It may be another 57 years until the former Walgreens on North King Drive and West Hadley Street can be a new pharmacy without the company’s permission.
The Harambee neighborhood Walgreens announced its closure in 2024, but the company continues to pay rent on the King Drive property, effectively preventing another store or pharmacy from opening at the location, according to the terms listed in the lease.
As Walgreens locations continue to close across the city, the King Drive location is not the only one with terms that prevent future pharmacies from opening in shuttered storefronts without the company’s permission.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviewed six Walgreens leases provided by the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds, including the closed Harambee location and leases in neighborhoods like Midtown and Layton Boulevard West.
All leases signed after 2006 contain language restricting future pharmacies from opening at former Walgreens locations so long as the major pharmacy chain continues to rent the property. The leases even attempt to restrict other types of businesses from opening, including bowling alleys, theaters and children’s play facilities.
Stephanie Tanner, 43, who lives near North Richards Street and East Chambers Street, used to go to the Walgreens on King Drive.
She said she does not understand why Walgreens would include provisions in the lease that block a new pharmacy or community recreation.
“Any type of recreational space [for] a child or parents and children would be huge for our community,” Tanner said.
“The word that keeps coming to my mind is ‘selfish,’ especially if they are not going to be using the building.”
Bob Safai, an out-of-state investor based in California, is the current landlord of the former Walgreens building on King Drive, and in a phone interview with the Journal Sentinel, he said Walgreens would be open to a new pharmacy leasing the property.
Walgreens did not respond to the Journal Sentinel’s request for comment and did not verify Safai’s claim.
More about the King Drive Walgreens building lease
The original lease of the former King Drive Walgreens began in 2009. The previous building owner, Haywood Group, leased the property to Walgreens for about 75 years. That lease expires in 2084.
Ownership of the property has changed hands multiple times before Safai purchased the property in 2017 under the company name MLKJR Drive Milwaukee 14 LLC.
While ownership has varied, the lease conditions have largely remained the same.
Provisions in the lease prevent another pharmacy or any stores similar to Walgreens from opening in the space, and because Walgreens continues to pay rent for the closed store, the restrictions on the property itself are enforceable by the property owner, Safai.
If a new pharmacy planned to open in the space, Walgreens would need to grant permission and forgo the lease terms.
Other provisions in the lease include landlord covenants that prevent Safai from renting the property to other pharmacies or businesses, such as bars, liquor stores, bowling alleys, theaters and children’s play facilities.
It also prevents the landlord from opening another pharmacy within 500 feet of the property while leasing the property to Walgreens, unless the pharmacy chain grants permission.
Typically, this is not enforceable unless the landlord owns the surrounding properties, according to Legal Action of Wisconsin.
According to Safai, his current lease agreement with Walgreens expires in 2034 but has 5-year renewal options extending to 2084.
The original lease beginning in 2009 and the lease under Safai’s company, provided by the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds and reviewed by the Journal Sentinel, does not include this language.
Journal Sentinel examines Walgreens leases in the area
In addition to the King Drive location, the Journal Sentinel reviewed the leases of five other Walgreens, including:
All of the leases, except the Wisconsin Avenue location, which was signed in 1935, include language preventing a drug store from opening on the premises or within 500 feet and several other businesses from opening on the property without Walgreens’ permission.
Four of the five locations are currently operating. The location on West National Avenue closed in 2024, but its lease is valid until 2081 with an option to extend.
It is unclear if Walgreens is still making lease payments on the National Avenue location, and the property owner could not be reached for comment.
Two of the leases, 2950 North Oakland Ave. and 2625 West National Ave., both extend for decades, allowing Walgreens to maintain control of the property until the leases expire after 2080.
The lease at 1433 West Burnham St. is valid until 2031.
The last two locations, at 2035 North Oakland Ave. and 1600 West Wisconsin Ave. did not have a specified end date included in the leases.
Residents and city officials respond to closures
At least seven Walgreens locations have closed citywide. Most of the closures are a part of a multi-year cost cutting plan to close about 1200 stores across the US.
The Journal Sentinel asked several Harambee residents who used to go to the King Drive Walgreens, where they now go as their main pharmacy.
Most say they switched to another Walgreens, but some switched to nearby grocery stores like Pick ‘n Save and the North Shore Pharmacy on East Capitol Drive.
Angela Arbogast used the pharmacy at the King Drive Walgreens. She now uses the location on Oakland Avenue in Shorewood.
“I used to be able to walk to the one on MLK, now I either take two buses or ask my boyfriend to pick up my prescriptions,” Arbogast said.
According to Arbogast, the King Drive location was convenient, but the service was poor, so she preferred the Shorewood location.
Multiple residents also told the Journal Sentinel that they switched to the Walgreens on North 27th Street and West North Avenue, but that location is now slated to close in late June due to security concerns.
“Despite our actions and investments in private security, persistent safety challenges at our North Avenue store do not allow us to operate sustainably,” a Walgreens spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Journal Sentinel on Monday, May 4.
The building lease for the Midtown Walgreens on North Avenue was not readily available, according to the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds Office.
Laya Matthews, who switched to the Midtown Walgreens, now commutes to the location on North 68th Street and West State Street.
It takes her about 45 minutes to walk to the store or 25 minutes by bus.
“It’s a walk everywhere,” Matthews said.
A resolution passed on April 21 by the Milwaukee Common Council directs the city’s Department of City Development to work with the Health Department to develop strategies to attract and retain grocery stores and pharmacies.
“As we watch full-service grocery stores close down as well as pharmacies, which for so many is access to life saving and prolonging medication, I think it is incumbent on us to at least try to do something to both retain and attract groceries and pharmacies,” Ald. Milele Coggs said in the April 21 common council meeting.
According to the resolution, the Department of City Development and the Health Department will report back to the Common Council this summer with the strategies. The council will then work to select the best course of action.
The council does not have a deadline to take action following the report from the departments.
Everett Eaton covers Harambee for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact: eeaton@usatodayco.com.
Neighborhood Dispatch reporting is supported by Bader Philanthropies, Zilber Foundation, Journal Foundation, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689
The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association, and EnMotive, a subsidiary of USA TODAY Co.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Closed King Drive Walgreens can’t reopen as pharmacy without approval
Reporting by Everett Eaton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
