Amarillo College approves purchase of former Albertsons building for $4 million

Brianna Maestas, Amarillo Globe-News
·1 min read
The former Albertson’s grocery store, located at 716 I-40 West, was approved for purchase by Amarillo College for $4 million Tuesday night.
The former Albertson’s grocery store, located at 716 I-40 West, was approved for purchase by Amarillo College for $4 million Tuesday night.

The Amarillo College Board of Regents approved the purchase of a former Albertson's building during their meeting Tuesday night.

The former Albertson’s grocery store, located at 716 I-40 West just off the interstate and Washington, was authorized for purchase at $4 million. The location includes 57,149 square feet of space to be utilized by the college.

Chris Sharp, vice president of business affairs for AC, described the benefits of purchasing the space in a news release.

"This is a very good deal at a very fair price. ...That, along with the opportunity it gives us to one day move some of our technical education programs to a more convenient location, one very near our largest campus on Washington Street, is what convinced us that this is an especially prudent acquisition for the College to pursue," Sharp said.

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Amarillo College approved the purchase of a former Albertson’s grocery store at 716 I-40 West, which spans over 57,000 sq. ft.
Amarillo College approved the purchase of a former Albertson’s grocery store at 716 I-40 West, which spans over 57,000 sq. ft.

The board's unanimous vote of approval authorized Sharp to close the transaction on the property, which is currently under lease to a retail furniture business through August.

Amarillo College has no immediate plans for the space, but it has considered relocating some of the technical education programs from the East Campus to the new site within the next three to five years.

"The purchase of the building is really exciting because it could get us closer to the community and the students that we serve. ... It means that we could further our abilities in training the students to meet today's highly technical workforce," said David Hall, associate dean of Technical Education at AC.

Some examples of technical education programs that could one day be offered at the new location are machining technology, HVAC and welding, among others.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo College approves purchase of old Albertsons for $4 million