Corrections or additions?
These listings and articles were prepared for the
April 4, 2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Retail Space: Bigger Is Better For Some
The behavior of whole categories of retailers resembles
that of hermit crabs. Just as the little crustaceans routinely abandon
their shells, seeking out a better fit elsewhere, so do the retailers
decide — sometimes abruptly — that a change of size, or
configuration,
or maybe of neighbors, would help them move their goods more
profitably.
Susan Malatich-Asack is vice president of the Eagle Group, a
commercial
real estate company specializing in retail. One of the dominant trends
she is seeing now involves the big, new drug stores, owned by a
handful
of chains. "Eckerd is going larger, but they want them free
standing,
and they want drive-up windows," she says. One of the buildings
her company leases, a 10,000 square foot former Eckerd store in
Lawrence,
sits empty. She says all the big drug store chains, selling everything
from frozen pizza to outdoor furniture, have decided they need to
be on a corner, and must have a stop light. For the drug store chains,
10,000 square feet is not enough, while many other categories of
retailers
find it much too large.
"Overall," says Malatich-Asack, "the trend has been to
downsize stores for many years." Another trend is a growing
fondness
for allowing customers to transact business from their cars. For the
drug stores, this means new buildings equipped with drive-through
windows. But other retailers are happy to move into the spaces left
by all the branch office banks that have closed due to waves of
industry
consolidation. A case in point, Malatich-Asack says, is the new Dunkin
Donuts restaurant on North Olden Avenue in Ewing that is handing sacks
of jelly donuts through the window from which Mid-Jersey Bank once
dispensed cash.
Vinnie and Susan Jordan, who own that Dunkin Donuts, demonstrate
another
example of moving in to a type of space another category of tenant
has decided to abandon. The Jordans also operate the Dunkin Donuts
in the Lawrence strip mall opposite St. Ann’s church. Until recently
small shopping centers like the one in which Dunkin Donuts is
establishing
itself were anchored by convenience stores. But, Asack says, chains
like WaWa "want to be freestanding, and want gas pumps out
front."
Anchors are a vital retail component, and just as small strip malls
are losing their Wawas, larger shopping areas are losing their
supermarkets.
"We truly are going through a passage," Malatich-Asack says.
"Most supermarkets are gone." Not gone entirely, of course,
but gone from the mid-sized strip malls where they once drew traffic
to dry cleaners, pizza parlors, and card shops.
"Finding another anchor, that’s the problem," Malatich-Asack
says. "Finding a creditworthy anchor; it’s a issue. All of our
small spaces are full, and we can’t rent the larger spaces. We have
to reinvent ourselves." A possible substitute for the drug store
or supermarket is the dollar store. "The new Dollar Express in
Lawrenceville is very successful," Malatich-Asack says. Maybe
too successful. "It makes other dollar stores reluctant,"
she says.
Meanwhile, Eagle can’t fill all the requests it gets for small spaces.
"People are looking for the 1,500 square foot store," she
says. And where most calls used to come from pizza parlors and dry
cleaners, "now it’s dollar stores, ethnic food stores, and day
care."
Mark Hill, whose agency, Hilton Realty, leases retail space in
shopping
centers from Landsdale, Pennsylvania, to the Jersey Shore, also is
seeing changes in the retail mix. "Grocery stores are considerably
larger," he notes. "They sell everything" — including
many items that not too long ago passed over the counters of
complementary
shopping center tenants.
More and more, Hill says, professional and office uses want to move
into shopping centers where bakeries, video stores, and banks are
moving out. These are largely untried uses for a shopping center and
may not work, but, Hill says, "landlords may give them a try."
Retail leasing activity throughout the area is "steady," Hill
says, with some areas, the Montgomery Shopping Center, for example,
doing very well. Stores in "out of the way" areas are
commanding
about $10 to $12 a square foot, while, at the other end of the scale,
storefronts in downtown Princeton are renting for about $40 a square
foot. Actual rents are higher because most stores are renting at
"triple
net," which works out to about $5 more a square foot for expenses
that landlords pass along, including taxes, insurance, and utilities.
In a continuing trend, Hill says, "If you want a space in downtown
Princeton, it’s very difficult."
— Kathleen McGinn Spring
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RETAIL SPACE FOR RENT
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Hamilton
Hamilton Shopping Center, 1080 Whitehorse-Mercerville
Road. Available square feet: 9,000, divisible to 1,200. Net rent,
$14.00. Conditions: Triple net, plus operating expenses @ $4.63 per
foot, utilities, and cleaning. Approximate per-month cost: $1,400,
net.
