TELL US: What's Replacing Pathmark?

"You're going to have something wonderful there," is what the leasing agent for the Pathmark recently told Administrator Anthony Mercantante about the fate of the shuttered supermarket.

"He wouldn't say what it was," said Mercantante. "As far as zoning goes, the site is zoned for commercial use, which permits office space or retail."

was a in the Route 35 shopping center bordering New Monmouth Road until it closed its doors last spring. Whatever will take its place will have to fit into the roughly 50,000-square-foot footprint of the store, Middletown Planner Jason Greenspan said. 

The store can be renovated, Mercantate said. But, since it is situated in a strip mall, an expansion would be difficult, if not impossible. The store is leased out by its owner, Middletown Shopping Center Limited Partnership, Ardmore, PA.

"We don't know what's being planned, though we would love to know," Greenspan said. "There has been all sorts of speculation about a Wegman's going into the spot. The rumor has just taken on its own life. I don't think, however, it is laid out in such a way that it could just be converted into a Wegman's. But, if it can, that would be great, too. I'd just love to see a tenant in that space."

Greenspan did say that the only hint at all that his office had gotten was when inquiries were made by "someone doing their due diligence about the feasibility of operating a specialty food market in the space."