Hillsborough Centre, located at 649 Route 206 North in Hillsborough — Courtesy: Gebroe-Hammer Associates
By Joshua Burd
Two community shopping centers in central New Jersey have traded for a combined $18.6 million, in separate deals brokered by Gebroe-Hammer Associates.
In a news release, the firm said it represented the seller and procured the buyer in both transactions. The larger of the two, a 90,905-square-foot shopping center at 649 Route 206 North in Hillsborough, sold for $12.75 million.
The other property is Nixon Plaza, a 40,000-square-foot, two-building complex 2048 Route 27 in Edison. Both are open-air shopping centers that are near mass transit and major highway connections, with a roster of lifestyle and dining tenants.
The brokerage team of senior vice presidents Stephen Tragash and Nicholas Nicolaou orchestrated the Hillsborough sale, the news release said. Executive vice presidents Greg Pine and David Jarvis handled the Edison transaction.
“At a time when industry analytics point to a slowed — and even stalled — retail transaction pace in certain New Jersey submarkets, many of Gebroe-Hammer’s long-time and new clients are seeking to expand their portfolios to include neighborhood shopping centers, with a focus on Central New Jersey where there is a high concentration of office, institutional and apartment-home properties that foster a walkable, easy-commute lifestyle,” said Ken Uranowitz, president of the Livingston-based firm.
“These savvy investors recognize that the dominant multifamily tenant population — millennials — is a feeder for local, bedroom community-based retail investment properties,” Uranowitz added. “Just like their Baby Boomer predecessors, this demographic is redefining the landscape of the neighborhoods in which they live, giving rise to retail-based lifestyle services within a short stroll of where they live and commute.”
In particular, the millennial tenant and consumer base is solidifying diverse lifestyle and food and restaurant occupancies at neighborhood shopping centers, he said.
In addition to local business operators, Nixon Plaza has a Domino’s, Gebroe-Hammer said, while Hillsborough Centre features national tenants such as GNC, The UPS Store, Stop & Shop, Wells Fargo and Starbucks.
