Former Walmart building in Juneau for sale at reduced price

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A former Walmart Inc. store that has been vacant since 2016 is for sale in Alaska at a significantly reduced price.

The asking price for the building in Juneau is $6 million, about $2.3 million below the value placed on the property by the city assessor’s office, KTOO-FM reported Monday.

The assessor’s office values the building in the Lemon Creek area at $8,262,800.

City and state records identify the owner through a limited liability corporation as Alex Kim of Anchorage. Angie Nolan, the property’s broker with Alaska Unlimited Realty, said the owner is private and will not comment.

Walmart remodeled the building before its opening as part of the retail chain in 2008.

“The property is still in excellent condition,” Nolan said. “I think one of the myths is with the property being vacant, I’ve heard rumors of it being moldy and having a lot of disrepair, and that’s not the case at all.”

The asking price was set so the property would be “obtainable,” Nolan said.

There have been inquiries from businesses in the cannabis industry, but marijuana is forbidden under a noxious-use restriction, Nolan said.

The condition was part of Walmart’s sale of the property to her client and remains in place until June 2025, Nolan said.

Juneau City Manager Rorie Watt last year pitched a $27 million concept for a new city hall on top of the Downtown Transit Center parking garage.

The old Walmart would be nearly three times bigger and much cheaper, at about 8% of the cost per square foot.

The city does not have a municipal use for a property the size of the former Walmart that was built for large retail, Watt said.

“It seems like this property should stay in private ownership,” Watt said in an email Monday.

Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon agreed with Watt.