First Washington, partner buy Sunset Plaza shopping center in North Babylon

First Washington Realty Inc., a Bethesda, Maryland, real estate investment company, has closed on a deal with an unnamed joint venture partner to buy the Sunset Plaza shopping center on Deer Park Avenue in North Babylon, the company said in an email.

First Washington, which would not disclose the purchase price or the name of the seller, has contracted Kaplan Equities, a Great Neck real estate acquisition and development company, to handle leasing and property management for the 187,000-square-foot plaza, which is anchored by a King Kullen supermarket and a Rite Aid pharmacy.

“In general, it’s a phenomenal location on a heavily trafficked retail corridor. It’s sort of like a diamond in the rough,” said Kaplan Equities partner Mark Kaplan, whose family has worked in real estate development and acquisition for more than 50 years as Kabro Associates. “It’s early in the process, but we’ve been pleased with the strong demand for space at Sunset Plaza by exciting national tenants as well as local operators.”

Kaplan said he expects to be announcing new tenants for the site soon.

First Washington, which also owns the Lake Grove Commons shopping center in Lake Grove, said in an email that it is “very interested in acquiring additional properties on Long Island.” It closed on the Sunset Plaza purchase on Oct. 31.