- What EM Real Estate sold three grocery-anchored properties in Atlantic Canada
- Why CBRE brokered the sale, which closed on June 26
- What next Fully leased portfolio has a weighted average remaining lease term of five years
Crombie REIT has paid $20.1m for three grocery-anchored retail properties in Atlantic Canada, Green Street News can reveal.
EM Real Estate sold the fully occupied portfolio, totaling roughly 133,000 sq ft, in a deal that closed on June 25. CBRE had the marketing assignment for EM.
The portfolio’s largest asset is a 55,000 sq ft building at 142 Reserve Street in Glace Bay, N.S., which is anchored by Sobeys and Nova Scotia Liquor Commission. The other Nova Scotia building is a 33,000 sq ft Sobeys at 3552 Highway 3 in Barrington Passage. The last piece of the package is a 45,000 sq ft building, at 140 Roseberry Street in Campbellton, N.B., tenanted by IGA Extra and NB Liquor.
All three properties are on triple-net leases with a weighted average lease term of five years. Sobeys, a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Co., operates over 1,500 locations across Canada with a strong regional presence. IGA, another Empire Co. brand, has more than 300 stores, primarily in Québec.
When EM first listed the portfolio for sale early this year, the guiding valuation was around $30m, but that include a fourth property at 716-720 Central Avenue in Greenwood, N.S. That asset is still for sale, presumably with expectations it will fetch just under $10m.
Crombie, which is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, invests across property types. It’s based in New Glasgow, N.S., and led by president and chief executive Mark Holly.
EM, based in Westmount, Qué., was known as Econo-Malls until it rebranded in April to reflect its expansion into properties other than retail. The late Murray Wiseman founded the firm in 1975. His sons, Robert Wiseman and Howard Wiseman, serve as president/CEO and president/chief operating officer, respectively.
According to Green Street’s Sales Comps Database, this marks the largest retail trade in Atlantic Canada since February 2023, when 5-40 Hogan Court in Bedford, N.S., sold for $37.7m.
