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PRESS RELEASE: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker Join Tucker Development and ShopRite at Groundbreaking for Springfield Avenue Marketplace

NEWARK, NJ — New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and City of Newark Mayor Cory Booker joined Tucker Development Corporation today to break ground on Springfield Avenue Marketplace, one of New Jersey’s most highly anticipated urban, mixed-use developments.

Featuring 125,000 square feet of retail space, Springfield Avenue Marketplace is Newark’s largest new retail development. In May, Tucker Development announced that it had signed a 67,000-square-foot lease with the Wakefern Food Corp. retail cooperative, the merchandising and distribution arm for ShopRite stores, to open a new supermarket at the site. As anchor tenant, ShopRite is poised to supply a foothold for a much-needed central shopping destination in the city.

Situated on the edge of the busy University Heights neighborhood, Springfield Avenue Marketplace will service the shopping needs of approximately 280,000 Newark residents, 180,000 members of the City’s workforce and 60,000 college students and faculty.

In addition to retail, Springfield Avenue Marketplace will feature 152 residential apartments and is poised to play a key role in Newark’s continued resurgence, as well as serve as a significant job creator. In total, Springfield Avenue Marketplace is expected to create approximately 240 construction jobs and almost 400 permanent jobs.

"Today’s groundbreaking for Springfield Avenue Marketplace is the direct result of the public and private sector partnering together to bring jobs and access to healthy foods to the residents of Newark,” said Governor Christie. “With this $92 million investment project, we are proving today that reaching across the aisle to work together in a bipartisan manner is the best way to get things done for the people of New Jersey. I congratulate the city of Newark and thank Wakefern and Tucker Development for their continued commitment to New Jersey.”

The development of an underutilized 11-acre site at the northeast corner of Springfield Avenue and Jones Street, Springfield Avenue Marketplace will add to the vibrancy of the Central Ward retail hub. The development is part of Newark’s Urban Enterprise Zone, where customers are entitled to a 50-percent reduction of sales tax on most purchases along with the full exemption of taxes on grocery and clothing purchases in New Jersey.

“We have worked tirelessly to increase opportunities for economic and nutritional empowerment for our residents,” said Mayor Booker. “The construction and opening of the Springfield Avenue Marketplace will address both of these critical issues, bringing jobs and a vibrant retail network into a neighborhood that needs it, while expanding access to fresh, healthy food options for Newark residents.”   

Springfield Avenue Marketplace is one of best-positioned retail sites in Newark — New Jersey’s largest city. The site is within close proximity to six of the city’s major colleges and is just one block from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the nation’s largest health sciences university. Additionally, the development will be accessible by multiple modes of transportation, including two bus stops at the site.

While Newark is densely populated, prior studies have shown that 38 percent of residents’ purchases are made outside of the city, resulting in approximately $575 million in lost sales each year. Tucker Development President and CEO Richard Tucker believes that Springfield Avenue Marketplace will help to reverse this trend.

“This project is going to play an integral role in addressing pent-up demand for retail options in Newark,” Tucker said. “This is Newark shopping for Newark residents and workers. And most importantly, it’s going to be readily accessible to nearly everyone in the City. Further, the project’s residential component will serve the growing demand for market-rate apartments in Newark, specifically in University Heights and the surrounding neighborhoods.” 

Tucker Development is actively marketing several shop spaces and a larger “junior anchor” space at Springfield Avenue Marketplace to tenants. It is expected that the greatest portion of customers will be generated by ShopRite, which will provide comprehensive food options in a full-service supermarket setting, something not often seen in New Jersey’s urban centers.

“The opportunity to serve the Newark community is a natural extension of my family’s 65-year history of service to the people of New Jersey,” said Neil Greenstein, owner of the new ShopRite of Newark. “We hope to be more than a supermarket for the city of Newark - we expect to be a vital part of the community and a good neighbor as well.” 

The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group will provide approximately $65 million of financing for the development of Springfield Avenue Marketplace.  

“We are delighted to continue our commitment to Newark’s revitalization by partnering with Tucker Development and our public sector partners on this catalytic project,” said Alicia Glen, Goldman Sachs Managing Director. “Springfield Avenue Marketplace will transform a site that has been vacant for more than 20 years while also increasing access to fresh food, providing quality housing options, and creating new job opportunities for Newark residents.”

About Tucker Development Corporation

Tucker Development Corporation, founded by Richard H. Tucker in 1996, is a leading developer and manager of shopping centers and mixed-use properties in key Midwest and East Coast barrier-to-entry markets. The company pursues mixed-use and retail-related real estate investments that provide an opportunity to enhance value through development, redevelopment, repositioning and recapitalization. Tucker Development Corporation’s development, management and leasing portfolio exceeds five million square feet and continues to grow through the company’s development and acquisition activity.

For more information on Tucker Development Corporation, visit www.tuckerdevelopment.com. For leasing information, contact Adam Moschin at (847) 926-9999 or [email protected].

About ShopRite 

ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative, based in Keasbey, NJ and the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States.  With more than 250 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than six million customers each week.  A long-time supporter of key community efforts, ShopRite is dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities it serves.  Through its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, ShopRite has donated $30 million to 1,700 worthy charities and food banks since the program began in 1999.  As a title sponsor of the LPGA’s ShopRite Classic, ShopRite has raised more than $24 million for local schools, hospitals and community groups.  Progressive Grocer named ShopRite its 2011 Retailer of the Year and Supermarket News awarded ShopRite its 2011 Retail Excellence Award.  For more information, please visit www.ShopRite.com.