Pacific Retail Capital Partners Buys 1.2 MSF New Jersey Mall

Bridgewater Commons. Image courtesy of Pacific Retail Capital Partners

Pacific Retail Capital Partners has acquired Bridgewater Commons, a 1.2 million-square-foot mall along the I-287 corridor, in Bridgewater Township, N.J.

The acquisition also included The Village at Bridgewater Commons, a 94,000-square-foot open-air shopping district adjacent to Bridgewater Commons.

The deal marks PRCP’s entry into New Jersey. Financials on the transaction were not disclosed.

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Bridgewater Commons. Image courtesy of Pacific Retail Capital Partners

PRCP describes Bridgewater Commons, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, as “one of Northern New Jersey’s premier shopping destinations.” The center’s more than 150 tenants include Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, J. Crew, Apple, Lululemon Athletica, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Seasons 52, AMC Dine-In Theatres, LOFT, The Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano’s Little Italy and Shake Shack.

Under the terms of the transaction agreement, PRCP assumed Bridgewater Commons’ existing loan and secured an extension that will give the buyer enough time to execute its plan to transform the mall into a mixed-use destination.

A PRCP spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive that as of now there is no firm plan nor timeline for the property’s redevelopment, only that now that PRCP has completed the acquisition, “they can begin the process of working with city officials to design a plan to meet the needs of the community.”

The right mix

PRCP has several redevelopment/repositioning projects going at the moment.

• It’s redeveloping The Galleria at White Plains in White Plains, N.Y., in partnership with Cappelli Organization and SL Green.
• At Yorktown Center in Lombard, Ill., PRCP acquired the former Carson’s anchor box and is transforming it into a mixed-use destination by adding more than 600 multifamily units and a park.
• The company is also repositioning Shops at South Town in Sandy, Utah, into a live-work-play environment by building more than 1,000 multifamily units and adding office and hotel components, along with additional retail and restaurant space.

“Multifamily additions are particularly beneficial in areas with dense population and high growth,” says a first-quarter U.S. Retail Outlook from JLL. According to the report, several vacant Macy’s boxes are being converted into multifamily complexes in Central Florida, and in South Florida plans are underway to convert empty department store space and underutilized parking areas into multifamily properties.