An Ocala property that is home to a highly successful minimart is for sale for $4.5 million.
SRS National Net Lease Group is listing the parcel at the intersection of S Pine Avenue and SW 10th Street that is home to one of Wawa’s new stores in Marion County. Wawa Inc. recently signed a 20-year ground lease on the property, with six five-year options to extend. The triple net lease agreement with the company also calls for Wawa to pay all the expenses of the property including maintenance, real estate taxes and insurance on the 6,119-square-foot building.
Wawa’s lease also features eight percent rental increases every five years beginning in year 11 and at the start of each option period, growing net operating income and hedging against inflation.
The Wawa was one of three to open on April 25 after groundbreaking ceremonies in September 2018. It features a popular convenience store and 16 fuel pumps, with a combined 70,500 vehicles passing by on a daily basis.
The store, located at 1001 S Pine Ave., is just four miles from Interstate 75. It offers multiple entry and exit points, making it easily accessible for customers. The five-mile trade area around the minimart includes a population of about 94,000 residents and an average household income of close to $65,000, the listing says.
The Wawa is located near a multitude of popular retail outlets, including Target, Publix, Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, Ross, Best Buy, Burlington, Pier 1, SkyZone and Starbucks, to name a few. The property also is near Ocala Regional Medical Center and Kindred Hospital Ocala.
The listing contract broker is Patrick Nutt, an executive vice president with SRS National Net Lease Group. He can be reached at (954) 302-7365 or Patrick.nutt@srsre.com.
In the past year, Wawa has flooded the Central Florida market. In addition to the store listed above, the chain opened new locations in Ocala at 3601 East Silver Springs Blvd., 3312 W. Silver Springs Blvd. and 4025 SW College Rd. Another store also opened in Belleview at 5726 SE Abshier Blvd.
Further south, Wawa has opened stores in Oxford at the corner of U.S. 301 and County Road 466, at the corner of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 and County Road 466 and at 13535 U.S. Hwy. 27/441 in Lady Lake, not far from the Sharon L. Morse Medical Building and the soon-to-be UF Health The Villages Hospital.
Another store in Leesburg, at the corner of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 and Griffin Road where a Citizens First Bank branch and a Sonny’s BBQ used to be located, is nearing completion and is expected to open in the near future.
In late December, Wawa announced that a large-scale data breach had compromised the payment information of customers who used a debit or credit card at any of its more than 850 locations since March. Company officials sent letters to customers saying they discovered malware that was capable of capturing customers names, card numbers and expiration dates at both the inside pay stations and the gas pumps. They said the breach has been in place since March 4 but did not affect debit card PINs, credit card security codes or driver’s license information that was obtained when verifying age-restricted purchases like alcohol.
Wawa is a privately held company that began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, Pa., in 1902. The milk business was a huge success, due to its quality, cleanliness and “certified” process. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, George’s grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products. Wawa adopted the Canada goose in flight as its mascot.