Talliosake and Heitman are developing a new self-storage platform, Talli, that could become a stronger competitor to Cityvarasto
Summary
- Heitman acquired a majority stake in Talliosake’s rental operating business and established Talli, with Talliosake retaining a minority stake and its current management team leading the platform.
- Talli launches with 15 properties, 11 in Finland, and aims to develop thousands of rental storage and commercial spaces in Finland and Sweden.
- The analyst sees Talli’s expansion as a potential competitive threat to Cityvarasto, though their offerings currently differ. Talliosake units start at 19 m², while Cityvarasto’s average 4.3 m².
- According to the analyst, international investor interest supports sector valuations and Cityvarasto’s M&A option. Any sale depends on founder Ville Stenroos, who owns around 47%, being willing to sell.
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Translation: Original published in Finnish on 11/11/2026 at 10:07 am EET.
Heitman, a US real estate investment management firm, acquired a majority stake in Talliosake’s rental operating business, and the two companies established Talli, a Nordic drive-up self-storage platform, based on that acquisition. Talliosake will remain a minority investor, and Talli will be led by Talliosake's current management team. So far, Talliosake has focused primarily on developing and selling individual units, with rental playing a secondary role in its business operations. Talli, on the other hand, develops and owns rental properties on a long-term basis. Talli is launching with 15 properties, 11 of which are in Finland, and its goal is to build thousands of new rental storage and commercial spaces for entrepreneurs, businesses, and consumers in Finland and Sweden.
Talli may become a clearer competitor to Cityvarasto
Overall and for the time being, the companies' services regarding self-storage still differ quite clearly from each other. Talliosake's leasable premises start at 19 m² and can be used for storage, hobbies, manufacturing, and more. Cityvarasto's self-storage units, on the other hand, average only 4.3 m², and over 80% of its customers are private individuals. However, competition is likely to intensify as Talli uses Heitman's capital to build premises for rent on a broad scale and will probably bring a larger number of smaller units to the rental market than before. In our view, Talliosake also appears to have strong expertise in site acquisition, zoning, construction, real estate development, leasing, and property management, which makes it a serious competitor. In our initiation of coverage, we identified the intensification of competition through acquisitions or extensive new construction as a key risk, and Talli is a step in that direction. Previously, we have considered Talliosake to be a clearer competitor to Cityvarasto in the area of business premises, such as storage and workspace solutions for companies. There is plenty of competition in this sector anyway, of course, and Cityvarasto's concept has proven effective. In business premises, the company already competes with low prices (an average rent of EUR 9.8/m²/month). Business premises (~69,000 m², Q2'26) are an intermediate stage for Cityvarasto before conversion into self-storage facilities.
International capital supports sector valuation
Heitman is an experienced self-storage investor that has invested over 15 BUSD since 1996 in around 1,600 self-storage properties across 14 countries. Heitman has supported Shurgard's growth and its subsequent IPO, and it expanded into Sweden in 2024 by acquiring the Servistore self-storage concept. These moves reinforce our view that major international players are interested in Nordic self-storage platforms. In our opinion, this strengthens the sector's valuation and Cityvarasto's M&A option, as discussed in our initiation of coverage. However, this option will still only materialize if founder Ville Stenroos, who owns around 47% of the company, is willing to sell.