STAFFORD - The owner of ShopRite supermarkets throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties has purchased Manahawkin Commons on Route 72, a large shopping center near the Garden State Parkway that includes a long-vacant Kmart store.

Saker Properties of Manahawkin LLC purchased the 320,000-square-foot shopping center from Manahawkin 2015 LLC for $36.5 million, according to a deed dated Dec. 15, 2023.

MCB Real Estate LLC, a Baltimore-based privately held commercial real estate investment firm, which purchased the shopping center in 2015 after its former owner declared bankruptcy, said the deal was for the entire property.

"The center is in the midst of a redevelopment as it relates to the anchor space," said Ed Turkot, senior vice president at Holmdel-based Saker ShopRites, which owns 39 supermarkets in the state.

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Further details were not available. No plans for Manahawkin Commons have been filed yet with the township Planning Board, township Administrator Matthew von der Hayden told What's Going There.

In late 2021, Saker ShopRites purchased seven ShopRites stores in Ocean County, formerly owned by Perlmart Inc., including the current ShopRite of Manahawkin supermarket located at Stafford Square Mall on Route 72. The other stores are in Toms River on Fischer Boulevard, Lacey, Berkeley, Manchester, Jackson and Waretown.

Kmart closed its store at Manahawkin Commons in 2017. The 112,434-square-foot building, which sits at one end of the center, is now boarded up.

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Other tenants include Regal Cinemas 10, TJ Maxx/Home Goods, Michael's, Famous Footwear, Staples, Eastern Dental, Verizon, McDonald's and TGI Fridays.

One plan for the shopping center proposed in 2020 but never implemented would have brought in Ross Dress for Less and Old Navy and moved TJ Maxx/Home Goods to the former Kmart. Burlington and Ulta Beauty were to fill other spaces at the center.

Besides the old Kmart, the shopping center does have some vacancies, including the former Five Below. Signs have gone up touting "Space Available For Lease" at those vacant stores.

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David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for more than 25 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Saker ShopRite owner buys Manahawkin Commons in Stafford NJ