Farver Real Estate purchases old Hy-Vee drug store for $400K

After remaining unoccupied for more than nine years, the former Hy-Vee drug store building on First Avenue East in Newton has now been purchased by a local real estate company for $400,000 and is available for lease.

Birkenholz Realty confirmed the sale of the 1207 First Ave. E. property in a Sept. 28 press release, the day in which the sale was closed. Now owned by Scot and Fran Farver of Farver Real Estate, LLC — who possess other properties across town, including Farver True Value — the former drug store was left untouched for nearly a decade, partly because the building’s previous owner inhibited development opportunities.

Richard Boggess, broker associate for Birkenholz Realty, said Hy-Vee instilled restricted use on the property, which limited tenants’ options.

“Basically, no grocery store, no convenience store, no liquor store and no drug store. But there’s other things that can go in there, like a clothing store or a furniture store or something like that,” Boggess said. “They weren’t willing to lease it. (Scot Farver) is buying it specifically to lease it to a tenant.”

Boggess added, “We could have sold it several times before if there hadn’t been any restrictions on it.”

According to the release, “the property is available for lease to commercial tenants at this time.” Until then, the Farvers will clean up the space “in anticipation of leasing the property in the near future.” However, the restrictions set forth by Hy-Vee are still in place for a period of time.

Scot Farver said, “They’re still there. They didn’t lighten up very much on the restrictions. That’s fine. I still think there is an opportunity.”

Now that the building is under new ownership, Boggess, who is the property’s leasing agent, is confident the spot will have a better chance to open something new and benefit the town. Between the Farvers and himself, they intend to heavily promote the vacant space to find tenants.

“It’s an excellent location,” Boggess said. “That’s basically in the center of the population of Newton. We’ll get some tenants in there that will be positive for the community sooner or later … I think it’s going to be good for Newton.”

In the release, Scott Farver said he and his wife are looking forward to finding available tenants to fill needs in Newton.

“It will be good to have this building productively serving the community,” Farver said in the release.

Those who are interested in leasing the property are to call Boggess for additional information at 641-521-3378.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com