Irgang Group has signed a series of new leases totaling 46,000 square feet at Union Lake Crossing. These come on the heels of a previous wave of 61,000 square feet of new leases executed by Irgang, bringing the ratio of space leased at the 393,000-square-foot power center to approximately 98% At the time the New York-based firm acquired the southern New Jersey shopping center in November 2021, approximately 72% of space was leased.
New signings for the property include Old Navy, Skechers, Inspira Health, Rally House, Poke Bros., Crumbl, and a recently opened Five Guys. These follow previous signings and openings of Fun City Adventure Park, Cato Fashions and Boot Barn, as well as the expansion and remodeling of Five Below.
Serving the greater Millville–Vineland market, Union Lake Crossing is anchored by ShopRite, Kohl’s/Sephora and shadow anchor Target. In addition to Fun City (which debuted in January 2024), sub-anchors include Ross Dress For Less, PetSmart, Staples, and Boot Barn. Other notable tenants include Famous Footwear, Party City, Five Below, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic, Moe’s Southwest Grill, AAA and Charles Schwab.
“With these latest signings of prominent national and regional tenants, and deals in the works with two other national chains for small spaces, all that remains available at Union Lake is a 2,300-square-foot inline store and an undeveloped pad site that can include drive-thru lanes,” noted Irgang Group CEO Mark Irgang.
“In all, we’ve executed leases on nearly 108,000 square feet since taking over the property, backfilling major vacancies arising from the departure of Dick’s, bankruptcies of Pier 1 and Dressbarn, and closings of several smaller tenants,” he continued. “This progress is a testament to the quality of this real estate, the retail industry’s rebound, and the efforts of our exclusive leasing agent R.J. Brunelli & Co. and their predecessor, Metro Commercial.”
Among the recently executed leases, the 15,000-square-foot Old Navy will occupy the remaining portion of the former Dick’s store that was primarily filled by Fun City. The retailer, which is expected to open this fall, will be relocating to Union Lake from a nearby center. R.J. Brunelli Principal/ VP Mario Brunelli and sales associate Chelsea Reizner represented Irgang Group on the lease, while Old Navy was represented by Michael D. Friedman of Inline Realty.
Healthcare provider Inspira Health is expected to open this summer in a 9,127-square-foot endcap space previously occupied by Pier 1. The office will offer a wide range of services from primary and specialty practitioners. Inspira currently operates three hospitals and over 35 satellite physicians’ offices across five southern NJ counties. Brunelli and Reizner represented Irgang Group, while Inspira was represented by Craig Levitan of Rendina Healthcare Real Estate.
A summer 2024 debut is also anticipated for Skechers, which will open its first store in Cumberland County in a 7,500-square-foot space previously held by Dressbarn. Irgang Group was represented by Brunelli and Reizner, while Skechers was represented by George Wisnoski of Equity Retail Brokers.
Rally House, the fast-growing chain featuring officially licensed gear from pro and college teams, is also expected to make its county debut this summer, leasing a 7,500-square-foot space formerly occupied by Marburn Curtains. Brunelli and Reizner represented Irgang Group on the lease, while Jonathan Spoerl and Michael Gorman of Metro Commercial represented Rally House, which currently operates 190-plus stores in 18 states.
As noted, Five Guys already opened its first location in the county at the property, leasing a 4,400-square-foot space that had been home to Quest Diagnostics. Brunelli and Reizner brokered the lease for Irgang Group, while Stanton Brown of MSC represented the burger chain’s franchisee.
Additionally, Irgang subdivided a 2,400-square-foot former Geico office to accommodate two fast-growing food chains: Crumbl and Poke Bros, with both expected to open this summer.
Crumbl, which franchises over 1,000 cookie bakeries throughout the U.S., leased 1,400 square feet. Irgang Group was represented by Brunelli and Reizner, while R.J. Brunelli Principal/CEO Ron Deluca represented Crumbl’s franchisee.
Poke Bros., which will occupy a 1,000-square-foot space, has 80-plus locations in 16 Eastern and Midwestern states offering customized Hawaiian-style bowls with diced raw fish, rice, various toppings and sauces. The landlord was represented by Brunelli and Reizner, while Niklas Marley of Metro Commercial represented the tenant.
“Coupled with previously added tenants, these latest signings of national and regional tenants help fulfill our objective of broadening Union Lake’s offerings of family apparel and food,” said Irgang. “In particular, the property’s position as a family destination got a strong shot in the arm early this year when Fun City opened its 36,000-square-foot indoor recreation and amusement park, attracting big crowds every weekend and on holidays.”
The improvements to the tenant mix have contributed to a 21% increase in annual customer visits at Union Lake from 4.2 million at the time of Irgang Group’s 2021 acquisition to over 5.1 million today, according to Placer.ai. “When the new stores who just signed leases open, we expect to see another large increase in visits,” said Gene Rarey, Operations Manager-Retail Properties at Irgang Group. Rarey also serves as the company’s construction manager for new tenant spaces, with architectural review of tenant plans directed by Irgang in-house architects Orli Eshkar, RA and Yuri Menzak RA.
Located in the heart of Cumberland County’s regional shopping hub, Union Lake Crossing is situated at the signalized intersection of North 2nd Street (State Highway 47) and Union Lake Boulevard, with easy access to State Highway 55, a major north-south freeway.
The center, which originally opened in 2006, draws from a primary market with 128,621 residents in a 10-mile radius and an average household income of $77,568. But with its 73,740-square-foot ShopRite drawing 1.6 million visitors annually, patrons travel from well beyond the primary market. Approximately 23% of the property’s customers come from 10 to 30 miles away—extending the draw to a total market of 961,012 residents with an average household income of $99,645.
For leasing information, contact Chelsea Reizner, (201) 724-4931, creizner@rjbrunelli.com or visit: https://rjbrunelli.com/properties/millville-union-lake-crossing/
Irgang Group’s roots in retail real estate date back to 1981, when it acquired and redeveloped a retail strip in The Bronx. The firm subsequently turned to developing and redeveloping mixed use and multifamily properties in New York City, owning and managing a portfolio of over 20 multi-family, commercial and mixed use properties in the market.
In 2021, the firm began acquiring, redeveloping and managing large suburban outdoor retail centers. in other markets. In addition to Union Lake, the firm operates Main Street South Fulton in Atlanta and Poplin Place in the metro Charlotte, NC market. Irgang noted that his firm continues to seek acquisitions of power centers and neighborhood shopping centers in densely populated areas throughout the U.S.
