualification for taxation as a REIT, but prevent us from distributing 100% of our REIT taxable income, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax, and potentially a nondeductible excise tax, on the retained amounts.

Increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our debt payments and adversely affect our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders.

We currently have outstanding debt payments which are indexed to variable interest rates. We may also incur additional debt or issue additional preferred equity in the future which rely on variable interest rates. Increases in these variable interest rates in the future would increase our interest costs and preferred equity distribution payments, which would likely reduce our cash flows and our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at the current rate to our stockholders. In addition, if we need to make payments on instruments which contain variable interest during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments in properties at times that may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments.

Disruptions in the credit markets could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.

Domestic and international financial markets recentlyhave experienced significant disruptions in the past which were brought about in large part by failures in the U.S. banking system. These disruptions severely impacted the availability of credit and contributed to rising costs associated with obtaining credit. Future credit market disruptions, including those associated with the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, may have similar effects or otherwise make obtaining additional and replacement external sources of liquidity more difficult and more costly, if available at all. If debt financing is not available on terms and conditions we find acceptable, we may not be able to obtain financing for investments. If these disruptions in the credit markets resurface, our ability to borrow monies to finance the purchase of, or other activities related to, real estate assets will be negatively impacted. If we are unable to borrow monies on terms and conditions that we find acceptable, we may be forced to use a greater proportion of our Offering proceeds to finance our acquisitions, reduce the number of properties we can purchase, and/or dispose of some of our assets. These disruptions could also adversely affect the return on the properties we do purchase. In addition, if we pay fees to lock in a favorable interest rate, falling interest rates or other factors could require us

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to forfeit these fees. All of these events would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, and ability to pay distributions.

Risks Associated with Our Managed REIT Platform

Revenue and earnings from the Managed REIT Platform are uncertain.

Increasing our revenue from the Managed REIT Platform is dependent in large part on the ability to raise capital in offerings for existing or future Managed REITs or other future programs, as well as on our ability to make investments that meet the investment criteria of existing and future entities, both of which are subject to uncertainty with respect to capital market and real estate market conditions. This uncertainty could have an adverse impact on our earnings. Moreover, revenue generated from asset management fees, property management fees, and other fees and distributions relating to the Managed REITs’ offerings and the investment and management of their respective assets may be affected by factors that include not only our ability to increase the Managed REITs’ portfolio of properties under management, but also changes in valuation of those properties, sales of the Managed REIT properties and assets and our ability to successfully operate the Managed REIT properties.

The Managed REITs may not generate sufficient revenue or may incur significant debt, which either due to liquidity problems or restrictive covenants contained in their borrowing agreements could restrict their ability to pay or reimburse fees and expenses owed to us when due. In addition, the revenue payable by the Managed REITs is subject to certain limits set forth in their respective advisory agreements, which may limit the growth of our revenue. Furthermore, our ability to earn

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certain subordinated distributions from the Managed REITs is tied to providing liquidity events for the Managed REITs. Our ability to provide such liquidity events, and to do so under circumstances that will satisfy the applicable subordination requirements, will depend on market conditions at the relevant time, which may vary considerably over a period of years. If we are unable to satisfy such subordination requirements, certain equity interests we hold in the Managed REITs may be impaired.

Because the revenue streams from the advisory agreements with the Managed REITs are subject to limitation or cancellation, any such termination could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flow and the amount available for distributions to our common stockholders.

Our advisory agreement with the SST VI Advisor is renewable annually, and our advisory agreement with the SSGT II Advisor has an initial term of 10 years and is renewable annually thereafter, and each may generally be terminated by each Managed REIT, without cause or penalty, upon 60 days’ written notice. There can be no assurance that the advisory agreements will be renewed before they expire or that the advisory agreements will not be terminated. Any such non-renewal or termination could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flow and the amount available for distributions to our common stockholders.

We will face conflicts of interest relating to the purchase of properties, including conflicts with the Managed REITs, and there can be no assurance that our investment allocation policy will adequately address all of the conflicts that may arise or that it will address such conflicts in a manner that is more favorable to us than to the Managed REITs.

