Walgreens’ Prime Location Commands Top Dollar

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

A Walgreens pharmacy/retail store on the Las Vegas Strip has been sold by Harbor Group International. The store fetched about $37 million, nearly 33 percent more than the last time the property traded hands. An HGI affiliate acquired the 16,016-square-foot property in March 2012 for $27.9 million, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to lasvegasinc.com, the buyer is Elyahu Cohen, a Manhattan-based investor and the founder of Regal Home Collections, a home furnishings company.

Arranged by a Marcus & Millichap team led by Ray Germain, an associate vice president, the deal is among the largest completed for a Walgreens-occupied property.

Walgreens

Located near the Wynn and the Encore, the property is also across the street from the future site of Resorts World Las Vegas, which will be the world’s largest hotel by number of rooms.

Walgreens occupies the site based on a long-term, triple-net lease agreement. Open around the clock, the store benefits from its location in a market area that generates yearly retail sales of around $20 billion.

The Las Vegas retail market has improved in the third quarter in terms of both employment and vacancy. Net absorption is down slightly, according to the latest data from Colliers International, but rental rates are poised to rise during the final quarter of the year as completions diminish.