Owner Looking To Encourage Growth At Ailing Preakness Shopping Center

WAYNE, NJ — The owner of the Preakness Shopping Center is working on a plan that will encourage more businesses to come to the ailing retail outlet.

There are about a dozen vacant spots in the center, including the 81,000-square-foot flagship spot that Macy's recently left. RadioShack is also leaving. The Bow Tie Cinemas almost closed last year. The dilapidated former IHOP restaurant has been vacant for years.

Owner Wayne Preakness Associates has a plan that will update the look of the center and encourage future growth, said Mayor Chris Vergano.

Wayne Preakness Associates is limited regarding the type of businesses that can go into the center, but retail businesses, banks and restaurants are permitted to go there. The township cannot do anything to encourage commercial growth other than to speak with property owners and chang zoning regulations.

"We simply can not do a poll on Facebook and determine which stores that we want to be located on any particular property," Vergano said. "The owner of the property seeks tenants based on what is permitted in the zone and what stores are compatible with each other. This obviously is not a simple process."

WPA purchased the 39-acre property in 2002 for $32 million. The property is one of the top 10 highest assessed properties in town. It is currently assessed at about $32.6 million. WPA paid more than $1.7 million in property taxes last year.

Negotiations are ongoing between the county and WPA regarding where a jug handle and connector road will be located in the center. When complete, it will be similar to the turnaround that exists at the intersection of Hamburg Turnpike and Valley Road in the Ramapo Plaza. The connector road between the jug handle and center's parking lot will probably run through the former IHOP restaurant.

The former IHOP restaurant has been vacant for years. By Daniel Hubbard

"We are confident that the Preakness Shopping Center will continue to thrive as it moves forward with its future growth plan," Vergano said. "It is very important to us."

RELATED: ShopRite To Go On Redeveloped Wayne Hills Mall Site

If the center is improved, it will be part of a commercial renaissance for the area that has experienced a slow decline for the past 20 years.

A new ShopRite supermarket will take up most of a new 100,000-square-foot building on the nearby Wayne Hills Mall site as part of sweeping redevelopment plan for that aging property.

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Some of the vacant stores, including the former Macy's, at the Preakness Shopping Center. — Photos by Daniel Hubbard