TUCSON, AZ — Steven Swanson II of Chicago Illinois recently purchased two Tucson Walgreen stores in two separate transactions. The Walgreens at 4910 N First Avenue in Tucson was purchased for $3.06 million ($197 PSF) for the 15,525-square-foot building on 2.56 acres and the Walgreens store at 1415 W River was purchased for $2.45 million ($158 PSF) for the 15,252-square-foot building on 1.96 acres.

The lease at 4910 N First Ave was recently extended to over 12 years showing a strong commitment to the location. This property benefited from a remodel in 2016 with improvements including a new roof with transferrable 20-year warranty, new parking lot and an exterior facelift. It sits on the hard corner of North 1st Avenue and River Road which oversees a combined 69,000 vehicles per day. Walgreens has been there since 1994.

The seller at 4910 N First Ave, Meadville Holdings, a Las Vegas Investor, was represented by Peter Deltondo with Marcus & Millichap of Newport Beach, CA and the buyer represented by John Susank also with Marcus & Millichap of Newport Beach, CA.

The Walgreens at 1415 W River Road is located at the intersection of La Canada Dr. and River Road in Tucson. Walgreens recently extended their lease term at this location for an additional 5 years through April 2021, with the ability to renew through April 2056. The location benefits from high traffic visibility at the intersection with 55,000 vehicles per day. Walgreens has been at this location since 1996.

Cole Flanagan with NAI Maestras and Ward in Albuquerque, New Mexico represented the seller of 1415 W River Road, The Donny Tina Bird Trust, a Private Trust from Albuquerque. John Susank with Marcus & Millichap of Newport Beach represented the buyer.

For additional information, Deltondo and Susank can be reached at 949.419.3200 and Flanagan should be contacted at 505.878.0001.

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Culver’s at 4810 North First Avenue in Tucson sold to a Nevada-investor, Camille Mouchawar Trust, for approximately $2.4 million ($519 PSF) in a sale leaseback. The 4,517-square-foot restaurant, built in 2013 and open April 22, 2013 is located at the southeast corner of River and First Avenue. This was the second Culver’s in Tucson and has grown to four current locations.

First River Partners, LLC (David Greischar, member) was the seller and G4 Construction of Minnesota, also a partner, was the builder of the restaurant situated on 2 acres.

Culver’s began in 1984 in the founding family’s hometown of Sauk City, Wisconsin.

Brian Klanchke of Marcus & Millichap in Minneapolis, Minnesota represented the seller in the transaction. Roger Breckenridge of Long Realty Company in Tucson represented the investor.

For additional information, Klancke can be reached at 952.852.9732 while Breckenridge should be contacted at 520.918.5813.

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In a separate transaction, a fee simple interest in a freestanding Walgreens sold for approximately $3.6 million ($267 PSF). Located at 1900 South 6^th Avenue in Tucson at the hard corner of 29^th Street and S 6^th Avenue, the 13,428-square-foot store was built in 1994 on just under 2 acres.

The investor that was trading up was Takesh, LLC of Newportr Coast, California (Saeed Partow, member). The seller, Morris Optimus Investments, LLC of Highwood, Illinois (Jeffrey Morris, manager).

The tenant had recently entered a 15-year lease extension with over 14 years remaining.

Brandon Duff, Brad Feller and Isaiah Harf with Stan Johnson Company of Chicago handled the transaction.

For more information, Duff can be contacted at 312.240.0127, Feller is at 312.240.0194 and Harf should be reached at 312.777.237.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance, the first global pharmacy-led, health and well-being enterprise in the world, announced Thursday it will close about 200 less-profitable U.S. Walgreens stores and open about the same number of stores in new locations. On a conference call, Alex Gourlay, executive vice president of Walgrrens Boots and president of Walgreens, said the stores will close during the next three years, with the last closing no later than the end of 2017 and will be replaced by about the same number of new stores

The list of stores slated to close is still being finalized.

The closings, announced along with quarterly earnings on Thursday, will expand a three-year, $1 billion cost-reduction plan announced last August. The company now plans to cut $1.5 billion by the end of 2017 by also reorganizing its corporate operations and streamlining its information technology and other functions.

“This really is (about) getting the right stores in the right places,” Gourlay said.

The store closings are just 2% of the 8,232 drugstores Walgreens has in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Walgreens expects pretax charges for the restructuring of between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion.

Nonetheless, the marrying of the nation’s largest drugstore chain, Walgreen, and Europe’s largest pharmaceutical wholesaler, Alliance Boots, on Dec. 31, 2014 boosted the company’s second-quarter earnings across the board. Here’s how the quarter played out, and a bit on what’s to come:

The company was created through the combination of Walgreens and Alliance Boots in December 2014, bringing together two leading companies with iconic brands, complementary geographic footprints, shared values and a heritage of trusted health care services through pharmaceutical wholesaling and community pharmacy care, dating back more than 100 years.

Just by the numbers: Walgreens Boots earned $2.04 billion in the first quarter, or $1.93 per share, compared with $716 million a year earlier, or 74 cents per share. Sales were also up 35 percent to $26.57 billion from $19.61 billion a year earlier.

The adjusted earnings per share for the quarter, of $1.18, beat analyst estimates by 23 cents.

What’s new: Walgreens Boots Alliance now reports results in three segments: U.S. retail pharmacy, International retail pharmacy and pharmaceutical wholesale.

2015 moving forward: Walgreens Boots Alliance announced a 2015 full-year adjusted estimate for earnings per share between $3.45 and $3.65. Cost savings from the merger for the first half of its fiscal 2015 were $310 million. The company said it remains on track to save $650 million by the end of the year.

What’s next: Walgreens Boots will finalize the list of stores it will close and which new locations will replace them. The company also reaffirmed its 2016 adjusted earnings per share estimate of $4.25 to $4.60.

What else?: On Wednesday after the markets closed, Walgreens announced that U.S. Foods CEO John Lederer had been elected to its board to serve on its finance committee. From 2008 to 2010, Lederer was chairman of the board at Duane Reade, a New York-based pharmacy company acquired by Walgreen in 2010. His appointment was part of an agreement with activist investor group Jana Partners.

Walgreens also said Wednesday it will pay a quarterly dividend of 33.75 cents per share June 12 to shareholders of record as of May 21.

Quote you on that: “This quarter marked a solid start for our new company, and I remain as optimistic as ever about our long-term future,” said acting CEO Stefano Pessina. “At the same time, we understand the work that is needed to proactively address headwinds such as reimbursement pressure and competition.”

The company employs over 370,000 people and has a presence in more than 25 countries; it is the largest retail pharmacy, health and daily living destination in the USA and Europe. Including its equity method investments, Walgreens Boots Alliance is the global leader in pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing retail with over 13,100 stores in 11 countries. The company includes the largest global pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution network with over 350 distribution centers delivering to more than 200,000 pharmacies, doctors, health centers and hospitals each year in 19 countries. In addition, Walgreens Boots Alliance is the world’s largest purchaser of prescription drugs and many other health and wellbeing products.

Its portfolio of retail and business brands includes Walgreens, Duane Reade, Boots and Alliance Healthcare, as well as increasingly global health and beauty product brands, such as No7, Botanics and Soap & Glory. More company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.