Walgreens Buys SouthPark Distribution Center

ORLANDO-Walgreens Healthcare Plus Inc., eager to expand its mail-service pharmacy operation, has purchased a 133,689-sf distribution center in the SouthPark section of the 4,000-acre Orlando Central Park development in south Orlando.

Jacksonville, FL-based Flagler Development Co., which built the structure, declined to disclose the sale price. But area brokers familiar with the SouthPark inventory tell GlobeSt.com that the price was probably about $20 million or $150 per sf. Brokers estimate the structure was built for about $125 per sf or a total $16.7 million.

“The building was originally constructed as a build-to-suit for a single tenant and is ideal for Walgreens,” says Flagler president G. John Carey. “This transaction works out extremely well for both buyer and seller.” Carey says the deal allows the Illinois-based drug-store chain to occupy the facility “far sooner than if they had constructed a building.”