CHERRY HILL, N.J., September 12, 2023 – Bergman Real Estate Group and Capstone Realty Group USA announced that they have acquired Barclay Farms Shopping Center at 1401 Marlton Pike in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The joint venture partners purchased the property for $16.1 million.
Barclay Farms Shopping Center is an 87,750-square-foot multi-tenant neighborhood shopping center on 13 acres. It is currently 96% occupied.
Located on N.J. Route 70 East, just off the I-295 Interchange with multiple points of access and no traffic signals, the property includes an additional 45,000-square-foot parcel ready for development. Current anchor stores include Planet Fitness, Dollar Tree, and numerous restaurants and retail outlets.
Bergman and Capstone plan to create added value through capital improvements such as facade upgrades, new monument signage, lighting modifications, new landscaping, and parking lot and sidewalk work. Lease-up of additional retail and/or medical office development is planned.
“What initially attracted us to the site was its undeniable old-world charm, evoking nostalgic memories of your neighborhood shopping center that has that special character we all love,” explains Michael Bergman, President and CEO of the Woodbridge, N.J.-based Bergman Real Estate Group. “But, looking deeper, its vast expansion potential is what truly stood out — paving the way for diverse retail uses and even medical offices that we feel will create tremendous upside value.”
According to Brian Rand, Director of Acquisitions at Bergman Real Estate Group, the two companies were interested in Barclay Farms given the shopping center’s highly visible, accessible location in a dense, in-fill area with favorable demographics. Cherry Hill is less than 10 miles from Philadelphia, making the location an easy-to-visit one for city residents and southern New Jersey residents alike. These factors, coupled with the increasing consumer demand for service-oriented retail experiences, made Barclay Farm an intriguing investment opportunity for the two companies.
“This deal continues the trend of strong demand for experiential and service-based retail that was boosted by the pandemic,” said Rand. “Consumers realized, once their ability to enter public places was taken away, how much these experiences meant to their overall mental and physical health. Humans are social beings, and being able to go out and enter establishments, whether to eat, get a haircut, or any other experience, plays a significant role in our overall happiness,” he says.
“This acquisition was appealing to us because it lends itself to more expansion capability,” said Rob Friedberg, Managing Partner of Capstone. “We have a lot of flexibility to expand the center and accommodate additional retail and high-end medical office requirements. The development could accommodate a boutique supermarket or grocer, a discount wine or liquor center, and multiple freestanding pad sites,” said Brad Gillman, Managing Partner of Capstone.
“For over 30 years, Bergman Real Estate Group has established itself as a leader in the New Jersey office market, assembling a portfolio of over 2.25 million square feet in 22 buildings,” said Bergman. “Barclay Farms is our first retail acquisition and represents our current business plan to diversify into other commercial real estate assets, including industrial/flex, medical office and multi-family properties.”
The remaining leasing opportunities include in-line units as small as 1,880 square feet, pad sites from 2,000 square feet up to 6,000 square feet, and expansions up to 45,000 square feet. For more information, or to inquire about availability, contact Jason Wolf, exclusive leasing agent at WCRE, or visit www.bergmanrealty.com.
Steven Fleissig of Greenberg Traurig LLP represented Bergman and Capstone on the transaction. CBRE’s Jerome Kranzel from the Philadelphia Capital Markets team was the sales agent representing the seller, Kaiserman Company, Inc., which owned the property for over 20 years.
About Bergman Real Estate Group
Bergman Real Estate Group is a privately owned, full-service real estate investment and management company. With 35 years of history operating in New Jersey and other select markets, Bergman has built its success on acquiring and successfully repositioning underperforming properties. The company’s fully integrated platform includes acquisition, ownership, asset and property management, leasing, and construction supervision.
About Capstone Realty Group USA
Capstone Realty Group USA is a commercial real estate investment and development company with a focused strategy of acquiring value-add and opportunistic multifamily properties, self-storage properties, office buildings, retail shopping centers, select service hotels, and non-performing loans from financial institutions and other distressed sellers.
