August 22, 2025

Dear Fellow Stockholder:

Thank you for your continuing investment in SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. (“SmartStop”). As we all know, on April 3, 2025, we concluded a highly successful ($875.6 million in net proceeds) underwritten public offering (“Offering”) and related listing of newly issued unclassified common stock (“Listed Shares”) on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). The Listed Shares were offered to the public at a price of $30 per share. Since we began trading on the NYSE (ticker symbol “SMA”), our shares have consistently traded above the original issue price, trading as high as $37.79. This move in our stock was against the backdrop of high levels of volatility and weakness in the other publicly-traded, self-storage companies.

I know that some of our pre-existing stockholders (Class A and Class T) were disappointed in our negotiated initial offering price as it appeared there was a disconnect between that price and our most recent NAV. As the company founder and largest individual beneficial owner of our stock, no one was more disappointed than I. However, the management team and I believed (and still believe) that the Offering was a crucial step toward providing SmartStop access to attractive capital available from the public markets while also addressing an important goal for our pre-existing stockholders: liquidity. We began the public offering process three years ago and waited through volatile market conditions, Fed rate increases and rising inflation for the “right” time. We concluded the time had come in April of this year when we launched the Offering. SmartStop and its management team focused on delivering a robust business plan through the IPO and, in the last six months, have accomplished the following:

It is the Offering and NYSE listing of our shares that made these transformational transactions and events possible. We have successfully positioned our company for future growth and, as you can see, are expending tremendous efforts to achieve more positive results going forward.

One goal of the Offering and NYSE listing that I mentioned above is stockholder liquidity, which will occur on October 1, 2025 when the six-month lock-up period expires and pre-existing Class A and Class T shares automatically convert into Listed Shares. Many of you may be looking forward to that liquidity event and intend to sell your shares. I have no plans to sell any of my SMA shares in the foreseeable future. In fact, I will be looking for opportunities to purchase additional shares. Why? Because our management team has worked to effectively

position SmartStop for future growth and success. The Offering and the NYSE listing focused on creating future value for SmartStop’s stockholders through the public markets and reflect our determination that you, our stockholders, be given every opportunity to participate fully in that future.

We started SmartStop in 2014 with no assets, no liabilities and no shareholders. Today, we have a $4 billion owned and operated North American portfolio, a differentiated retail brand across more than 240 self-storage properties, a savvy tech platform that makes 3 million pricing changes each month with little human interaction, and an experienced and dedicated leadership team. All of this positions us well for future growth in 2025 and 2026.

We are now the 10th largest self-storage company in the U.S., which is something we have accomplished together. We greatly appreciate your support.

Continued Successes,

H. Michael Schwartz
Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer