KITCHENER — A group of Toronto investors purchased the site of a former car dealership on Ottawa Street North and plans to build an Asian supermarket that could open this fall.

The sale was handled by Kitchener-based Solid State Realty, which obtained permission from the investors to talk about the plans for the property. The investors own and operate Asian markets in the Toronto area.

They believe the Kitchener area is underserved when it comes to Asian markets. That, coupled with a growing population and diversified economy, attracted the buyers, said John Cheng, the broker of record and co-owner of Solid State Realty.

"K-W is a very good investment market," Cheng said.

Currently, there are two Asian markets in downtown Kitchener — New City Supermarket at 236 King St. E. and Ben Thanh Market at 470 King St. E. Both have loyal customer bases.

The existing two-storey building at 20 Ottawa St. N. will be renovated to create an Asian supermarket with more than 3,500 square feet of space on the ground floor, Cheng said.

It will have a food court inside where consumers can purchase meals and sit down to eat. It will be modelled on a successful franchise of Asian markets called T & T Supermarket, which was purchased by Loblaw Companies Ltd. in 2009. T & T stores, located in Toronto, Mississauga, Ottawa, Vancouver and Edmonton, typically have in-house bakeries, Asian delis and fresh sushi.

"It will be a similar concept," Cheng said. "We are looking for something on par with Sobeys."

Stantec is handling the design and site plan approval for the investors. Once the City of Kitchener approves the plans, the work will begin, possibly as soon as April or May, said Cheng.

"It is a big project, you are looking at six months," he said. "It depends how things go."

Stedelbauer Motors sold cars from the property for years. It became Gary Stockie Chevrolet in 2008 after Gary Stockie bought the business and then became a Mitsubishi dealership in 2010 after Stockie lost the GM franchise as part of cost-cutting by the automaker.

Stockie closed the Mitsubishi dealership six months later. The owner of Cambridge Mitsubishi leased the property and opened K-W Mitsubishi there in February 2011. The property has been vacant since the dealership moved to King Street North in Waterloo in 2013.

The 1.3-hectare property was purchased in 2012 by Patrick George, whose family owns G & A Masonry in Breslau and Deer Ridge Heights Inc., builders of a residential subdivision in the Deer Ridge area of Kitchener. He sold the property to the Toronto investors.

"I think it is an excellent site for redevelopment, but we have just gotten busy with other things," George said. "We were approached by some buyers, so it seemed to make sense for us."

George was planning a mixed-use development on the site with commercial-retail on the main floor and residential units above. But with light rail transit at least two years away — a station will be built near Ottawa and Charles streets — George believed his redevelopment would be a little early.

"Certainly, it has a lot of long-term potential," he said.

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The location comes with more than 100 parking spaces, which are critical for a supermarket.

"It will not only cater to the Asian market, although that will be the main focus," Cheng said. "I would say it is more multicultural."