Self-storage operator Pogoda Cos. recently acquired the Stop N Lock VII storage facility on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor, Mich. The 53,000-square-foot facility will undergo renovations and be rebranded under the National Storage Centers name.

Plans include adding climate-controlled units, painting, remodeling the office, and installing surveillance cameras and a security system. Lifts will be added to provide customer access to second-floor spaces. Other changes include resurfacing the asphalt and adding cosmetic improvements, such as landscaping. The facility currently has 550 units.

This is a distressed property that has long been neglected. We have five other properties in the Ann Arbor market, and this one fills a gap in our coverage, said Maurice Pogoda, company president. Ann Arbor is one of Michigans strongest markets. It has consistently low unemployment rates and an upscale clientele supported by the growth engine that is the University of Michigan. We see this acquisition as another excellent opportunity to carry on our practice of buying strategically located properties that can benefit from our professional management.

Pogoda also recently sold a National Storage Center facility in Grand Blanc, Mich. The company had managed the property for 17 years but sold it when the owner decided to retire. The 35,000-square-foot facility offers more than 250 units and RV parking spaces on more than five acres. The asking price was $975,000.

We had great success managing this property, Pogoda said. The economic growth in the Grand Blanc area is phenomenal. When we started managing it in 1995, the property was surrounded by cornfields. Now, there are shopping centers and every other conceivable type of development. Its a great property with a lot of potential, and we would have considered buying it but it is smaller than our standard sized store. So, we brokered it instead.

Based in Farmington Hills, Mich., Pogoda Cos. is a self-storage operator and broker with 39 facilities and approximately 3 million square feet of self-storage space in Michigan and Ohio. The firm provides brokerage, management, investment and consulting services to the self-storage industry through its Pogoda Group Inc. and Pogoda Management Co. divisions.