Reshaping centers for today’s consumers
For more than 70 years, North Plainfield, N.J.-based Levin Management Corporation (LMC) has served as a premier commercial real estate services provider in the Northeast. Its 125 leased and managed properties total more than 16 million sq. ft. of space.
To demonstrate how LMC continues to keep its centers relevant to today’s consumers, CEO Matthew K. Harding sat down with Chain Store Age to tell us about its redevelopment of the 420,000-sq.-ft. Blue Star Shopping Center—itself in business for the last 70 years on busy U.S. Route 22 in Watchung, N.J.
Before we get into what’s happening at Blue Star, Matthew, tell us a little about Levin’s operating philosophy.
Sure. Levin Management is a distinctive organization within our sector. Our vertically integrated platform offers in-house construction management – which sets us apart from many of our peers – along with leasing, property management, marketing and more. We take a lot of pride in creating synergy among retail space users, shopping center properties and local communities.
We are at a transitional time in retail real estate. Available space is at an all-time low, so more brands are chasing fewer opportunities. Consumer preferences continue to shift, and retailers are working hard to meet a new level of demand for service and convenience. Be it through redevelopment, place-making or strategic re-tenanting, we are focused on doing what it takes to best serve retail space users – and their customers.
So how are we seeing this play out at Blue Star?
It’s an ambitious, multi-million-dollar redevelopment. For many years, we had a 44,000-sq.-ft. ShopRite on the property. But, with the community growing and the market changing, we knew that upgrading our anchor tenant was critical, and a larger, next-generation ShopRite would be the best possible solution.
Over time, we used short-term leases to mothball the extra space we needed to do it. We secured approvals from the municipality. We started bringing in additional tenants and re-working deals, including a larger lease for ShopRite. Construction is now underway on a new 72,000-sq.-ft. store for our grocery anchor, which remains operational in its existing space.
When the store opens next summer, we will reconfigure the vacated space to create multiple units.
Are additional renovations being made at the property while this is underway?
The ShopRite expansion catalyzed a full redevelopment at Blue Star. We are underway with façade updates and the creation of a new outdoor common area with seating, as well as extensive landscaping redesigns property-wide. There will also be upgraded lighting, parking lot refurbishments, and the incorporation of infrastructure to support EV charging stations.
Ultimately, this project will transform a legacy shopping center into a modern marketplace leader. And tenants are responding. Several existing retailers have re-committed to the property, we just inked a lease with Planet Fitness and are in negotiations with additional national brands.
Does LMC’s long presence give it an advantage in undertaking a project of this scope?
We have been at this since the late Philip Levin started building shopping centers in 1952, and maintain long and fruitful relationships with both national and local retailers.
We have seen it all – from the rise and fall of anchor tenants, the e-commerce phenomenon, and, most recently, a global pandemic that shuttered doors for hundreds of retailers deemed “non-essential.” Our team maintains an owner’s perspective and a long-term view, and offers an expertise that clients find invaluable when it comes to revitalizing and – in some cases – reinventing or repurposing properties to accommodate constant change in this fluid industry.
