Page 14 - RE-NJ

12 JUNE 2024
As supermarkets and other anchor tenants look to expand their reach in New Jersey, landlords are accommodating them with renovated shopping centers that are likely to help attract new retailers to those properties.
The improvements are new, but the strategy is not, according to industry insiders. Repurposing buildings for anchor tenants by expanding their space and responding to customers’ changing tastes is necessary in a largely built-out state where new construction isn’t always an option.
“With the density of the population that we have in New Jersey, there is probably more redevelopment going on here than in other parts of
the country where you may see new construction,”
44,000-square-foot store to an adjacent 72,000-square-foot space that’s slated to be completed in summer 2025. The firm will renovate the original space for new tenants while making other improvements
to the nearly 420,000-square-foot property, including new facades, lighting and landscaping as well as parking lot upgrades and the addition of outdoor seating and electric vehicle charging stations.
Capital expenditures for the project, which is sprucing up the well-known, 65-year-old shopping center at 1701 Route 22, are estimated at $12 million, according to LMC.
Work is also underway at West Orange Plaza at 235 Prospect Ave.
in West Orange, where LMC is expanding a former Kmart building to house a new Target by fall 2025. The firm, which is working on ownership’s behalf, is adding three buildings totaling around 38,000 square feet — with construction on the first two set to begin this summer and a targeted completion date in 2026. It’s also making parking improvements and updating the landscaping, lighting
and signage, estimating that the total investment is around $15 million.
Harding said that, while the company has worked on other shopping center renovations or repurposing of big boxes, “what we’re seeing now is really some strong activity in terms of tenants such as Target and others
RETAIL REFRESH
Expansion by grocers, big boxes spurring major updates of New Jersey shopping centers
By Marlaina Cockcroft
Matthew K. Harding
said Matthew
K. Harding,
CEO of Levin Management Corp., the North Plainfield-
based firm that provides leasing, management and
construction services to third-party clients.
Three of LMC’s current projects demonstrate this strategy. At Blue Star Shopping Center on Route 22 West in Watchung, a ShopRite operated by Village Supermarkets is moving from its existing
ShopRite is expanding and relocating within Watchung’s Blue Star Shopping Center on Route 22, prompting a $12 million update of the nearly 420,000-square-foot property.
Photo by Aaron Houston for Real Estate NJ