Wegmans Pulls Out, Village 35 No Longer Coming To Middletown

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Blame the economic fallout from COVID, which caused Wegmans to back out and the Shoppes at Middletown to completely fall through this summer.

The much-talked about Village 35/Shoppes at Middletown project, which would have included a Wegmans grocery store and retail shops, is no longer happening, town administrator Tony Mercantante confirmed to Patch.

The Shoppes at Middletown would have been a very big shopping complex built at the intersection of King's Highway East and Kanes Lane, what is currently a mostly wooded area. It would have included 342,000 square feet of retail space, with 30 total stores. Planned anchor tenants included Wegmans, a 24-Hour Fitness location and CMX, an eight-screen dine-in movie theater.

That land is owned by Mountain Hill/the Azzolina family, of Joe Azzolina who started the area's Foodtown grocery store chain. The developer that sought to buy it from them is National Realty & Development Corp.

National Realty told Middletown Township on July 23 it was backing out of the plan.

"He said it's been a pleasure working with everyone, but they decided to terminate their contact," said Mercantante.

"It was a combination of things that caused it: Wegmans decided they would not be building a new store right now due to COVID. The indoor movie company declared bankruptcy and 24-Hour Fitness decided they aren't going to open any new stores," said Mercantante. "This just isn't the time to invest millions and millions in a new shopping center."

24-Hour Fitness declared bankruptcy in April, citing the COVID shutdown as the reason why, the Asbury Park Press reported.

He said once the developer lost those three key anchor tenants for the project, they decided not to move forward.

"It was a combination of all of those things," he continued. "Developers always want to go in with some major tenants lined up and they don't have that at this point."

"Unfortunately, COVID-19 put a stop to a lot of things right now," National Realty president John Orrico told the Asbury Park Press. "It's an unprecedented time in the industry, in our industry, and a lot of other industries right now."

Mercantante said as far as he knew Toll Brothers is still on track to build the housing there. Toll Brothers plans to build 320 new homes, including 80 affordable housing units, on site. They would have been built behind the shopping center.

The Shoppes at Middletown was not welcome by all Middletown residents, and some residents have spent the past several years trying to prevent the complex from being built.

Residents who are opposed say it would bring more traffic and congestion to the area, and degrade the environment. They say Middletown suffers from too much development already. A group called Stop Village 35 is the most vocally against it.

"There was a mix of feelings," said Mercantante. "A lot of people were excited by a Wegmans coming to town. And then there were people who hated it."

He said any other private developer could approach the Azzolina family to buy the land, which the Middletown Township Committee unanimously voted to approve as a redevelopment zone in 2018.

"Given the economic conditions we find ourselves in right now, it's hard to predict what's going to happen," said Mercantante.

Past reporting on the Shoppes at Middletown: Wegmans Is Coming To Middletown

Village 35/Shoppes At Middletown Seems To Be Moving Forward

Village 35 Project Gets Key Approval From Middletown Monday

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