FORMER STOREY'S BUILDING IS SOLD

The former Storey's Food Giant building at 201 S. Broadview has been sold, said a spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. office in Rosemont, Ill.

"A contract for the sale of the building has been entered," said the FDIC spokesman. "But the sale won't be finalized until March 3."

The FDIC refused to comment on the identity of the purchaser "until after March 3."

The sales contract was enacted through a local real-estate firm Commercial Real Estate Specialists Inc., 125 S. Broadview, Suite 7, which ran advertisements on the property in the Southeast Missourian Jan. 28 and Feb. 7.

"This is FDIC policy on buildings valued at more than $500,000," said the FDIC spokesman.

The FDIC is involved in settlements of the now-defunct bank. "We usually ask for realtors input, then assign it to one of the realtors to sell," said the spokesman.

The property was described in the advertisement as a 45,000-square-foot building with 8.01 acres more or less, in a high-visibility, high-traffic and good-access area.

Deadline for bids on the property valued at $1,185,250 was Feb. 8.

The facility, situated in the Cape Girardeau Centre alongside Route K, formerly housed Storey's Food Giant grocery store, which leased the structure until March 1, 1992. Storey's closed because of what store officials claimed was "a breach of contract" by owners of Cape Centre, a shopping development.

Jack Davis, president of Futura Properties Inc. of St. Louis and a partner in the shopping center, said Tuesday he was aware that the store building was under contract, but did not know who is the purchaser.

Futura Properties had purchased the store building from Exchange Bank in 1991, and later entered into an agreement to purchase another seven acres adjoining the grocery store.

The second agreement included a 17,000-square-foot structure adjoining the store and the 10,000-square-foot Hartford Apparel building, said Davis. Hartford's and Mail Box Etc., USA, continue to lease space in the development.

Since the purchase of the adjoining property, two more business have been added Fun Flicks Video Home Movie Center, which adjoins Mail Box, and So-Fro Fabrics, which adjoins Hartford's.

"We still have some empty space in the shopping strip," said Davis. "But, at present, everything is on hold because of financing."

Much of the financing for the Cape Centre facility in that area was by Exchange Bank, which closed in 1992 due to financial difficulties.

When plans were revealed for the Cape Centre development more than five years ago, they called for completion of more than 250,000 square feet of a retail strip by early 1991. But, by early 1991, when Futura obtained the property, the development had only 162,000 square feet under roof.