Why Three Walgreens Properties Sold at Very Different Prices
Three Southern Wisconsin investment sales show why the tenant name is only part of the valuation.
In 2026, I represented the buyer in three separate Walgreens acquisitions in Southern Wisconsin totaling more than $9.1 million.
On the surface, the properties looked very similar. All three were single-tenant Walgreens stores. Each was between roughly 13,500 and 15,200 square feet. All were in smaller Southern Wisconsin communities.
The pricing was not similar.
The Waunakee and Sauk City properties sold for about $232 to $233 per square foot. Mount Horeb sold for about $168 per square foot. That is a spread of roughly $65 per square foot among three properties with the same tenant.
That is why I would be careful using one recent sale as a shortcut for valuing another property.
Three Walgreens Investment Sales in 2026
|
Property
|
Closing Date
|
Building Size
|
Sale Price
|
Price/SF
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
401 W Main St, Waunakee
|
2/25/2026
|
15,188 SF
|
$3,540,000
|
$233.08
|
|
333 Phillips Blvd, Sauk City
|
7/22/2026
|
13,650 SF
|
$3,160,000
|
$231.50
|
|
1401 Springdale St, Mount Horeb
|
9/11/2026
|
14,428 SF
|
$2,417,115
|
$167.53
|
Income Explained Most of the Difference
The biggest reason Mount Horeb sold for less was straightforward. It generated less net operating income.
The remaining lease terms varied somewhat among the three properties, but not enough to explain the pricing spread. Income did most of that work.
A sale at $233 per square foot does not mean another Walgreens property nearby is worth $233 per square foot. The tenant can be identical and the buildings can be similar in size, while the underlying economics are still very different.
That is the first thing I would want an owner, investor, lender or advisor to understand when looking at comparable sales.
I Still Had to Underwrite the Risk Beyond Walgreens
The Walgreens name was only part of the analysis.
Walgreens’ restructuring created additional uncertainty, so I also had to look at what the buyer would own if the tenant eventually left.
In all three acquisitions, I evaluated whether the existing rents could reasonably be replaced, whether the locations would work for other users, and whether the sites had longer-term redevelopment potential.
I was comfortable that the rents were supportable in the market and that the locations offered credible alternatives beyond Walgreens.
That mattered because I was not comfortable treating these as simple bond-like investments tied only to the tenant’s credit. I wanted the buyer to understand both the value of the current income stream and the value of the real estate underneath it.
What Happens if the Tenant Leaves?
That is the question I keep coming back to on single-tenant investments.
I care about the lease term and the tenant’s credit, but I also want to know what happens at the end of the lease.
Can the space be re-leased?
Is the rent replaceable?
Would another user want the site?
Could the property be redeveloped if necessary?
Those questions become much more important when a tenant is restructuring or when the remaining lease term is getting shorter.
A property with good underlying real estate gives an investor more ways to recover value if the original business plan changes.
What I Would Take From These Three Sales
These properties looked similar enough that someone could easily treat them as direct comparables. I would not.
The Waunakee sale at $233 per square foot would have been a poor shortcut for valuing Mount Horeb. The income was different, the leases were not identical, and I still had to account for what each property could support beyond Walgreens.
For owners considering a sale, I would focus less on the headline price from a nearby transaction and more on the factors buyers are actually underwriting.
For investors, I would do the same thing from the other side.
Tenant credit matters. So do rent, lease structure, location and future use.
Those differences were enough to produce a $65 per square foot spread among three properties with the same tenant in the same year.
Summary
Three Walgreens properties in Southern Wisconsin sold for significantly different prices in 2026, despite sharing the same tenant and similar building sizes. Oakbrook Corporation examines how rental income, lease terms, tenant risk and future property potential influenced these investment sales.
Tony Keuntjes
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Tony specializes in investment property, industrial sales and leasing, and office sales and leasing — bringing an analytical, research-driven approach to every assignment. By leveraging Oakbrook’s proprietary market data, clients understand their real options, act decisively when opportunities arise, and avoid the reactive decisions that lead to regret.
608-443-1039
akeuntjes@oakbrookcorp.com
Meet Tony Keuntjes