Hilton Realty, Mark Hill/Jon Brush, 609-921-6060.
Owner: Hilton Realty of Princeton. Other tenants: Shop-N-Bag, Arts
Record, Shin Karate. Size: 58,000 square feet. High visibility,
anchored
by 25,000-foot supermarket
Municipal Square Shopping Center, 1469 Nottingham
Way. Available square feet: 1,200. Net rent, $1,400. Conditions:
plus utilities. Approximate per-month cost: $140,000, net.
Ridolfi & Associates, Joe Ridolfi, 609-584-0900.
Size of building: 1,200 square feet. Strip shopping center, five-year
term available.
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Montgomery
Montgomery Shopping Center, Route 206 North.
Available
square feet: 2,612. Net rent, $16. Conditions: triple net plus $4.91
operating expenses, utilities, and cleaning. Approximate per-month
cost: $3,483, net.
Hilton Realty, Mark Hill/Jon Brush, 609-921-6060.
Building owner: Hilton Realty Co. of Princeton. Other tenants: Shop
Rite, Opera Room Chinese Restaurant, Eckerd, Scandinavian Furniture.
Size of building: 1,500,086 square feet. Very busy shopping center
anchored by 60,000-foot leading supermarket, 4 restaurants, movie
theater, high visibility, great signage.
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Princeton Borough
182 Nassau Street. Available square feet: 3,375. Net
rent, $19. Conditions: triple net @ $6.25 per square foot. Approximate
per-month cost: $5,344, net.
Callaway Commercial, Tim Norris, 609-921-1070. Size
of building: 28,000 square feet. Largest block of retail space
available
in Princeton. Next door to Cox’s Market, across from Thomas Sweets
and Princeton University.
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Trenton
24 East Hanover Street. Available square feet: 530.
Net rent, $17. Conditions: plus utilities. Approximate per-month cost:
$751, net.
Ridolfi & Associates, Joe Ridolfi, 609-584-0900.
Size of building: 530 square feet. Downtown business district
storefront,
retail or office unit on first floor.
20 East Hanover Street. Available square feet: 2,000.
Net rent, $9. Conditions: plus utilities. Approximate per-month cost:
$1,500, net.
Ridolfi & Associates, Joe Ridolfi, 609-584-0900.
Size of building: 2,000 square feet. First floor retail office unit.
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West Windsor
Princeton Arms Shopping Center, 2025 Old Trenton
Road. Available square feet: 13,000, divisible to 1,148. Net rent,
$14. Conditions: plus operating expenses at $5.04 per foot.
Approximate
per-month cost: $1,339, net.
Hilton, Jon Brush/Mark Hill, 609-921-6060. Building
owner: Hilton Realty. Other tenants: Carr’s Hardware, Gamers’ Realm,
Eva’s nail & skin salon. Size of building: 32,000 square feet. Strip
center anchored by Little Szechuan, Cafe Capuano Italian restaurant,
rapidly growing area.
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Retail Space for Sale
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Ewing
1668 North Olden Avenue. Size of building: 1,995.
Retail/office building and Cape Cod house located on property.
Suitable for jewelry store, beauty & nail shop, childcare center, of
offices. Asking price: $249,000.
Ridolfi & Associates, Joe Ridolfi, 609-584-0900.
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Trenton
905-909 Liberty Street. Size of building: 2,000.
Two thousand square foot, four unit, office/retail strip center, great
investment opportunity. Asking price: $110,000.
Ridolfi & Associates, Joe Ridolfi, 609-584-0900.
809-811 South Broad Street. Size of building:
5,400. Located in Capitol South district. Asking price:
$195,000.
Segal Commercial Real Estate, Anne LaBate,
609-882-3737.
1300-1303 Windsor Road. Size of building:
20,000. Former retail building ideal for conversion to professional
office space. Asking price: $1,400,000.
Segal Commercial Real Estate, Stephen Segal/Chuck
Segal, 609-882-3737.
Strip Center, 41 Princeton Hightstown Road. Size
of building: 9,500. Full leased strip center on 1.28 acres. Call for
details. Asking price: $1,675,000.
Commercial Property Network, Al Toto, 609-921-8844.
Corrections or additions?
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— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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