Brunswick Square at 755 Route 18 in East Brunswick — Courtesy: JLL
By Joshua Burd
The owner of the Brunswick Square mall in East Brunswick is seeking a buyer for the nearly 755,000-square-foot property, in a newly announced offering by JLL.
Located at 755 Route 18, the complex is 97.7 percent occupied with anchors including Macy’s and JCPenney, which both own their spaces and take up a combined 457,842 square feet, according to the brokerage team. The mall is also four miles from the New Jersey Turnpike and serves as the anchor of the Route 18 retail corridor, drawing from a mainly residential area in the immediate vicinity and from nearby employment centers along Route 1.
It’s also three miles from Rutgers University, which has more than 50,000 students and 9,000 employees.
“Brunswick Square continues to enjoy considerable positive leasing momentum, adding notable new tenants Rainbow, Twisted Crab Seafood and Bar, The Habit Burger Grill and Results Boxing and Fitness over the past 12 months,” JLL wrote in its offering materials, with recent deals total just over 25,000 square feet. “Notable renewals during this same timeframe, including AMC’s (five-year) extension and Panera’s (five-year) option at a 10 percent premium to its prior rent, highlight the property’s competitive position in the market.”
JLL’s David Monahan and Jose Cruz are marketing the 754,229-square-foot, single-story property, which is projected to sell for around $27 million. The team added that, with small shop occupancy of 94.1 percent, there is “extraordinary strength” in retailer demand at Brunswick Square, while inline tenants have consistently generated comparable sales in the $325- to $350-per-square-foot range.
The property currently has nine available suites and kiosks totaling 17,272 square feet, “offering considerable immediate upside potential,” JLL said. Another 20 suites comprising roughly 49,163 square feet are occupied on a specialty leasing basis and “represent a substantial premium on gross rental rates upon conversion to permanent tenancy.”
What’s more, the nearly 76-acre property has more than 783,000 residents within a 10-mile radius, with an average household income of around $139,000 and more than 50 percent of households having income greater than $100,000.
