MLG Realty Acquires 4 South Jersey Shopping Centers
A Wawa-anchored Burlington County shopping center is among four properties South Jersey-based MLG Realty has acquired in its backyard.
The $14.3M worth of purchases also included three Camden County retail assets that traded as part of a 1031 exchange, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported.
The Wawa at 798 Woodlane Road in Westampton shares the 50K SF strip center with Pizza Hut, a daycare and several other businesses. MLG bought the property for $4.3M from Medford-based Woodlane Associates.
The shopping center is about 50% vacant, but MLG CEO Mark Greco said he doesn’t think it will stay that way for long.
"We're going to try and clean up what was left from previous tenants over the years," he told the PBJ. "It's just a great opportunity. It's in a really good spot and based on our history, I know we can fill the place pretty quick."
The Wawa is in need of repairs and is slated to get a new roof, interior renovations, and new landscaping and signage.
The three-property 1031 exchange deal between MLG and Rettner Management had a price tag of $10M.
It included Plaza Shoppes Voorhees at 100 White Horse Road, the Centrum Shoppes at 219 Haddonfield-Berlin Road in Cherry Hill, and Plaza 500 at 501-523 N. Black Horse Pike in Haddon Heights.
Those centers, totaling roughly 46K SF, are fully leased with a focus on mom-and-pop restaurants.
Washington Township-based MLG was founded in 1994. Its website lists nearly three dozen retail properties across South Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula. In addition to its Garden State shopping center holdings, the company owns several gas stations in Delaware, with a focus on the southern part of the state.
In a similar deal in August, a four-location Wawa portfolio in Philly’s Pennsylvania suburbs traded for $27.1M as part of a 1031 exchange. It included stores in Newtown, Pottstown, Warrington and Fairless Hills.
