KarMar Realty Group, Inc. announced the sale of 29.5± acres in Glen Mills, Pa. to Chadds Ford Investors, LP. The property is located on the Route 202 and Route 1 loop road southwest of the intersection of Routes 1 and 202. The seller was D.O.H. Family, LP. Terms were not disclosed.
“Wegmans has leased a portion of the site from Chadds Ford Investors, LP for a 140,000 square foot retail store, scheduled to open in the fall of 2015,” said Marshall Soss, president of KarMar Realty Group, Inc., “Chadds Ford Investors, LP will also build an additional 40,000 square feet of retail space on the site. Chadds Ford Investors, LP will be constructing a new portion of the loop road and bring all utilities to the site.”
Chadds Ford Live , a local news website recently confirmed the fall time frame for the store opening. The project received township approval earlier this year, but construction at the site was delayed by a rough winter in the region, the website reported.
The store will be nearly double the size even the largest supermarkets in northern Delaware. That leaves room for a dining area as well as large deli, bakery and prepared food departments.
Wegmans is a family owned company based near Rochester New York, with more than 80 stores on the East Coast. In addition to its expansion in the Delaware Valley, the company has added stores in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. areas. The company ranks high as a good place to work and in a ranking of supermarket chains by Consumer Reports.
“When the new Wegmans is completed it will be 16 miles from the store in Malvern and is ideally placed to serve Delaware County, southern Chester County and northern Delaware,” said Justin Soss, Executive Vice President of KarMar Realty Group, Inc. “When the new extension of the loop road is completed the property will have access from both Routes 1 and 202.
Wegmans has long been viewed as a possibility in northern Delaware. However, a lack of land and zoning battles have made bringing upscale grocers to the state more difficult. Whole Foods, after talk of a site in north Wilmington, opted for a former Genuardi’s location off Route 202, south of the planned Wegmans location.
With the continuing development of the Christiana Mall area, Whole Foods has been mentioned as a candidate for the Christiana Fashion Center, immediately adjacent to the regional center. Wegmans would also seem to fit the profile, although grocers benefit less from the lack of a sales tax in Delaware than other types of retailers.
“The 40,000 square feet of new retail space that Chadds Ford Investors, LP is planning should be highly sought after given the number of customers that Wegmans will draw,” said Soss. KarMar Realty Group, Inc. represented both parties in the transaction. KarMar Realty Group, Inc. is headquartered in Chadds Ford. – Includes dispatches from CityBizList.com.
