A nearly 180,000-square-foot shopping center at the intersection of N.J. Route 10 and U.S. Highway 202 in Morris Plains is under contract to be sold by real estate investment trust Urban Edge Properties. The strip mall, anchored by Kohl’s and including retailers such as Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace, Chick-fil-A and Chipotle, went under contract earlier this year for $60.1 million.
A report in RE-NJ says Urban Edge announced the sale of the property on August 5 during its second-quarter earnings call. Urban Edge Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Olson said during the call that the sale was expected to close at the end of the month, but he did not name the buyer.
A marketing brochure from the REIT says the property spans 27.3 acres and features 944 parking spaces. Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace is the second-largest tenant, leasing a 42,000-square-foot retail pad. Other tenants include Chopt, Home Towne Pet Shoppe, Skechers, Crumbl Cookies and First Watch.
The brochure states there are 63,570 residents with an average household income over $181,000 within a three-mile radius of the property.
The immediate area around the strip mall is also seeing a wave of new investment. Across the road from Briarcliff Commons, the Crossing at 10 — a new mixed-use development that includes 80,000 square feet of office space and 42,000 square feet of retail space — broke ground last year.
A report in Morris Focus says the project is located at the Weichert Realtors corporate campus and is intended to create a walkable, town-square-style environment. The project broke ground in August 2025 and will include over 100,000 square feet of retail and amenity space at full build-out.
The area around the retail center is one of the busiest corridors in Morris County, at the intersection of N.J. Route 10 and U.S. Highway 202. It is less than a mile from the I-287 exchange, less than 1.5 miles from the Morris Plains NJ Transit station, and two miles south of the I-80 exchange via U.S. Highway 202.
Urban Edge owns 34 retail centers and office buildings in the Garden State, the majority of which are north of I-78. The REIT owns Bergen Town Center in Paramus, Hackensack Commons in Hackensack, Hudson Mall and Hudson Commons in Jersey City, Brunswick Commons in East Brunswick and Ledgewood Commons in Ledgewood, to name a few.
Olson said during the earnings call that the REIT is focused on improving both asset quality and long-term growth. The REIT‘s funds from operations increased 10% year-over-year — $53.4 million attributable to diluted common shareholders — while a quarterly SEC filing says the firm reached a net operating income (unaudited) of $98.9 million for the three months ending June 30.
Urban Edge has a $22 million pipeline of signed but not yet open tenants, representing 7% of the firm’s net operating income. Olson said Urban Edge has acquired approximately $700 million of shopping centers at a 7% cap rate and has sold approximately $500 million of noncore properties at a 5.3% cap rate in the last three years.
