Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust (Crombie) has purchased a 4.5-acre mixed use site that includes McCowan Square, a retail strip plaza located at 1215-1255 McCowan Road in Toronto, Ontario.

Crombie bought the site from a third party vendor for $42 million. It’s next to the McCowan TTC Station and consists of a fully occupied 61,000 square foot FreshCo anchored plaza. FreshCo is the discount banner of Sobeys Inc. operating in Ontario.

“Our initial assessment is that there is opportunity to add significant residential density to this site over time as the property is currently not utilized at its highest and best use,” stated Crombie President and CEO Donald E. Clow.

Crombie currently owns a portfolio of 283 income producing properties across Canada, comprising approximately 19.2 million square feet with a strategy to own, operate and develop a portfolio of high quality grocery and drug store anchored shopping centres and freestanding stores and mixed use developments primarily in Canada’s top urban and suburban markets.

“These tremendous opportunities exemplify Crombie’s strategic advantage of having a strong relationship with a leading national grocery retailer,” said Clow. “Through close collaboration with our largest tenant Sobeys Inc., we are confident we can create significant incremental Unitholder value over the medium to long term.”