Clifton Corrado’s store targeted for warehouse conversion

Corrado’s is an institution in New Jersey, but some of its footprint could be replaced by an even more ubiquitous retailer: Amazon.

A real estate investor proposed building a 187,000-square-foot warehouse at Corrado’s location at 558-600 Getty Avenue in Clifton, NorthJersey.com reported. Approval would lead to the demolition of the retailer’s garden and pet markets, although Corrado’s flagship supermarket would remain.

The applicant is a limited liability company, but its mailing address is connected to the Carlyle Group, which did not immediately return a request from The Real Deal for comment.

The warehouse would also displace other tenants at the Corrado-owned site, including Planet Fitness and Aladdin Pizza. It would have 26 loading bays and 150 parking spaces. The facade would look more like an office than an industrial building, an aspect the city favors.

The local zoning board will review the application Wednesday night.

The city manager said the economic development committee has already met with the development principals, who appeared to be “gearing up for a specific use,” the official said. That did little to quiet the rumors that e-commerce behemoth Amazon may be the primary or only tenant.

For the project to happen, ownership would need to sell the site. Corrado’s, which has operated in Clifton since the 1970s, has faced some financial hardship recently, including losing the Point View Shopping Center in Wayne to foreclosure last year.

The company was also locked out of the Laurel Square shopping center in Brick Township last year after the landlord got tired of waiting for its store to open, NorthJersey reported. Corrado’s said it was delayed by the pandemic but was just weeks away from welcoming customers when the landlord backed out.

Various properties in New Jersey and beyond have been converted, or eyed for conversion, to industrial from other uses as online shopping boomed during the pandemic. In Franklin Lakes, S. Hekemian Group has reduced its 640-unit housing proposal to only 305 units, and plans to replace the eliminated housing with two warehouses spanning 495,000 square feet.

— Holden Walter-Warner