Tanger Acquires Ocean City Factory Outlets

WEST OCEAN CITY -- A major player in retail in the area made a big splash last week with the announcement of the acquisition of a substantial share of the Ocean City Factory Outlets.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. last Friday announced it had closed on its admission into three significant outlet centers in the mid-Atlantic region including the Ocean City Factory Outlets in West Ocean City. Tanger’s other acquisitions include two existing phases of The Walk in Atlantic City.

Tanger announced it had acquired “substantially all of the economic interests” in the Ocean City Factory Outlets from the Cordish Company, a development firm that has owned and operated the vast retail complex in West Ocean City since it was built several years ago. Tanger is the well-known owner and operator of the vast factory outlet complex in Rehoboth.

While the specific terms of the transaction related to the Ocean City Factory Outlets has not been made public, the West Ocean City complex and the Atlantic City project came in at a price tag of nearly $200 million.

“We are delighted to acquire these interests in these two properties, which will increase Tanger’s geographic presence in the great states of New Jersey and Maryland,” said Tanger President and CEO Steven B. Tanger. “Both properties have excellent locations in densely populated, well established tourist and resort areas with a high quality line-up of retailers.”

The Ocean City Factory Outlets, currently 93-percent occupied, is located on 21 acres and includes roughly 200,000 leasable square feet including roughly 40 outlet stores. Cordish officials said this week the company is not pulling out of the enterprise entirely and the Tanger acquisition represents a partnership, which will enhance the retail complex’s viability.

“The Ocean City Factory Outlets is a strong asset that will only get stronger,” said Cordish Companies Chairman David Cordish this week. “It is a joint venture between Cordish and Tanger. We are not going anywhere. … Tanger owns the terrific outlet centers in Rehoboth and their presence in the Ocean City Factory Outlets will enhance the center.”

“We are under construction with a Super Wal-Mart in Berlin and will soon break ground on a new shopping center surrounding the Super Wal-Mart and Home Depot,” he said. “We are actively signing leases for the new center, which has had an overwhelming response from Ocean City-area tenants.”