Hillsborough Village Center at 1 Housel Circle in Hillsborough — Courtesy: Larken Associates
By Joshua Burd
Larken Associates has announced two leases that will bring an art school and a learning center to Hillsborough Village Center, its new mixed-use development off Route 206.
In the larger deal, The Art Academy of Hillsborough LLC has taken 3,055 square feet at the property at 1 Housel Circle. The space will provide a new home for the operator, which combines contemporary and traditional methods to help students across every level quickly develop technical proficiency, enabling it to return to its roots in the township and a growing retail roster that also includes Yoga M.A.T.T., Tropical Smoothie Cafe and JC Nail Spa.
Larken Associates added that, since its founding in 2009, the Art Academy has been a tenant at multiple properties in its portfolio, including sites in both Hillsborough and Raritan.
“We’re proud to announce that The Art Academy is scheduled to return to Hillsborough in January of 2024,” said Kevin Murphy, founder of The Art Academy. “Hillsborough Village Center’s flexibility and convenient location will allow us to continue to offer the finest art education for youth, teens and adults while also encouraging prospective students to take advantage of our free introductory class to begin their artistic journey. We look forward to growing our relationships in the community as we get closer to our opening.”
Meantime, Larken has leased 1,698 square feet at the property to Genie Academy, a learning enrichment center offering classes in Abacus math, Common Core math, reading, writing and coding. It also plans to open in January in what will be its first space at a Larken property and its sixth overall in New Jersey.
“Our expansion into the Hillsborough community will help our existing Hillsborough, Montgomery and Bridgewater students who have had to travel to our other centers,” said Mohit Jain, founder of Genie Academy. “We also hope to work with many other local students in the Hillsborough area and give parents a convenient location to enrich their children.”
Victor Kelly of Raider Realty, Larken’s in-house brokerage division, represented ownership in both leases. The deals have bolstered the tenant lineup at a property that opened in 2021 with 191 luxury apartments and 28,000 square feet of on-site office, medical and retail space.
“Hillsborough Village Center’s ground-level retail is suited to meet the needs of a variety of tenants in today’s market,” said Kelly, an executive vice president with Raider Realty. “The Art Academy of Hillsborough and Genie Academy’s missions align with our focus on adding high-quality tenants to support our local community and we wish them the best of luck in their new space.”
