A Florida REIT has acquired a parcel that includes a Kmart store in Lodi, a new tenant moved into Alfred Sanzari Enterprises' Court Plaza in Hackensack, students at the University of Pennsylvania have another place to buy bagels, and Montclair residents have a new upscale oil and vinegar shop, all in this week's deal tracker roundup.

Acquisitions

LODI, NJ — Sterling Organization, a vertically integrated private equity real estate investment firm in Palm Beach, FL, acquired a 6.33-acre parcel occupied by an 85,000-square-foot Kmartin Lodi, NJ, in an off-market transaction from an undisclosed seller via Sterling Value Add Partners II.  Kmart anchors a larger shopping center that includes an Aldi grocery store and Blink Fitness, which were not part of the transaction.  The shopping center is located on Memorial Drive, the town's main retail thoroughfare.  “The Lodi transaction represents an excellent opportunity to add significant value on behalf of our investors in one of the country's strongest markets,” says Brian Kosoy, managing principal, president and CEO of Sterling Organization.  “We think we will ultimately have the opportunity to re-tenant the Kmart box with new tenants that should vastly improve the quality of the tenancy while materially increasing the rents at the property.  We believe it is hard to go wrong with irreplaceable real estate in such a mature, dense, infill New York metro location.”

Leasing

WATCHUNG, NJ—National massage chain Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa has leased 3,100 square feet at bold in Watchung. The 419,000-square-foot Somerset County shopping center is exclusively leased and managed by Levin Management of North Plainfield, NJ. Levin's leasing representative Marcia Minton negotiated the long-term lease. David Dunkleman of Soloff Retail represented the tenant.  Located on the heavily traveled Route 22 retail corridor, between Terrill and Bonnie Burn roads, Blue Star Shopping Center is anchored by Kohl's, ShopRite, Toys 'R' Us, Marshalls and Michaels, and includes such tenants as Tuesday Morning, Avenue, Becker Brothers, Dollar Tree, Petco, Hibachi Grill, Joyce Leslie, TGI Fridays, The Children's Place, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, GameStop and GNC.

HACKENSACK, NJ—Alfred Sanzari Enterprises signed two leases totaling 2,340 square feet at Court Plaza South, 21 Main Street in Hackensack, NJ. Both transactions were negotiated in-house by Sanzari. In the first transaction, full-service advisory and accounting firm EisnerAmper renewed its lease for 1,370 square feet. In the second, criminal defense attorney Robert M. Biagiotti Esq. signed a 970-square-foot lease, relocating from within Hackensack.

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Spread Bagelry will expand its retail presence in Philadelphia on the University of Pennsylvania's campus at 3602 Chestnut Street. Spread, a Philadelphia-based eatery specializing in Montreal-style bagels, plans to open in the first quarter of 2016 inside a 2,265 square feet space, joining existing tenants Wawa, Kiwi Frozen Yogurt and Chattime Hand Drawn Noodles. Jacob Cooper and Janey Goldberg of MSC Retail represented Penn in the transaction, while Brittany Goldberg served as the exclusive leasing agent for Spread.

MONTCLAIR, NJ—RKF, which specializes in retail leasing, investment sales and consulting services, has arranged a 1,350-square-foot lease for upscale culinary gift shop Oil & Vinegar at 28 South Park Street, Montclair, NJ, the company's first location in the state. RKF managing director Jerry Rockoff and associate Robert Mackowski represented the tenant. Neal Richards of The Vanguard Group represented the landlord, First Montclair, in the transaction. The 1,350-square-foot space is located in the core of Montclair's downtown between Church Street and Bloomfield Avenue near other high-profile tenants such as bluemercury, Urban Outfitters, lululemon athletica and South Moon Under. The new store will be an independently-owned franchise location.

MOORESTOWN, NJ—Marine Environmental Remediation Group, a ship recycling company, relocated its 7,300 square foot Southern New Jersey Office Headquarters to 225 Executive Drive, Moorestown, NJ. 225 Executive Drive, located in Moorestown West Corporate, in Moorestown, NJ, is owned and managed by Mack-Cali Realty Corporation. Christopher Henderson, senior associate of WCRE exclusively represented the tenant in this transaction.  Tim O'Brien, senior director of leasing for Mack-Cali, represented the ownership.

Executive Moves

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Jones Lang LaSalle says Andrew Zezas, SIOR, CEO of New Jersey-based Real Estate Strategies Corp., has joined JLL's New Jersey office as a managing director. Joining Zezas at JLL as vice presidents are RealStrat's leadership team, Paulo Santos and Christopher Borgese. Zezas, Santos and Borgese will be part of JLL's brokerage team, led by Dan Loughlin, international director and head of New Jersey brokerage. Zezas and his team will be responsible for new business development, with a focus on cultivating relationships with CFOs and other C-Suite executives. They will also provide real estate advisory and tenant representation services to space users throughout New Jersey, as well as other parts of the United States.

CHATHAM, NJ—Dermody Properties hired K. Nicole Cantor as a real estate associate in its East Region Office, Chatham, NJ. Cantor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Dermody Properties' East Region Office, supporting all development, marketing and property management activities in the region. Before joining Dermody Properties, Cantor held management and analyst positions at JPMorgan Chase, GMAC Commercial Mortgage and Merrill Lynch.

Exclusive Agencies

LYNDHURST, NJ–Avison Young has been named exclusive office leasing agent for 1099 Wall Street West, a 120,000-square-foot (sf) office building in Lyndhurst, NJ. The Avison Young team of senior vice president Steven Geltzeiler and senior vice president Patrick Eichner, based in the firm's New Jersey office, will oversee leasing for the building on behalf of Onyx Equities, which manages the property on behalf of an institutional client. Avison Young is currently marketing spaces ranging from 850 square feet to 8,600 square feet at the three-story building, which has on-site management, abundant parking and a recently refurbished lobby and restrooms. The building, which is wired for high-speed voice and data transmission, is situated in the heart of the Meadowlands region at the crossroads of Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties, offering direct access to routes 3 and 17, Interstate 80, and the New Jersey Turnpike, and is minutes to the Lincoln Tunnel.