M & J Wilkow and its partner, USAA, closed the acquisition of East Gate Square Shopping Center on November 10, 2015. East Gate Square is a 771,856 sq. ft., super-regional shopping center located in Mount Laurel/Moorestown, New Jersey – a southern New Jersey submarket of the Greater Philadelphia MSA.
The Property is comprised of a dominant collection of retailers located at the center of a very affluent and dense trade area. The Property’s status as a preeminent shopping destination is due to: (A) its easy accessibility to major roadways I-295 (95,972 vehicles per day), Route 73 (79,885 vehicles per day), and Route 38 (49,307 vehicles per day) - East Gate Square has the unique feature of having the I-295 southbound on and off ramps lead directly into the center of the Property; and (B) the fact that its six phases, which were developed between 1994 and 2002, surround the one million square foot Moorestown Mall, and benefit from the drawing power of the Mall, as well as an adjacent 131,480 square foot Home Depot. East Gate Square is currently 88% leased to 60 tenants, with approximately 89% of its gross revenue coming from national or regional credit and chain tenants.
Some of the features that were found to be most attractive about East Gate Square are the following:
- Dynamic Regional Location - The Property is a preeminent shopping destination due to its easy accessibility to major roadways I-295 (95,972 vehicles per day), Hwy 73 (79,885 vehicles per day), and Hwy 38 (49,307 vehicles per day). East Gate Square has the unique feature of having the I-295 southbound on and off ramps lead directly into the Property.
- Dense and Affluent Demographics - The surrounding communities are dense and affluent with 196,280 people with an average household income of $103,200 within the 5 mile radius.
- Strong Daytime Population - The adjacent office complexes, as well as other commercial properties, provide strong daytime population of over 177,800 people that provides a consistent shopping base for the Property’s retailers and restaurants.
- Adjacent Regional Mall and Home Depot Shadow Anchors - East Gate Square wraps around Moorestown Mall, a PREIT-owned 1,000,000 square foot retail property anchored by Macy’s, Lord and Taylor, Boscov’s and a twelve-screen Regal Theater. Home Depot owns its own store but is located within Phase 1 of the Property.
- Well-Designed Master Site Plan - The Property was developed in six phases along Nixon Road. The six sections of the Property work as one retail experience, but beneficially isolate the impact of tenant lease covenants to individual sections and thus provide greater flexibility to the Landlord.
- Healthy Mature Retail Market - Power center vacancy is only 3.5% and overall market rent growth is forecasted to be positive in the next three years. Outside of a new Costco in Cherry Hill, no significant new retail construction is planned or likely since: (i) large land sites are unavailable; and (ii) retailer positions are already established in the market.