ALEXANDRIA, VA-A 14,469-square foot, 24-hour Walgreens drugstorehas traded here for $10.5 million, or $731 per square foot. DeanZang and Mark Taylor, vice presidents investments in Marcus &Millichap Real Estate Investment Services’ Philadelphia office,represented the seller, PACE-Beacon Hill LLC. Phil Sambazis, in thefirm’s San Diego office, represented the buyer, a New York-basedprivate investor. David Feldman in the firm’s Washington, DC officealso provided representation. The sale of this Walgreens, locatedat 6717 Richmond Highway, marks the sixth DC area Walgreensdrugstore sale Zang and Taylor have brokered sinceMay.

There were four different local and national developmentcompanies involved, but one trend remained constant throughoutthese deals, Zang tells GlobeSt.com: cap rates rapidly compressedfor a variety of reason when a top-tier credit tenant was involved.These reasons include improved and increasing financing sources, alower yield environment for alternative investments and growingdemand for such properties by 1031 buyers, private REITs andindividual investors.

The Alexandria property traded at a 7.3% “and change” cap rate.Zang points to a similar trade this summer--a 14,469-square-footWalgreens at Boswell Avenue and Richmond Highway in Alexandria for $7.9 million, or $546 per square foot. That deal closed at a7.5% cap rate. “The market is moving very quickly and in favor ofsellers,” he says.