C&S Wholesale Grocers buys $25M Sweetbay Distribution Center

BUYER: 1802 Jim Johnson Road LLC (principal: William Boyd), Keene, N.H.
SELLER: Delhaize America LLC
PROPERTY: 1802 Jim Johnson Road, Plant City
PRICE: $25 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.09 million, December 1988
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Delhaize America LLC, Salisbury, N.C.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Keen, N.H.-based C&S Wholesale Grocers purchased the 836,771-square-foot Sweetbay Distribution Center and Truck Maintenance building in Plant City for $25 million.

The price equated to $30 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for industrial space ($46) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Built in 1991, the tilt-wall and metal facility features 560,168 square feet of dry warehouse space, 16,400 square feet of office space and 207,829 square feet of specialized freezer and cooler space. The building also includes 10,999 square feet for truck maintenance, 30-foot ceilings and 120 truck-loading doors. The 140-acre property also has additional land for a possible future expansion.

Gary Bauler and Brian Rettig of CBRE's Tampa office and Jeff Counsell and Scott Delphey of the CBRE Food Facilities Group represented the seller.

C&S Wholesale Grocers is the wholesale grocer supplier to Bi-Lo Holdings LLC, the company that purchased the Sweetbay chain and is integrating it into its Winn Dixie chain.

“They came in and in essence took over operations,” Bauler says. “They kept a lot of the employees, some of the inventory...and some of the equipment. This is really very good for everybody in the community. It would have been difficult for C&S Wholesale Grocers to supply [Bi-Lo] without the logistics of a supply chain. Sweetbay was also concerned with their employees. It was clearly in everybody's best interest.”