Tri-state deal roundup: King Kullen loses ground, former Modell’s replacements

Long Island notches a slew of retail leases, and big office lease seals in New Jersey

Rubenstein Partners' David Rubenstein and Warren Corporate Center (Rubenstein Partners, iStock)
Rubenstein Partners' David Rubenstein and Warren Corporate Center (Rubenstein Partners, iStock)

The tri-state area’s latest commercial activity includes a slew of retail and office leases, shopping center sales and development disputes. Here is a sampling of the latest deals in New Jersey, Long Island and the northern suburbs.

Rubenstein Partners and Vision Real Estate Partners have a massive tenant for its 820,000-square-foot complex in Warren, New Jersey. Biopharmaceutical company PTC Therapeutics signed a 360,000-square-foot lease at the Warren Corporate Center.

The company will relocate from South Plainfield to occupy two full buildings in the five-building complex. The space will include offices, collaboration spaces and research laboratories. Construction for the facility is expected to begin this month.

Butler Plaza, a 30,000-square-foot retail center in Morris County, New Jersey, changed hands for $23.5 million. The sale was arranged by Marcus & Millichap, which did not disclose the buyer or seller in the deal.

Tenants at the shopping center, which was completed last year, include CVS, Wawa and Panera Bread, all locked into long-term leases.

King Kullen, Long Island’s largest family-owned grocery chain, is set to close two locations next month when leases for its stores expire. The grocer isn’t saying what caused the closures, but it will leave the company with 27 supermarkets and five Wild by Nature natural food stores.

The closures will happen at 206 New Hyde Park Road in Franklin Square and 77 Forest Avenue in Glen Cove, Newsday reported. Employees at the two locations will be reassigned or offered roles elsewhere. The Glen Cove site is being considered by Amazon for an Amazon Fresh grocery store, according to the owner of the shopping center.

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A Holiday Farms grocery store is replacing the King Kullen in Franklin Square, according to Newsday. The landlord didn’t give the supermarket an opportunity to renew its lease, ending a 48-year run in the shopping center. Holiday Farms, which provides more specialty items, is expected to open in early August.

Modell’s Sporting Goods shut down all of its stores after a 2020 bankruptcy filing. But those who “gotta go to Mo’s” have other retail options on Long Island, where major retailers have filled former Modell’s spaces, Newsday reported.

Harbor Freight Tools is opening at Bohemia’s Sayville Plaza in the fall. Burlington is taking most of Modell’s former space in a location to open next spring at Meadowbrook Commons in Freeport, while Skechers also has its foot in the door to open soon. Wren Kitchens is opening a store in Massapequa in 2023.

Petco is grabbing most of a former Modell’s at the Plainview Shopping Centre in Plainview. And an Old Navy will be ushering in a new era for the location at the South Port Shopping Center in Shirley, proposed to open in October 2023.

Modell’s formerly had 14 stores on Long Island.

An affordable housing project in Poughkeepsie is being threatened by a lawsuit, which claims the 187-unit development would harm the city’s central business district. The $68 million Wallace Campus would be the largest affordable housing project in downtown Poughkeepsie, according to the Times Union. The mixed-use development would include 14,000 square feet of retail space.

A lawsuit filed in February is attempting to invalidate planning board approval for the project, which is being developed by Mega Development and A. Larovere Consulting and Development. The lawsuit is also demanding the developers complete an environmental impact statement.

The county’s senior planner is accusing those behind the lawsuit of NIMBYism. The project has the support of the city’s mayor.