New Bedford Shopping Plaza Sold for $14 Million

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — A New Bedford shopping plaza in a very desirable spot with the impending arrival of South Coast Rail has been sold for $14.2 million.

Mary Serreze reported in The Business Journals that Kings Plaza, which is the home to stores such as Ocean State Job Lot, Savers, Dollar General and the FunZ Trampoline Park was purchased by “an unnamed private investor” from Cedar Realty Trust.

Serreze reported that Bristol County land records refer to the purchaser as 1024 Kings Highway LLC, which is the address of the plaza. According to Serreze, the LLC was incorporated by Fall River developer Zi Qian Zhang.

News of the purchase comes a day after New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell proposed zoning changes that would include creating a Transit-Oriented Development Overlay District around the Church Street South Coast Rail station, which is located close to Kings Plaza.

READ MORE: City of New Bedford Zoning Ordinance Update

“New ownership for the Kings Plaza in the North End is a welcome development,” Mitchell said in a statement to WBSM. “Given the size and location of the property, it has the potential to become a more vibrant retail center. The proposed zoning reforms for the Kings Highway corridor will support such development.”

The City said that “TOD districts are a common zoning tool to facilitate development near public transit. New uses encouraged for the district include multifamily housing construction, restaurants, coffee shops, office space, and light industrial applications.”

A TOD Overlay District would “allow new uses for large, underutilized properties such as the Fieldstone Plaza (formerly Newport Creamery, Shaw’s and Flagship Cinemas), Belleville Warehouse on King Street, Chamberlain Mill on King Street, and the former Payne Cutlery on Church Street and Coffin Avenue,” according to the City.

Mitchell had been critical of Cedar Realty Trust in the past, telling WBSM’s SouthCoast Now in 2023 that the trust had said told the New Bedford Economic Development Council that ‘“We’re just sitting on these properties because they will appreciate in value,’” according to Mitchell, saying that the trust’s investment strategy was not to put a dime into the plazas.

Cedar Realty Trust also owns the Fieldstone Marketplace plaza next to Kings Plaza, which has seen new life recently with the opening of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet in the former Shaw’s, with Restaurant Depot set to take up the other half of the location, although the company’s website has yet to make an announcement about it. The former Papa Gino’s is also going to become Caliente Mexican Grill.

READ MORE: The True Connection Between Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and Building 19