Urban Edge Properties has leased the former National Wholesale Liquidators building on Route 17 in Lodi, New Jersey to AAA Wholesale.
The 130,000 s/f building will serve as a wholesale membership club supplying smaller grocery stores, delis and convenience stores, with 20,000 s/f allocated to consumers wishing to shop in store.
AAA has locations in the Bronx and Brooklyn. The new location will be its first in New Jersey and is expected to yield more than 100 new jobs.
Resource Realty of Northern New Jersey’s Tom Consiglio and Scott Peck represented ownership, while CBRE’s Bill Waxman and Kevin Dudley represented the tenant.
“We continue to seek older underutilized retail sites to service the needs of our clients requiring well located properties that can be converted to industrial use,” said Dudley.
Waxman added, “In the next few quarters you will hear about many more of these types of transactions and our team is working on multiple projects right now. The owner, Urban Edge, had the vision to make the conversion and secure an excellent long-term tenant.”
“Lodi is an ideal location for our buyers with excellent commercial access and easy loading. We are excited to open our first New Jersey location,” said Alex Almontaser, founder and CEO of AAA Wholesale Group. “We have a partner in Urban Edge Properties that is vested in our success, reconfiguring the property to meet our needs and make it possible for us to service the surrounding community through direct to consumer wholesale merchandise.”
Urban Edge, a real estate investment trust, announced last spring that it was converting the former National Wholesale Liquidators store into a warehouse and distribution facility. The plan calls for repurposing the first story into a 103,000 s/f, high-bay warehouse with 26-foot ceiling clearance, seven new loading docks, LED lighting with motion detection and a new roof and parking lot.
“With the recent market challenges resulting from COVID-19, we are pleased to have identified this use and secured a terrific lease and partnership with AAA Wholesale Group,” said Chris Weilminster, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Urban Edge.
