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Sold: Anchorage investment group purchases former Walmart building

Published 7:32 pm Monday, February 27, 2017

In this file photo from January 2016, vehicles fill the Juneau Walmart parking lot on the first day of its going out of business sale. Juneau’s Walmart, which has been open since 2007, was among 154 stores in the U.S. being “pruned” from the corporate tree, according to Walmart spokesperson Delia Garcia. About 180 Juneau residents lost their jobs. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
In this file photo from January 2016, vehicles fill the Juneau Walmart parking lot on the first day of its going out of business sale. Juneau’s Walmart, which has been open since 2007, was among 154 stores in the U.S. being “pruned” from the corporate tree, according to Walmart spokesperson Delia Garcia. About 180 Juneau residents lost their jobs. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

After rumors and speculation swirling for the past year, the 10-acre property on Glacier Highway that formerly housed Walmart has been sold.

D’s Investment Corporation purchased the property and took possession on Feb. 20, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Empire on Monday morning. D’s already owns the Airport Shopping Center, and is looking to explore the possibilities of this larger property.

A warranty deed on record at the CBJ website lists Walmart as the grantor of the property and Glacier Hwy LLC as the grantee. Alex Kim is listed as the manager of Glacier Hwy LLC, and the source confirmed that Kim is in charge of D’s Investment Group. Glacier Hwy LLC’s listed address on the deed is 4615 Spenard Road in Anchorage, which matches that of Alex Hotels.

The source, who was recently present with Kim at the property in Juneau, said the corporation won’t be opening another big-box store such as Target, citing the nearby CostCo for saturating the market and playing a factor in Walmart’s demise. The corporation is discussing ideas about what to do, but want to guage local interest first in order to figure out what would fit best in the community.

The corporation has been looking to secure the property for six months or more, the source said. Walmart closed its doors on Feb. 4, 2016, after having served the community since 2007. At the time, a Walmart spokesperson told the Empire that the Walmart closed due to it not fitting into the company’s long-term vision.