Walgreens Offers Park to Move into West Boca Raton Loggers’ Run
December 4th, 2006
West Boca Raton Loggers’ Run may turn to a pharmacy to build a park.
Walgreens plans to build an 8-acre park for West Boca Raton Loggers’ Run homeowners if they let the retailer build a store on 2 acres set aside for a park. The rent also would help West Boca Raton Loggers’ Run pay for the construction of a second park on 16 acres and maintain existing parks in the community, said Frank Barbieri, president of the Loggers’ Run Civic Association.
The proposed 75-year lease would start at $250,000 a year and gradually increase to $350,000. ‘Financially, it is a good deal,’ said Frank White, board member of Winding Lakes, a subdivision of Logger’s Run. ‘The issue is whether we want to give up free space. It is a tough decision.’ Loggers’ Run spreads over 1,814 acres west of U.S. 441 from Lox Road to north of Glades Road. Its 15 subdivisions have 1,842 homes, a shopping center and at least two schools. About 80 acres of green space — including three parks, a 535-acre conservation area and open fields — lend Loggers’ Run a distinctive character, neighbors say.
Heritage Park, where the pharmacy and the 8-acre park are planned, is at West Palmetto Park and Oriole Country roads. The 16-acre park is north of Glades Road.
At least 1,228, or two-thirds, of the owners would have to approve amending Loggers’ Run documents favoring the lease, Barbieri said. Currently, the documents prohibit the transaction. ‘In essence, we are allowing Walgreens to approach the community and ask homeowners if they support leasing the land,’ White said.
This is Walgreens’ second attempt in a decade to enter West Boca Raton Loggers’ Run, said Todd Sorrin, vice president of commercial real estate for RAM Development. RAM builds Walgreens pharmacies. In the late 1990s, residents near Heritage Park opposed Walgreens’ proposal, Barbieri said, and the Loggers’ Run board halted negotiations with the pharmacy. Barbieri said he was later criticized for failing to involvethe entire community. This time, he is doing just that.
The 8-acre park could cost about $1 million, including pumps, an irrigation system, a lake and trees, he said. Berms and landscaping would hide the pharmacy from the view of Loggers’ Run residents, Sorrin said. Walgreens seldom moves into communities with homeowners associations. ‘This is an exceptional situation,’ said Sorrin, adding Heritage Park was the only undeveloped corner west of U.S. 441 and on a major road. CVS unsuccessfully competed with Walgreens for the Loggers’ Run site, Barbieri said.
Walgreens offered $50,000 more and proposed paying the full cost of building Heritage Park in West Boca Raton.
SOURCE: Sun-Sentinel
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