TULSA, OK—CVS Health Corp. recently announced that it intends to buy Aetna Inc. for just shy of $70 billion. This merger will combine one of the largest retail pharmacy companies in the U.S. with one of the most dominant players in the health insurance industry. This new marriage of healthcare services, products, providers, and insurers will undoubtedly change the way the healthcare industry works today.

But how will this merger impact commercial real estate? Will we slowly witness a natural evolution of the drugstore retail concept as consumers leverage the benefits of accessing combined services, and pharmacy tenants modify their stores accordingly? Or will we find ourselves thrust overnight into a retail revolution that completely alters the way we shop for healthcare products and access medical services?

At a time when the marketplace is seeing a tremendous amount of downsizing by retailers, it's natural to question the likelihood of similar downsizing efforts by pharmacies and drugstores, especially as they face increased competition from online retailers like Amazon. But if a merger between CVS and Aetna leads to additional services being offered by the pharmacy's brick-and-mortar locations, could we be looking at a unique situation where more square footage becomes necessary?