VIENNA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Atlantic Realty Companies, Inc. announced today that Newark Natural Foods Co-op recently signed a lease for 17,610 square feet in Newark Shopping Center, located on Main Street in Newark, Delaware. Newark Shopping Center is managed by Atlantic Realty Companies (ARC), Vienna, VA; and is owned by ARC and partner Angelo, Gordon & Co., New York, NY.
Newark Natural Foods Co-op offers access to locally produced and grown foods and merchandise through its store and the seasonal farmers market. It is a one-stop shop for the freshest organic and local foods. It offers a wide selection of allergen free, gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and vegan foods and also features antibiotic, hormone-free meats and dairy. It is also known for its extensive supplemental health and beauty care department and a great selection of environmentally friendly household items and informative books.
Newark Natural Foods Co-op embraces the mandate of a social service organization. Its community education room is used for free Landscape Conservation seminars, CPR training, events for children and more. It hosts a farmers market every Sunday from May through mid-November.
“The new location at 250 E. Main Street will more than double our current size,” said Karen Taylor, General Manager of the Newark Natural Foods Co-op. “The larger store will increase shelf space by 20% and will allow a cafe with hot and cold organic foods, a larger community education room, a bigger Sunday farmers market, as well as space to grow.”
The Co-op began in 1967 as a food-buying club when individuals banded together to establish a local source for unadulterated, unrefined, organically grown food. Clearly an idea whose time has come, the Co-op has continued to attract new members concerned about their and their families’ health and environmental impact. The active membership now exceeds 3,600 households.
“This relocation will be good for both the Newark Natural Foods Co-op and for the Newark Shopping Center,” said Maureen Feeney Roser, Director of Planning & Development for Newark, Delaware. “Newark Shopping Center is a visible and esthetically pleasing location for Newark Natural Foods Co-op and their farmers market, and they will be a great tenant and bring customers to the center.”
Redevelopment of Newark Shopping Center
The developer, Virginia-based Atlantic Realty Companies, Inc. and partner Angelo, Gordon & Co. plan to make the community shopping center more pedestrian-friendly and contemporary and will:
- Improve traffic lanes and parking
- Update the signage
- Install new landscaping
- Renovate existing structures
- Cut a pedestrian walkway through a retail pavilion to connect the multi-family structure to Pomeroy Trail
- Replace the bowling alley with an apartment building with 230 upscale residential units and parking garage.
“We’re privileged to be able to redevelop and reinvigorate the center,” says David A. Ross, Partner and President, Atlantic Realty Companies. “With the improvements we are making, not only cosmetically but also structurally, we hope that the center will come full circle, back into the lively community space that it used to be.”
Marilyn Minster, owner of Minster’s Jewelers, said that she is “thrilled” to see the shopping center being redeveloped so that it will thrive again. “I was in seventh heaven when David (David Ross, Partner and President of Atlantic Realty Companies, Inc.) offered to restore our original sign that has been disconnected for years. Now it is beautiful just like it used to be,” she said. “Minster’s Jewelry was the first tenant when the center was built. I’ve been here so long, it’s like home.”
Newark Shopping Center is the second oldest retail center in Delaware, built in 1955.
Jim Creed of CBRE and Atlantic Realty Associates jointly represented Newark Natural Foods Co-op.
Atlantic Realty Companies, Inc. is one of the largest commercial real estate developers in the Washington/Baltimore region, according to the Washington Business Journal. Now in its 23rd year of operation, Atlantic Realty is a full-service company that owns and manages a portfolio of five million square feet of office and retail space.
Angelo, Gordon & Co. is a privately-held registered investment advisor dedicated to alternative investing. The firm was founded in 1988 and currently manages approximately $26.5 billion.
For more information, visit
http://www.newarknaturalfoods.com
https://www.facebook.com/NewarkNaturalFoods
