First Capital Realty has entered into an agreement to purchase the site of Pusateri’s flagship store and head office — both of which were ravaged by a three-alarm blaze a year ago — as well as a number of nearby lots for approximately $63.2 million.
(UPDATE August 17th: First Capital Realty tells BuzzBuzzNews that it has “no immediate plans to redevelop” the site.
The giant commercial developer and property manager referred to the pending deal for the land at Lawrence Avenue and Avenue Road in a news release, posted to its website yesterday, detailing its Q2 results.
In addition to the Pusateri’s property, the deal involves the neighbouring car wash to the south, and a nearby commercial retail building, small office building and 15-unit apartment. Together the properties, including the Pusateri’s site, add up to about 2.2 acres.
“This high-quality location is well position in a neighbourhood with an exceptional demographic profile and therefore represents a meaningful medium to long-term value enhancing opportunity through redevelopment and intensification,” reads the First Capital Realty news release.
First Capital Realty expects the renovated 35,000-square-foot Pusateri’s Fine Foods grocery store to open by the end of the year, it said in the release.
Following the August 2015 fire that seriously damaged the Pusateri’s building, company president Frank Luchetta vowed to rebuild the store, the Star reports. “For sure we’ll rebuild,” he was quoted as saying at the time.
In June, Retail Insider published renderings of what the new Pusateri’s location will look like once it opens its doors again at 1539 Avenue Road.
No specifics concerning redevelopment plans were mentioned in the First Capital Realty report. BuzzBuzzNews reached out to First Capital Realty’s Toronto office for more details about the transaction but did not hear back immediately.
The acquisition is characteristic of First Capital Realty’s portfolio, which generally has a focus on retail-centric properties and grocery stores in particular.
