An investor tied to Javed Aizaz has snapped up the Country Ridge Shopping Center in Essex for $10.7 million, betting that a big empty anchor box can be turned into a money maker. The neighborhood retail complex totals roughly 131,000 square feet on about 11.55 acres along Back River Neck Road. MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services brokered the deal.
Deal and parties
Business entity 1500 Country Ridge Ln LLC acquired the property for $10.7 million, according to The Daily Record. Crilley Warehouse LLC was listed as the seller, and the buyer is linked to investor Javed Aizaz, the outlet reported. MacKenzie executive Nick Maggio described Country Ridge as “an income‑fortress asset” with net operating income above $900,000.
Property snapshot
Marketing materials peg the center at about 131,214 square feet with roughly 632 surface parking spaces on an 11.55‑acre site, and note it was built in 1963. The offering memorandum lists a mix of national and local tenants, including Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Country Ridge Bingo, and Children's R Us Learning Center. Two pad sites are occupied by Fresh Fresco Market and Miss Twist. The brochure also flags a 40,059‑square‑foot anchor vacancy and a 69% leased profile that brokers pitched as a value‑add leasing play, according to MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services.
What the numbers suggest
Using the reported $10.7 million sale price and the brokerage statement that net operating income tops $900,000, the deal implies a yield in the high‑8 percent range, the kind of return a yield‑focused buyer is happy to chase. That math helps explain why the new owner might be comfortable with a major vacancy. Filling the anchor would significantly boost cash flow and could lower risk around any future refinancing or resale. The sale was reported by The Daily Record.
Lease‑up path and local impact
The offering packet pitches the lease‑up of the big‑box space as the fastest route to growing income and highlights the center’s signalized intersection and traffic counts as key selling points for prospective tenants. New ownership is expected to focus on marketing the anchor space or landing a single‑tenant user to stabilize the asset while keeping existing retailers that serve daily neighborhood needs. For now, residents should not see much immediate change at open storefronts. A successful backfill of the anchor, however, would likely translate into more jobs on site and a busier, more fully occupied center over time, according to marketing materials from MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services.
