SAN JOSE >> The site of a Lucky California supermarket in southwest San Jose has been bought by a real estate firm that’s part of a family of companies linked to a Canadian business magnate and tycoon.

Canada-based Jim Pattison Developments U.S. Inc. purchased the property at 2027 Camden Ave. for $24.3 million in an all-cash deal, documents filed on Tuesday with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.

Founded in 2006, the Pattison Developments firm is a unit of Jim Pattison Group, an eponymous conglomerate that business entrepreneur Jim Pattison established in 1961. Pattison, a multi-billionaire, has been called the “Warren Buffett of Canada,” partly due to his company’s ownership of companies in a wide array of industries.

Modesto-based Save Mart Cos., acting through an affiliate, sold the San Jose supermarket property to Jim Pattison Developments. Save Mart Cos. owns multiple grocery store brands, including Lucky, Save Mart and FoodMaxx.

In 2020, the Save Mart real estate affiliate paid $19.5 million to buy the Lucky grocery store site, county documents show. The grocery store chain then signed a lease for the building for a term of 16 years. The rental agreement discloses multiple options of five years each whereby the lease could be extended.

The Lucky supermarket is one of the anchors of Camden Park, a retail and restaurant center at the corner of Camden Avenue and Union Avenue.

Three organizations own chunks of the shopping center in the wake of the recent deal.

Pattison Development owns the Lucky California supermarket property, CVS Caremark owns the other anchor site where a CVS store operates and a Santa Cruz-based group owns the remainder, consisting primarily of smaller merchant spaces.

As major retailers such as Macy’s and Kohl’s continue to announce store closures, supermarkets and grocery stores that sell essential items appear to be in a relatively strong position.

In the South Bay, investors still have an appetite for supermarket properties, said David Taxin, partner with Meachan Oppenheimer, a commercial real estate firm.

“Supermarket properties are definitely good, solid investments,” Taxin said.

In 2020, the Save Mart real estate affiliate paid $19.5 million to buy the Lucky grocery store site, county documents show. This means the $24.3 million purchase price this week was 24.6% higher than the deal in 2020.

“In Silicon Valley, retail and supermarket properties are still sought-after investments,” Taxin said.