Your ignorance is vast. They are buying EXISTING buildings that they are already in as tenants.... They are flipping the script to become landlords in a very depressed commercial real estate market. They are not BUILDING those. READ. On the 75% they do not own you can certainly ask them the stupid question above..."Why the hell....." They would, like me, laugh in your face. Stay in your lane.
You really need to talk to an accountant assuming you can understand much of anything. You do not read well or comprehend. From your link:
Publix is on its own shopping spree
Publix continues to load up on real estate. The state’s dominant grocer now owns 25.9 percent of its stores, up from 22.9 percent at the end of 2014 and from just 10.7 percent a decade ago, according to an annual report released this week.
Simple math...it does NOT own 75% of the stores. I would assume that a smart company like Publix is acquiring the real estate in a separate company. Also Publix causes foot traffic in a center. It is a smart strategy in their case to AS IT STATES IN THE LINK acquire the ENTIRE center. They then become the landlord for all the other tenants who want to cluster near the Publix. They charge higher rents. For a real estate developer, that is what happens when you land a national account like Publix. You can land better adjoining tenants who pay more /sqft.
Why do companies/ Publix lease? Because in 10 years when they want to put a Super-Publix with whatever new business venture they want to get into, they can leave that cite and move down the street to the hot part of town into the upgraded facility. Plus tax reasons. Depreciation is like 39years. You cannot deduct the cost of the building like you apparently think they do. If they build/own a new store for say...$15,000,000 they can only deduct depreciation. Less than $400K per year for 39 years. If they lease they deduct the rent monthly. Accounting is way over your head. There are hundreds of variables and tax ramifications in the decision for them to acquire real estate but I like their apparent strategy of buying the entire center, not just their store. They no doubt have a separate LLC that holds the property. Not sure how an ESOP works with that strategy.