ORLANDO—Wawa hasn't made it down to my neck of the woods yet but if I drive three hours north these stores are everywhere. In fact, Wawa, a next-generation convenience store that is growing by leaps and bounds, is opening 10 new Central Florida stories this year.

Calkain Cos. just brokered the sale of another Wawa. This one is in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, FL. The sale featured a brand new 20-year ground lease with 5% rent increases every five years.

Patrick Nutt, managing partner and Scott Campbell, associate of Calkain's South Florida office, represented the seller. The Sanford deal is Calkain's 15th Wawa property sold in Florida. Nut says, “The sale marks yet another 1031 tax deferred exchange from an East Coast buyer.”

The Wawa property is located at 2690 West 25th Street in Sanford. The sale price: $3.8 million.

“Everyone still remembers the California 1031 buyer pool from the last cycle, but today the majority of the money coming into Florida for net lease is already on the east coast,” says Campbell. “This transaction shows the growing brand popularity and increasing investor demand for Florida Wawa properties.”

At the recent RealShare Central Florida event, Doug Kinson, director of Calkain, talked a lot about Wawal. He told us a few years ago the chain decided to move into Florida and open 100 stores. The brand currently has about 77 stores around the state, but most of them are in Central Florida.

“They have more pumps than anyone else, they sell sandwiches, and their concept has been so successful that it's been rumored some stores are averaging $5 million in sales per store per year,” Kinson says. “That's incredible because as we compare a Wawa to many drug stores across the story they don't even come close to $5 million and they are twice the size. Calkain brought 50% of the Wawa's to market in Florida.”