Birchwood Heights Equity Corp., a Canada-based real estate firm, recently purchased a Stock-N-Lock Self Storage facility in Wyoming, Mich. The 62,000-square-foot facility was listed for $2.4 million, but a bidding war resulted in a selling price that was much higher, according to officials from Pogoda Cos., which brokered the sale.

Birchwood, based in Kelowna, British Columbia, plans to expand the 436-unit facility, which is located on a major thoroughfare about 12 miles south of Grand Rapids, Pogoda officials said in a press release. The Wyoming facility is the fourth Michigan self-storage property purchased by Birchwood.

Pogoda represented the buyer and seller in the deal. The facility was owned by Stock-N-Lock Self Storage of Wyoming, Mich. Pogoda also sold a vacant lot next door to the self-storage facility in a separate transaction.

We were not really surprised by the demand for this property, said Maurice Pogoda, president of Pogoda Cos. The market has been building to a frenzy all year long, with buyers bidding up properties and paying prices we have never seen in Michigan.

Based in Farmington Hills, Mich., Pogoda Cos. is a self-storage operator and broker with 38 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.