NEWARK ““ The Newark Shopping Center, a downtown retail and restaurant mainstay, has been put on the market, just a few years after it underwent a dramatic transformation.
Built in 1955, the 145,000-square-foot center was acquired by Atlantic Realty Company in 2012. The Virginia-based company sold off the Blue Hen Lanes bowling alley, which was redeveloped into an off-campus, high-rise apartment complex aimed at University of Delaware students, and invested $10 million into renovations of the shopping center.
Today, the 11.9-acre center is 94 percent occupied with 37 tenants, according to Neuman Commercial Group, the Owings Mills, Maryland-based brokerage that is listing the property. In 2015, the center secured its new anchor grocery store when the Newark Natural Foods store relocated from Main Street.
At-or-below-market triple net leases with built-in increases at the center offer investors long-term stable and growing cash flow, according to Neuman. No price has been advertised for the listing.
Neuman has represented Atlantic Realty in other sales, however, including a nearly 125,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored community shopping center in north Baltimore that sold for $18.2 million.
When reached by the Delaware Business Times, Gil Neuman, principal of Neuman Commercial, confirmed that his brokerage expected the Newark Shopping Center to similarly fetch into the eight figures.
Among the tenants in the Newark center are national brands like Wing Stop, Capriotti’s, Dollar Tree, Orangetheory Gym, Goodwill, Fresenius Medical, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, PNC Bank, Rita’s, T-Mobile/Metro PCS and Chase Bank. Local tenants include Churrascaria Saudades Brazilian Steakhouse, Pho Ever, Newark Discount Liquor, Poke Bros. and Mediterranean Grille.
Main Street Cinemas 5, which replaced the closed Newark Cinema Center, also is a draw for visitors.
In its listing, Neuman also highlighted the fact that Main Street boasts an average daily traffic of 23,690 and the six-story One Easton off-campus apartment complex, owned by Chicago-based Pinecrest, abuts the center.
Neuman said that he expects to request offers by the second week in December.