We own the entities that serve as the sponsor and advisor to the Managed REITs, which have investment objectives similar to ours, and we may be buying properties at the same time as one or more of the Managed REITs, or other programs managed by us, our officers, our key personnel or our subsidiaries (the “Other Programs”). Accordingly, we will have conflicts of interest in allocating potential properties, acquisition expenses, management time, services, and other functions between various existing enterprises or future enterprises with which the Managed REITs may be or become involved. SSGT II is a private Managed REIT that invests in self storage properties and had assets of approximately $141 million as of December 31, 2020, and SST VI is a private Managed REIT that was in its early stage of operations in early 2021.

While we have adopted an investment allocation policy in an effort to appropriately allocate acquisitions among us, the Managed REITs and the Other Programs, there can be no assurance that such allocation policy will adequately address all of the conflicts that may arise or that it will address such conflicts in a manner that is more favorable to us than to the Managed REITs or the Other Programs. In addition, conflicts of interest may exist in the valuation of our investments and regarding decisions about the allocation of specific investment opportunities among us, the Managed REITs and the Other Programs and the allocation of fees and costs among us, the Managed REITs and the Other Programs. To the extent we fail to appropriately deal with any such conflicts, it could negatively impact our reputation and ability to raise additional funds or result in potential litigation against us.

A subsidiary of ours is the sponsor of the Managed REITs and may sponsor additional future programs. As a result, we could be subject to any litigation that may arise by investors in those entities or the respective operations of those entities.

In the course of their operations, the Managed REITs and the other future programs may be subject to lawsuits. We may be named in such lawsuits as the sponsor of such entities and may, in some instances, be found to be subject to liability. In such an instance, our ability to seek reimbursement or indemnification from such programs may be limited. If we are subject to significant legal expenses, it could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

Federal Income Tax Risks

Failure to continue to qualify as a REIT would adversely affect our operations and our ability to makecontinue to pay distributions at our current level as we will incur additional tax liabilities.

We believe we operate in a manner that allows us to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes under the Code. Qualification as a REIT involves highly technical and complex Code provisions for which there are only limited judicial and administrative interpretations. Our qualification as a REIT will depend upon our ability to meet, through investments, actual operating results, distributions and satisfaction of specific stockholder rules, the various tests imposed by the Code.

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If we fail to qualify as a REIT for any taxable year, we will be subject to federal income tax and any applicable alternative minimum tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates. In addition,If our REIT status is terminated for any reason, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year of losing our REIT status.such termination. Losing our REIT status would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution to stockholders because of the additional tax liability. In addition, distributions to stockholders would no longer qualify for the distributions paid deduction, and we would no longer be required to make distributions. In addition, if we fail to qualify as a REIT, we may be required to repurchase the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock. If this occurs, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable tax.tax and redeem holders of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock.

In the event that any REIT we have acquired in a nontaxable merger transaction, including SST IV, is found to have failed to qualify as a REIT for any period prior to our acquisition, we may be liable for certain entity level taxes of such acquired REIT for such tax periods as a result of such acquisition, that could substantially reduce our cash available for distribution, including cash available to pay dividends to our stockholders, because:

In addition, if any such acquired REIT, including SST IV, failed to qualify as a REIT for any taxable period prior to our acquisition, in the event of a taxable disposition of an asset formerly held by such acquired REIT during a period of up to five years following our acquisition, we would be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax with respect to any built-in gain inherent in such asset as of the closing of our acquisition.

Qualification as a REIT is subject to the satisfaction of tax requirements and various factual matters and circumstances that are not entirely within our control. New legislation, regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could change the tax laws with respect to qualification as a REIT or the federal income tax consequences of being a REIT. Our failure to continue to qualify as a REIT would adversely affect the return of our stockholders’ investment.

To qualify as a REIT, and to avoid the payment of federal income and excise taxes and maintain our REIT status, we may be forced to borrow funds, use proceeds from the issuance of securities, or sell assets to pay distributions, which may result in our distributing amounts that may otherwise be used for our operations.

