The project has received technical approval on plans to build an access road to the 97-acre development site--a key step in applying for a final plat and a land development permit on the property the Deerfield, IL-based company acquired last May for slightly more than $8 million, or about $86,957 per acre ($2 per sf).

The center will serve the pharmaceutical chain's retail stores in Broward, Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach counties. The company's existing distribution plant in Orlando will then serve stores in Central and North Florida.

Although the company plans to build 650,000 sf, Ronald Wong, a Palm Beach County planner, tells Globest.com the approved site allows for the development of 880,530 sf. Of that amount, 838,367 sf is approved for usable warehouse space and 24,500 sf for usable office space.

Walgreen officials would not disclose the construction cost but industry estimators tell GlobeSt.com comparable distribution centers are being built for $70 per sf. That would put the Walgreen plant at about $45 million. The center expects to be operating by October. An hourly work force of 250 is planned by January 2002.

Along with its recent progress on local land-use issues, the company is expected to benefit from a $545,000 non-matching grant the Florida Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development just awarded to Palm Beach County. The Palm Beach County Commission scheduled a vote for Jan. 25 on whether to accept the state tax dollars to improve Pratt-Whitney Road from Beeline Highway (SR 710) to Indiantown Road (DR 706)--the primary feeder to the Palm Beach Park of Commerce.

Besides benefitting from the road-building grant, the company qualified last July for an additional $366,000 in economic development incentives. Increased consumer demand for the company's pharmaceutical and over-the-counter products accounts for the Walgreen's decision to pick Palm Beach County and a site near Dallas to build two new large-scale distribution plants. The company has plans to build another site in northern Ohio and expand an existing facility in Woodland, CA.

Walgreen had 505 stores in Florida as of Dec. 31, 2000 and plans to have 700 stores by 2004. "We're opening a new store every 17 hours," a company spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com. "That's the reason for the distribution center."

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Walgreen Wins OK on Road Project Needed for 650,000-SF Distribution Center

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