GlobeSt.com reported the transaction Dec. 4 before the deal was recorded at Orange County real estate offices. Brokers familiar with the transaction had estimated the deal would be done for about $100 per sf or a total $10 million. The recorded $76.18 per-sf price is in line with recent dirt sales in the central business district. The buyers are considering various projects for the site, about the size of 1 ¼ football fields.

The property housed the F.W. Woolworth and McCrory department stores from the 1950s through the 1980s, then hosted a mix of retail ventures as shoppers flocked to the newly-opened department sites in the suburbs. City planners for years have bemoaned the loss of a major department store in the central business district.