Center Gets $3M Loan to Build Eckerd Store

NORTH LAUDERDALE, FL-Southern Centers at North Lauderdale has obtained a $2.7-million loan to be used to construct a freestanding Eckerd drug store in the city. The lender was Fort Lauderdale, FL-based BankAtlantic. The bank did not disclose the interest rate.Southern Centers at North Lauderdale will own the 12,739-sf store, to be developed at the southeast corner of McNab Road and Southwest 81st Avenue. South Florida real estate ownership is nothing new to Southern Centers at North Lauderdale, based in Fort Lauderdale, which owns other Eckerd stores, as well as shopping centers and office buildings in the Fort Lauderdale area.The loan closed in April, and construction probably will start in May, according to Jeffrey Chiger, senior vice president in the BankAtlantic Commercial Lending Division in Fort Lauderdale, who handled the financing transaction. The drug store should take a maximum of five months to build, he says.