502 Washington Street

Description

502 Washington Street — Cape May, NJ The old bank building at the head of the Washington Street Mall — and arguably the single greatest value-add opportunity in Cape May commercial real estate. 502 Washington is one of the mall's landmark structures: masonry, architectural presence, and a position on the most heavily trafficked pedestrian retail corridor in the Northeast. Two income streams currently produce $202,000 annually — a flagship ground-floor storefront and a rear commissary kitchen — under leases running through 2030 and expiring at the end of January 2031. Real estate taxes are $22,513. The current income is not the story. The story is what's above it. The second floor is unfinished. Above the drop ceiling sits additional height that opens the door to a third level. Completing the second floor and building into that volume would add substantial leasable square footage to a building that already commands the best frontage on the mall — and at Washington Street Mall market rents of roughly $150 per square foot, that added area has the potential to more than double the building's revenue. The timing works. The leases run to January 2031, which gives a buyer a defined runway to plan, permit, and stage a renovation against a known delivery date rather than negotiating around occupied space. Executed well, this becomes the most visible building in Cape May. The bones are already there — the location is irreplaceable, the architecture is distinctive, and the untapped volume above is the rarest thing on a corridor where nothing new gets built. Leases available upon request.