Publix Super Markets buys freestanding leased store

BUYER: Real Sub LLC (principals: John Attaway, David Phillips, Jeffrey Chamberlain and William Crenshaw), Lakeland

SELLER: Richard Linder

PROPERTY: 4265 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte

PRICE: $4.7 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $4.62 million, May 2001

LAW FIRM ON DEED: GrayRobinson PA, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets Inc. purchased a freestanding 44,270-square-foot Publix grocery store building for $4.7 million.

The price equated to $106 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($140) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The supermarket building was built in 2001 and sits on a 4.09-acre site next to Town & Country Shopping Center. Publix previously leased the space.

“A good rule of thumb is about 17% of our sites are owned and for the balance we lease the space,” says Brian West, Publix spokesman.

The grocery chain operates 1,068 supermarkets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee and several distribution centers and manufacturing facilities. With 157,500 employees, Publix reported total sales volume of $27.5 billion for 2012.