Hazlet Town Center at 3010-3070 Route 35 in Hazlet — Courtesy: CBRE
By Joshua Burd
An affiliate of Onyx Equities has sold a 190,000-square-foot shopping center in Hazlet for $44 million, nearly a decade after acquiring and embarking on a series of updates to the property.
According to brokers with CBRE, LJL Realty purchased the Aldi-anchored Hazlet Town Center as part of a 1031 like-kind exchange. They noted that the property at 3010-3070 Route 35 was 90 percent occupied at the time, benefiting from a densely populated and growing retail corridor and a roster that also includes Burlington, Urban Air and a diverse mix of other inline tenants and outparcels.
CBRE’s Jeffrey Dunne, David Gavin and Travis Langer represented the seller, OASG Hazlet LLC, as did Colliers’ Jacklene Chesler, Patrick Norris, Philippe Jomphe and Matthew Cohen. The Colliers team also represented the buyer, while Brian Anderson of Cushman & Wakefield secured financing.
“The center’s attractive rent roll, grocery anchor and long-term leases provide highly stable income with additional upside through the lease-up of the remaining inline vacancy,” said Dunne, a vice chairman with CBRE.
The brokerage team added that the sale did not include a Wawa outparcel at the center.
“We continue to see strong demand in (metro New York) for properties like Hazlet Town Center, which provide predictable cashflow in infill, high demographic markets,” Gavin added.
Onyx and Siguler Guff & Co. purchased the shopping center in 2016 for some $26 million, seeing an opportunity after the closure of longtime anchors Kmart and Pathmark. The property was just 25 percent occupied at the time, but the investment group went on to rebrand the complex as Hazlet Town Center and complete upgrades such as façade renovations, new landscaped green space, lighting modernization and new signage, among others.
With access from Route 35 and Bethany Road, the complex is surrounded by 2 million square feet of retail space with operators such as Costco, Target, The Home Depot, ShopRite, Home Goods and T.J. Maxx.
Onyx adds three tenants, hits 92 percent occupancy at Hazlet retail center, Pierson says
