Piece of Walgreens’ Deerfield campus hits market

Part of the vacant former Walgreens office campus in Deerfield is hitting the market.

The sale comes as Walgreens officially vacates its home for almost 10 years, Crain’s reported. Phoenix, Arizona-based Orion Office REIT hired CBRE to sell the 37.5-acre site. The asking price wasn’t disclosed.

The property, at 1411-1435 Lake Road, includes five empty office buildings that total 575,000 square feet and surface parking lots north of the Edens Spur Tollway.

Walgreens sold the property for $85 million in a 2013 sale-leaseback deal. While its lease runs through next August, it no longer occupies the space.

Investors familiar with the property said it will probably sell for significantly less than its original price, with bids expected between $20 million and $30 million.

Depending on what the city of Deerfield will allow, a buyer could use the property for a mixed-use development. CBRE has suggested using it for apartments, medical offices, senior housing or a last-mile industrial warehouse.

Walgreens bought the Lake Cook Road property in 2004 so that it could expand its headquarters. In 2017, the company doubled the size of its State Street office in downtown Chicago. At the time, Walgreens said it would bring 300 new jobs to the Loop while it began trying to sublease unused space in Deerfield.

The buildings, which were constructed between 1976 and 1984, are some of the few Deerfield properties that are located in Cook County. The buildings are zoned for office, research and restricted industrial uses.

Just south of Deerfield, TA Realty paid $21 million to acquire a 284,000-square-foot office campus at 4000 Commercial Avenue in Northbrook from Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Office vacancies in suburban Chicago recently climbed to a record 27.1 percent, according to JLL. Brokers have embraced a shift from outdated offices that aren’t in prime locations, which is driving up the rate, to industrial uses.

— Victoria Pruitt