Following its sale, a former movie theater property in North Bergen is set for conversion to a self-storage facility.
JLL Capital Markets announced the transaction for 3131 Kennedy Blvd. Jan. 22. The global commercial real estate and investment management company represented the seller, Madison International Realty, in the deal with Safely Store platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The 1.07-acre development site features a vacant 73,398-square-foot, two-story building. The property is the former home of Empire Cinemas’ Columbia Park Cinemas, which shuttered in fall 2019. Now, the 57-foot-tall structure will find new purpose as a four-story, 103,000-net-rentable-square-foot climate controlled self-storage facility, JLL said.
According to the company, the building’s shell condition, large open spaces and high ceilings make it well-suited for self-storage conversion. Additionally, it sits within the C-2 Highway Commercial Zone with Residential Mixed-Use Overlay zoning. This provides wholesale business, storage storage, distribution and warehousing as conditional uses.
Due to requirements of the former movie theater, the property at Columbia Park Center offers 346 parking spots.
A ‘unique opportunity’
Senior Managing Director Jose Cruz, Managing Directors Nicholas Stefans and Jason Lundy and Senior Analyst Luke Ceccoli led the JLL Investment Sales and Advisory team.
“This represents a unique opportunity to convert a strategically located theater building into a best-in-class self-storage facility in an irreplaceable location with exceptional market fundamentals,” Cruz said.
“The combination of prime highway visibility along heavily travelled Interstate 495, proximity to Manhattan via the Lincoln Tunnel and a significantly under-supplied market with strong demographic drivers creates compelling investment potential.”
3131 Kennedy Blvd. offers frontage along Interstate 495, which according to JLL carries more than 140,000 vehicles per day. Meanwhile, Kennedy Boulevard transports over 31,000 vehicles per day. Accessible direct transportation networks include Route 3, New Jersey Turnpike, and Routes 1 &9. It is a mile from Weehawken and Union City, with Hoboken 2.5 miles away.
Within a 3-mile radius, JLL said the property serves more than 603,000 residents with an average household income of $161,184. The market is also heavily comprised of renters. JLL highlighted 72% renter-occupied households in the area with more than 132,000 multifamily dwellings.
Noting a leveling out in the self storage market to close 2025, Rent Cafe put the national average rent at a flat $133 in December 2025. Despite that, another North Jersey city, Newark ranked No. 6 among the Top 10 Cities for Street Rate Growth. Year over year, Rent Cafe reported the change increased 5.7% in the Brick City.
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