To obtain the favorable tax treatment accorded to REITs, we normally will be required each year to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, generally determined without regard to the deduction for distributions paid and by excluding net capital gains. We will be subject to federal income tax on our undistributed taxable income and net capital gain and subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which distributions we pay with respect to any calendar year are less than the sum of (1) 85% of our ordinary income, (2) 95% of our capital gain net income, and (3) 100% of our undistributed income from prior years. These requirements could cause us to distribute amounts that otherwise would be spent on the acquisition, maintenance or development of properties and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds, use proceeds from the issuance of securities or sell assets in order to distribute enough of our taxable income to maintain our REIT status and to avoid the payment of federal income and excise taxes. We may be required to make distributions to stockholders at times it would be more advantageous to reinvest cash in our business or when we do not have cash readily available for distribution, and we may be forced to liquidate assets on terms and at times unfavorable to us. These methods of obtaining funding could affect future distributions by increasing operating costs and decreasing available cash. In addition, such distributions may constitute a return of investor’s capital for federal income tax purposes.

Our stockholders may have tax liability on distributions they elect to reinvest in our common stock.

If our stockholders participate in our distribution reinvestment plan, our stockholders will be deemed to have received, and for income tax purposes will be taxed on, the amount reinvested in common stock to the extent the amount reinvested was not a tax-free return of capital. As a result, unless our stockholders are a tax-exempt entity, our stockholders may have to use funds from other sources to pay their tax liability on the value of the common stock received.

If any of our partnerships fails to maintain its status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, its income would be subject to taxation and our REIT status would be terminated.

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We intend to maintain the status of our partnerships, including our Operating Partnership, as partnerships for federal income tax purposes. However, if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) were to successfully challenge the status of any of our partnerships as a partnership, it would be taxable as a corporation. Such an event would reduce the amount of distributions that such partnership could make to us. This would also result in our losing REIT status and becoming subject to a corporate level tax on our own income. This would substantially reduce our cash available to pay distributions and the return on our stockholders’ investments. In addition, if any of the entities through which any of our partnerships owns its properties, in whole or in part, loses its characterization as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, it would be subject to taxation as

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a corporation, thereby reducing distributions to such partnership. Such a recharacterization of any of our partnerships or an underlying property owner could also threaten our ability to maintain REIT status.

In certain circumstances, we may be subject to federal and state income taxes as a REIT, which would reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

Even if we qualify and maintain our status as a REIT, we may be subject to federal income taxes or state taxes. For example, net income from a “prohibited transaction” will be subject to a 100% tax. We may not be able to make sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. We may also decide to retain income we earn from the sale or other disposition of our property and pay income tax directly on such income. In that event, our stockholders would be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax on it directly. However, stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability. We may also be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, either directly, at the level of our Operating Partnership, or at the level of any other companies through which we indirectly own our assets. Any federal or state taxes we pay will reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

We may be required to pay some taxes due to actions of our taxable REIT subsidiaries, which would reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

Any net taxable income earned directly by our taxable REIT subsidiaries, or through entities that are disregarded for federal income tax purposes as entities separate from our taxable REIT subsidiaries, will be subject to federal and possibly state corporate income tax. We have elected to treat Strategic StorageSmartStop TRS, II, Inc., as a taxable REIT subsidiary, and we may elect to treat other subsidiaries as taxable REIT subsidiaries in the future. In this regard, several provisions of the laws applicable to REITs and their subsidiaries ensure that a taxable REIT subsidiary will be subject to an appropriate level of federal income taxation. For example, a taxable REIT subsidiary is limited in its ability to deduct certain interest payments made to an affiliated REIT. In addition, the REIT has to pay a 100% penalty tax on some payments that it receives or on some deductions taken by a taxable REIT subsidiary if the economic arrangements between the REIT, the REIT’s customers, and the taxable REIT subsidiary are not comparable to similar arrangements between unrelated parties. Finally, some state and local jurisdictions may tax some of our income even though as a REIT we are not subject to federal income tax on that income, because not all states and localities follow the federal income tax treatment of REITs. To the extent that we and our affiliates are required to pay federal, state, and local taxes, we will have less cash available for distributions to our stockholders.

Distributions to tax-exempt investors may be classified as unrelated business taxable income.

Neither ordinary nor capital gain distributions with respect to our common stock, nor gain from the sale of common stock, should generally constitute unrelated business taxable income (UBTI)(“UBTI”) to a tax-exempt investor. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. In particular:

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Complying with the REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities.

To qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of shares of our common stock. We may be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution, or we may be required to liquidate

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otherwise attractive investments in order to comply with the REIT tests. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits.

Legislative or regulatory action could adversely affect investors.

Individuals with incomes below certain thresholds are subject to federal income taxation on qualified dividends at a maximum rate of 15%. qualified dividend rate. For those with income above such thresholds, the qualified dividend rate is 20%. These tax rates are generally not applicable to distributions paid by a REIT, unless such distributions represent earnings on which the REIT itself has been taxed. As a result, distributions (other than capital gain distributions) we pay to individual investors generally will be subject to the tax rates that are otherwise applicable to ordinary income for federal income tax purposes, subject to a 20% deduction for REIT dividends available as set forth inunder “An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018” (the “2017 Tax Act”). This disparity in tax treatment may make an investment in our shares comparatively less attractive to individual investors than an investment in the shares of non-REIT corporations, and could have an adverse effect on the value of our common stock. Our stockholders are urged to consult with their own tax advisorsadvisor with respect to the impact of recent legislation on our stockholders’ investmentstheir investment in our common stock and the status of legislative, regulatory, or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our common stock.

Foreign purchasers of our common stock may be subject to FIRPTA tax upon the sale of their shares.

A foreign person disposing of a U.S. real property interest, including shares of a U.S. corporation whose assets consist principally of U.S. real property interests, is generally subject to a tax, known as FIRPTA tax, on the gain recognized on the disposition. Such FIRPTA tax does not apply, however, to the disposition of stock in a REIT if the REIT is “domestically controlled.” A REIT is “domestically controlled” if less than 50% of the REIT’s stock, by value, has been owned directly or indirectly by persons who are not qualifying U.S. persons during a continuous five-year period ending on the date of disposition or, if shorter, during the entire period of the REIT’s existence.

We cannot assure our stockholders that we will qualify as a “domestically controlled” REIT. If we were to fail to so qualify, gain realized by foreign investors on a sale of our shares would be subject to FIRPTA tax, unless our shares were traded on an established securities market and the foreign investor did not at any time during a specified testing period directly or indirectly own more than 10% of the value of our outstanding common stock.

ERISA Risks

There are special considerations that apply to qualified pension or profit-sharing trusts or IRAs investing in our shares which could cause an investment in our company to be a prohibited transaction and could result in additional tax consequences.

If our stockholders are investing the assets of a qualified pension, profit-sharing, 401(k), Keogh, or other qualified retirement plan or the assets of an IRA in our common stock, they should satisfy themselves that, among other things:

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Persons investing the assets of employee benefit plans, IRAs, and other tax-favored benefit accounts should consider ERISA and related risks of investing in the shares.

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ERISA and Code Section 4975 prohibit certain transactions that involve (1) certain pension, profit-sharing, employee benefit, or retirement plans or individual retirement accounts and Keogh plans, and (2) any person who is a “party-in-interest” or “disqualified person” with respect to such a plan. Consequently, the fiduciary of a plan contemplating an investment in the shares should consider whether we, any other person associated with the issuance of the shares, or any of their affiliates is or might become a “party-in-interest” or “disqualified person” with respect to the plan and, if so, whether an exemption from such prohibited transaction rules is applicable. In addition, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) plan asset regulations provide that, subject to certain exceptions, the assets of an entity in which a plan holds an equity interest may be treated as assets of an investing plan, in which event the underlying assets of such entity (and transactions involving such assets) would be subject to the prohibited transaction provisions. We intend to take such steps as may be necessary to qualify us for one or more of the exemptions available, and thereby prevent our assets as being treated as assets of any investing plan.

None.

As of December 31, 2018,2020, we owned 83112 operating self storage propertiesfacilities located in 1417 states (Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Washington) and Ontario, Canada (the Greater Toronto Area) comprising of approximately 51,33072,000 units and approximately 6.08.2 million rentable square feet. See Note 7 – Debt, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this report for more information about our indebtedness secured by our properties.

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As of December 31, 2018, we owned the following 832020, our self storage properties and two parcels of land:portfolio was comprised as follows:

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