Store leases belonging to Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) at St. Laurent Shopping Centre and Bayshore Shopping Centre are among the 25 that B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu wishes to purchase, according to court documents released yesterday. The documents, which were added to the court-appointed monitor’s publicly accessible service list Wednesday, show that the 25 leases being […]
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Store leases belonging to Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) at St. Laurent Shopping Centre and Bayshore Shopping Centre are among the 25 that B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu wishes to purchase, according to court documents released yesterday.
The documents, which were added to the court-appointed monitor’s publicly accessible service list Wednesday, show that the 25 leases being sought for purchase by Liu and her company Central Walk were valued at $69.1 million for stores throughout B.C., Alberta and Ontario.
The lease at St. Laurent Shopping Centre had the highest singular bid among the 25 at $5 million, while Bayshore Shopping Centre was listed at $1.83 million.
A source who is working closely with Liu told OBJ on Thursday that St. Laurent got the highest bid due to its lengthy lease term, which spans to the year 2091. The source, who did not wish to be named, added that it’s encouraging to see Ottawa getting two bids.
“In terms of the Ottawa market, it is interesting that Ruby wants to be in the Ottawa market. I think it speaks to the strength of the population and the market. She clearly saw there was demand there,” the source said.
If Liu is able to secure the leases, she plans to fill the locations with a new department store named after herself inspired by similar concepts seen in Japan, according to the source. While the source said the “high-level vision” is still being crafted, Ruby Liu stores would be similar to other department stores, with a variety of designer clothes, makeup and perfumes, but would be “elevated” with more focus on experiences.
“What we know is that these stores are going to be positioned as being experiential and the hope is that the stores will drive foot traffic … I think the stores would be a benefit to these malls,” the source told OBJ.
Ruby Liu stores would fit into one of three categories; standard, platinum and flagship. Standard stores would require light renovation, approximately three to six months’ worth, and operate on a smaller footprint. A flagship store, the source told OBJ, would be “in excess of 150,000 square feet, better renovated and have more amenities.”
“It’s going to be elevated and it may have other uses, as long as the landlord permits it. Grocery (and) food vendors, these are things that have been talked about by Ruby Liu. What the team will need to do is determine what is allowed within those specific leases,” the source said.
The source said Bayshore has potential to be a flagship due to its size at 180,000 square feet. The landlord at Bayshore is listed in the court documents as Cushman & Wakefield. The St. Laurent store is 145,000 square feet. The landlord is listed as Morguard Investments.
The move to acquire several Bay locations and turn them into department stores was a strategic choice by Liu, according to the source.
“The cost of acquiring them would be much lower than if she was doing it one by one. It’s a way to scale the business. The other thing as well is to scale a business like this in terms of getting brands that you would want, you’re not going to have Calvin Klein or Polo Ralph Lauren interested in one store location … A department store in Canada (would) probably need at least 15 stores to get brands and vendors interested in partnering,” the source said.
The final decision on whether Liu will take over the 25 leases, including the two Ottawa stores, will be made following an Aug. 28 hearing.
Hudson’s Bay closed its doors in June after filing for creditor protection in March. In March, the department store began looking for businesses to take over its 39 leases. Liu and her company, Central Walk, have already taken over three former Bay locations at the B.C. malls she owns, but wish to purchase an additional 25.
Some mall landlords have opposed Liu’s bid for the former Bay locations as they feel she has not provided enough information on what she intends to do on their properties.
Liu is budgeting $375 million for the endeavour and says $120 million will be spent on "overdue" repairs to roofs, HVAC systems, washrooms, elevators and escalators. She also says $135 million will be spent on initial inventory. Liu projects that her plan to acquire the 25 leases will create at least 1,800 jobs and generate more than $420 million in annual sales by 2027.
On Thursday morning, the collapsed retailer will ask the Ontario Superior Court to allow it to sell five leases to clothing company YM Inc. and one to Ivanhoe Realties Inc.
YM Inc. owns a slew of mall brands including Bluenotes, Urban Planet, Suzy Shier and West 49. It wants to pay $5.03 million to take over properties the Bay and its sister Saks business held at Vaughan Mills in Vaughan, Tanger Outlet in Kanata, Outlet Collection in Winnipeg, CrossIron Mills in Rocky View, Alta., and Toronto Premium Outlets in Halton Hills.
YM has not said which of its brands will move into each site but the Bay said in court filings made last week that the landlords of all five properties have given their blessing to the prospective new tenant.
The retailer is expected to use the remainder of the hearing to push for its creditor protection to be extended to Oct. 31.
The company said the extension will give it more time to prepare its art and artifacts for auction and get approval to sell the 25 additional leases to Liu.
A judge has given all parties in the case a series of August deadlines to produce documents and file motions, allowing the court to hear arguments around whether Liu should get the leases at the end of next month.
– With additional reporting from The Canadian Press
