Urban Edge Properties closed on an $83 million, newly redeveloped, 448,000-square-foot shopping center in Roxbury Township, according to the firm’s first-quarter earnings report, which was released earlier this week.
Located on Route 10 in Morris County, the grocery-anchored shopping center, known as the Shops at Ledgewood, has a strong and diverse tenant mix including national brands Walmart Supercenter, Marshalls, Burlington, Ulta, Starbucks and Chipotle.
The real estate investment trust said the initial capitalization rate on the transaction was 7.9% and expects future growth to be achieved from two preapproved but undeveloped outparcels totaling 20,000 square feet, and lease-up of small shop vacancies.
Urban Edge said a new five-year, $50 million mortgage loan secured by the property was obtained in early May, with a fixed rate of 6.03% and the first-year cash yield on the property to exceed 10%.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Gary Gabriel, Frank DiTommaso, David Bernhaut, Andy Merin and Max Helfman represented Invesco and Advance in the sale, while the firm’s John Alascio, T.J. Sullivan, Chuck Kohaut and Mitch Rothstein secured acquisition financing on the buyer’s behalf. Meantime, Mark Gilbert, C&W’s head of retail capital markets for the Americas, was also involved in the sale and financing.
Earlier in the year, Urban Edge also paid $34 million to add Heritage Square, an unencumbered 87,000-square-foot retail center in Watchung.
In an accompanying statement, Chairman and CEO Jeff Olson described the start to the year as “excellent.”
“We acquired two shopping centers in New Jersey … strengthening our presence in this core market and providing attractive growth and redevelopment opportunities,” Olson said. “These acquisitions, totaling $117 million at an approximate capitalization rate of 8%, were financed through a combination of 6.1% mortgage debt, asset sales at a blend 5% cap rate and equity issued under our ATM program.”
