WASHINGTON, DC-Walgreens is planning to expand its footprint in the District, opening at least one new store in the city in 2012. By 2017, it plans to operate at eight locations, up from its current three. Such retail sites—typically single tenant—are growing in demand for investors, as recent sales of Walgreens-anchored retail sites in outer lying areas show.
In the District, though, Walgreen’s presence is just emerging: It recently opened the doors on a new retail concept—its so-called health and daily living store. The store, located at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Veazey Terrace, offers some basic health care services to residents, via its private practice staffed by nurse practitioners.
"At the core of this new format is our effort to bring the pharmacist from behind the counter to a front desk, so they can provide more counseling to patients and offer clinical services such as immunizations and health screenings,” explained Darron Briscoe, Walgreens market vice president, in a prepared statement. Walgreens has opened 20 such stores nationwide over the past year under a pilot program introducing the format. The store is the company's third in the District.
The retail locations will be welcomed, no doubt, by local residents, but also by single-tenant investors down the road, once these properties start trading. Even in secondary markets such as Forestville, MD, retail trades with Walgreens as a tenant perform very well. The submarket saw such a trade recently: a 19,620-square-foot, two tenant building fully leased by Walgreens and Sherwin-Williams that sold for $10.8 million or $555 per square foot—and a six-and-a-half cap rate.
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