BERKELEY TWP., NJ-Perlmart Inc. has signed a long-term lease to operate a 60,800-sf Shop Rite supermarket at Berkeley Plaza in the Bayville section of this central coastal New Jersey township. The asset is owned by Quaker Malls LP, an affiliate of Mainardi Management Co. of Wayne, NJ.

The Shop Rite chain is actually a cooperative, with its various stores in the Northeast under separate ownership. Perlmart, based in Toms River, NJ, currently operates five Shop Rites in the region. In the lease transaction, Perlmart was represented by attorney Brian Lenker of Brach Eichler, et al, of Roseland, NJ. Quaker Malls was represented by attorney Stephen Mainardi of Mainardi & Mainardi, Wayne, NJ.

The new supermarket will replace a recently shuttered A&P, and Shop Rite's signing is part of an $8-million renovation, pending site plan approval, that will increase the size of Berkeley Plaza from its current 88,600 sf to just under 107,000 sf. The building previously occupied by A&P will be demolished, as will several other stores, to make room for the new anchor tenant.