105 vacant acres

The price for the land and the buildings is $25.6 million, including transaction costs. According to a statement, the company believes that the costs of expansion on the adjacent land will be significantly less than construction of a new headquarters campus on the 105-acre site, which is located at Alico Road and Three Oaks Parkway. Chico's did not disclose a cost estimate for building on the vacant site or for its planned expansion on the newly acquired property. GlobeSt.com previously reported that it paid between $27.3 million and $35.2 million for the Alico Road acreage.

When the adjacent property became available, the company decided to plan its expansion at its current location and hold the 105 acres for investment and ultimate sale "at the opportune time," the statement says. The existing headquarters, prior to the purchase of the adjacent land, encompasses 36 acres, containing a 147,000-sf office facility and a 20,000-sf call center.

"Expanding our headquarters operations onto this adjacent property should allow a more phased approach to the expansion and should also prove to be less disruptive than if we were to have moved our entire operations to a completely new headquarters campus," says Scott A. Edmonds, Chico's president and CEO, in a statement. The company will "proceed promptly" to explore its expansion options, he says. "In the meantime, we recognize that there are tenants in the buildings whose businesses currently depend on the operating space. We expect to build a strong relationship with those tenants, to be a supportive landlord, and to respect their rights as tenants."