Skip navigation

New Store Site at Stake in A&P Hearing

A&P is fighting to save a new store development site from a landlord it accused of soliciting competitors to take the space instead.

MONTVALE, N.J. — A&P here is fighting to save a new store development site from a landlord it accused of soliciting competitors to take the space instead.

The future of the proposed store in Bedminster, N.J., has become an unusual and contentious issue in A&P's bankruptcy proceedings, with landlord Partners Development Corp. arguing that A&P should use its Chapter 11 status to reject a deal it made to build a store with Partners in 2009, in part because the rent would be too high for the store to succeed.

A&P in the meantime is defending the deal in spite of such declarations.

At stake is a rare development site in a demographically attractive market. A&P wants the site — a former state transit depot near Interstate 78 — to build a new store it said would symbolize its post-bankruptcy strength and replace a neighboring store with an expiring lease. Court documents indicate Partners Development sought to break its deal with A&P, alleging a breach of contract, and has had discussions with six other perspective tenants, including Whole Foods, to take the site instead of A&P.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled Thursday for U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y.