NEW
GLASGOW, NS, Feb. 22,
2023 /CNW/ - Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust
("Crombie" or "the REIT") (TSX: CRR.UN) today announced that
following a successful 13.5-year tenure as President and Chief
Executive Officer ("CEO") of Crombie, Don
Clow will retire as CEO on February
28, 2023. Concurrent with Mr. Clow's decision, the Board of
Trustees of Crombie has appointed Mark
Holly as President and CEO. Mr. Holly will assume his new
role on March 1, 2023, and will also
be appointed a Trustee of the REIT.
"On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to extend our
sincere gratitude and appreciation to Don, who has transformed
Crombie from a traditional grocery-anchored retail landlord into a
strategic owner and developer of grocery-anchored retail,
retail-related industrial, and mixed-use residential properties
across Canada," says Michael Knowlton, Board Chair. "Under Don's
leadership, total Unitholder returns over the last three, five and
10 years have been sector-leading. He leaves the REIT in a far
stronger position than when he arrived and has set us up for
success as we embark on the next leg of our journey."
"For almost 14 years, I have had the privilege of serving as
Crombie's President and CEO," says Don
Clow. "In my time at Crombie, I've worked with a team of
high-performing, caring people who are incredibly dedicated to
their work and to the communities in which we operate. Over five
years ago, we set an ambitious strategic goal of completing six
major development projects, all while maintaining our commitment to
a strong balance sheet, optimal portfolio quality, and an enhanced
relationship with our strategic partner, Empire. We have succeeded
in achieving those goals and it is time for a new leader to set the
course for the future. Mark is an incredibly well-rounded and
experienced real estate executive. He is a collaborative leader and
values the team and culture we have built at Crombie. I look
forward to cheering on Crombie's continued success in the years
ahead."
The changes announced today are a result of an extensive review
of senior management roles, structure and succession planning
initiated by the Board of Trustees in 2021. As part of this
process, the Board of Trustees engaged a leading talent
advisory firm to assist in identifying and evaluating CEO
succession candidates with extensive real estate experience through
which Mr. Holly was identified.
"Mark is a strategic leader with a proven track record of more
than 20 years in real estate development, operations and capital
management, and we are thrilled to announce that he is joining
Crombie as our next President and CEO. He is recognized within the
industry as an exceptional communicator, collaborator and
relationship builder, and has deep expertise across the entire real
estate development cycle," says Mr. Knowlton. "Mark joins us from
Empire, where he led the real estate business and had the
opportunity to collaborate closely with the Crombie executive
leadership team on a range of successful initiatives that have
generated substantial value for both companies. His significant
experience leading major development projects at TACC Developments,
Tim Hortons, Restaurant Brands
International ("RBI"), and Empire will be critical to unlocking
substantial value from the REIT's deep pipeline of 27 development
projects, as we continue to deliver on Crombie's successful
strategy of building and owning quality real estate that enhances
local communities and generates long term-growth."
Mark began his career with TACC Developments, where he oversaw
commercial and industrial development programs. In 2006, he joined
The TDL Group (Tim Hortons) and
later RBI, where he led real estate strategy, successfully
increasing store count by 50 percent. In 2016, Mark joined
Restaurant Development Partners, the area representative and
developer of Tim Hortons in
Minnesota as President. In 2018,
he was appointed Senior Vice President, Real Estate, at Empire and
was later promoted to the Empire Executive Committee. During his
time at Empire, Mr. Holly developed a transformational real estate
strategy, instituted a new capital management committee and
governance model and designed Empire's 10-year execution strategy
to achieve the company's Climate Action Plan targets. He
successfully led the real estate team in the acquisition and
integration of Farm Boy and Longo's and worked with Crombie to
create a true partnership between the two companies.
"Crombie has an outstanding track record of delivering for its
tenants, development partners, employees and Unitholders and I
could not be more excited to join this winning team," says
Mark Holly, incoming President and
CEO of Crombie. "In my role at Empire over the past five years,
I've had the opportunity to work closely with Crombie's executive
team, which has given me a window into the strategy and culture of
the organization, and I couldn't be more optimistic about the
opportunities that lie ahead of us."
To support a seamless leadership transition, Mr. Clow will
remain as a Strategic Advisor until March 1,
2025.
About Crombie REIT
Crombie invests in real estate that enriches local communities
and enables long-term sustainable growth. As one of the country's
leading owners, operators, and developers of quality real estate,
Crombie's portfolio primarily includes grocery-anchored retail,
retail-related industrial, and mixed-used residential properties in
Canada's top urban and suburban
markets. As at December 31, 2022, our
portfolio contains 289 income-producing properties comprising
approximately 18.4 million square feet, and a significant pipeline
of future development projects. Learn more at www.crombie.ca.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that
reflect the current expectations of management of Crombie about
Crombie's future results, performance, achievements, prospects, and
opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as "may", "will",
"estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "intend", and
similar expressions have been used to identify these
forward-looking statements. Specifically, this document includes,
but is not limited to, forward-looking statements regarding
expected timing of management changes and the potential to unlock
value in Crombie's pipeline of development projects. These
statements reflect current beliefs and are based on information
currently available to management of Crombie. Forward-looking
statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties. A number of factors, including those discussed in
the 2022 annual Management's Discussion and Analysis under "Risk
Management" and the Annual Information Form for the year ended
December 31, 2021 under "Risks",
could cause actual results, performance, achievements, prospects,
or opportunities to differ materially from the results discussed or
implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be
considered carefully, and a reader should not place undue reliance
on the forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that
the expectations of management of Crombie will prove to be correct,
and Crombie can give no assurance that actual results will be
consistent with these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Crombie REIT