Urban Edge Selling 180,000 SQFT Morris Plains Retail Center
Urban Edge Properties is selling a nearly 180,000-square-foot shopping center in Morris Plains for some $60.5 million, the real estate investment trust announced recently.
The complex, Briarcliff Commons, occupies 27.3 acres at the busy intersection of routes 10 and 202, with anchors including Kohl’s and Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace. It’s also home to Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, Chopt, Home Towne Pet Shoppe, Skechers, Crumbl Cookies and First Watch, serving a population of 63,570 within a three-mile radius whose average household income is just over $181,000.
Urban Edge said on Aug. 5 that it was under contract to sell the 179,539-square-foot center at 1711 Route 10 East, speaking during its second-quarter earnings call. It did not identify the buyer but said it expected the deal to close by month’s end.
That came as part of an update on what the REIT describes as its capital recycling strategy, which is focused on improving both asset quality and long-term growth. In the second quarter, the company acquired The Shops at West Falls Church, an 85,000-square-foot Safeway-anchored center in Falls Church, Virginia, and a leasehold interest at Shoppers World in Framingham, Massachusetts, in deals totaling $51.1 million.
“The market for acquisitions remains highly competitive,” said Jeff Olson, Urban Edge’s chairman and CEO, according to a transcript of the Q2 earnings call. “We’re seeing significant capital, both institutional and private, chasing retail, which has compressed cap rates across the sector. However, given the fragmented nature of the market, we are still finding a handful of deals that meet our return thresholds. We expect to fund some of that activity by selling lower-growth, high-credit stabilized assets from our existing portfolio.”