The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[jollyburger]

The Bay will be harder to tenant out if there is any mid-term attempt to redevelop the building. It seems more likely you'll see the Nordstroms space tenanted out in the near 12-18 months.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

The Bay will be harder to tenant out if there is any mid-term attempt to redevelop the building. It seems more likely you'll see the Nordstroms space tenanted out in the near 12-18 months.

Presumably there are legal issues to sort out too. RioCan are only part owners with HBC, so is it a given they'll end up with 100% ownership? (If they want the building).

It does provide a clean slate to rethink the building. It seemed like there was a lot of technical work done to understand the state of the building for the 'office on top' idea, which should help if there's any appetite to reconfigure it as some sort of mixed use or multi-tenanted building, but it will no doubt sit for a few years while whatever's going to happen is worked out.

[jollyburger]

Sounds like they made a deal for RioCan and their lease payments

amending the stay of the JV Rent, and directing the Company to pay rent from and
after March 7, 2025, to RioCan-Hudson’s Bay JV, YSS 1, YSS 2, and RioCanHudson’s Bay Ottawa LP (collectively, the “JV Entities”), as applicable, the monthly
aggregate amount of $7,000,000, plus applicable taxes, which amount shall be
allocated between the 10 applicable leases on a pro-rata basis based on total
contractual rent;

https://www.alvarezandmarsal.com/sites/default/files/canada/Compiled%20Motion%20Record.pdf

[giallo]

Originally Posted by Capitol Hill

So what would be viable for the downtown HBC space now? Obviously the current design that they have with a large office building on top won’t be built any time soon, will this just be a vacant giant for a decade?

With a recession all but a sure thing, I can't see anybody moving in the short term. With almost an entire city block vacant, the area around Granville Station is going to feel it.

[Sheba]

From an e-mail I received:

We’re opening a new Marshalls at Granville St.

As a valued STYLE+ member, you're invited to shop the store before the general public!

Venue: 798 Granville Street

March 23 from 10 AM to 12 PM

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by Changing City

sorry, yes. Weird autocorrect!

Weird, or prescient?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

Weird, or prescient?

Oh weird - it should be RBC these days?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by giallo

With a recession all but a sure thing, I can't see anybody moving in the short term. With almost an entire city block vacant, the area around Granville Station is going to feel it.

With bricks and mortar retail on a downward trajectory I can't see any multilevel quasi-mall working in the space. Too bad, the city seemed to have just cleaned that corner up moving all the loiterers who used it as a spot to slump on the sidewalk. it's going to be a lot sketchier now.

[jollyburger]

[Toronto/Montreal stores]

These locations have seen strong recent performance and may serve as the foundation for a restructured future business—if talks with landlords and lenders yield results quickly. “Sales at the company have exceeded the expectations of both Hudson’s Bay and the monitor,” said Ashley Taylor, legal counsel for Hudson’s Bay, during Friday’s Ontario Superior Court hearing.

Between March 8 and 14, Hudson’s Bay recorded nearly $21 million in sales, about $7.4 million more than expected, according to court filings. The unexpected boost, driven by shoppers seeking deals ahead of formal liquidation events, gave the company the financial capacity to repay its $16-million debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan.

In a development that may shape the future of the remaining six stores, Hudson’s Bay disclosed that it has reached a restructuring support agreement with its senior lenders. However, details of that agreement were shared with other stakeholders only shortly before Friday’s court hearing.

As a result, Justice Peter Osborne of the Ontario Superior Court delayed consideration of the restructuring plan until next week, giving other affected parties time to review the proposed terms.

While the agreement may provide a path forward, Taylor stressed that no final deal has yet been made with landlords or other key players to enable a go-forward business plan. “The company does not currently have an agreement on which it could base a restructuring plan,” said Taylor. “The time to do so remains very short.”

https://retail-insider.com/retail-inside...o-liquidate-most-stores-six-may-survive/

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

It's not a great sign of things to come.

In combination with the former Nordstrom space across the street (where they're yet to find any replacement ancor tenant(s)), there's going to be a large portion of empty vacant retail space smack dab in the middle of the 'Entertainment district' Granville strip.

I wonder if this would make the city rethink their plans to make Granville pedestrian-only in the future.

Having the HBC building completely vacant proper will only increase the number of homeless that mill around the area, rather than decrease it.

How do you know CF haven't found tenants for the space? Do you work for them? Have inside knowledge?

Ron.

[officedweller]

I'm hoping that with the view cone relaxations, they'll rethink the built form for the HBC redevelopment and instead of the edge to edge box
(which I think is overbearing and unfriendly to the Hudson condo), they'll place a tower set back from Georgia St. instead.

Like 111 Castlereagh in Sydney:


https://www.urban.com.au/news/nsw/111-ca...-and-transformation-of-a-sydney-landmark

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I'm hoping that with the view cone relaxations, they'll rethink the built form for the HBC redevelopment and instead of the edge to edge box
(which I think is overbearing and unfriendly to the Hudson condo), they'll place a tower set back from Georgia St. instead.

Like 111 Castlereagh in Sydney:


https://www.urban.com.au/news/nsw/111-ca...-and-transformation-of-a-sydney-landmark

Yeah, that is waaaay nicer than the existing proposal. And if it was a hotel in that location, even better.

[officedweller]

As a reminder, here's the north side of the proposed HBC addition facing The Hudson. Pics by me.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by NewfBC

How do you know CF haven't found tenants for the space? Do you work for them? Have inside knowledge?

Ron.

Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have any insider knowledge nor work for them.

I was just going by the lack of any visible signs indicating they might have found a tenant.
(like signs on the display window announcing something like "Exciting new tenant opening soon")

Also, they'd likely be some rumblings on the grapevine if they did find some (big-name) tenant to replace Nordstrom. That kind of news tends to be hard to keep under wraps for very long.

EDIT:

Actually, about those grapevine rumblings, I had forgotten about this one.

The idea being that they already have a relationship with Cadillac Fairview having a presence at their Toronto Eaton's Centre, and were looking to expand elsewhere in Canada - with the shop Nordstrom location and its centralized location in Downtown being a prime candidate that ticked all the boxes.

But it's been radio silence since that article and speculation.

Again, if as big an anchor tenant as Simons was setting up shop at that location, it'd be pretty hard to keep under wraps or quiet for very long without word leaking out.
So the silence in this case most likely means it's not happening.

[Spr0ckets]

One party or parties that may not be too broken up or terribly disappointed over this news of all the Hudson Bay stores closing might be the Metrotown owners, Ivanhoe Cambridge.

While I'm sure they might not be too thrilled with the rent they'll not be getting anymore (and who knows how far behind their rent payments they were there....), HBC was one of their anchor tenants with long-terms leases.
Which means they were one of the factors holding back Ivanhoe Cambridge's plans for redeveloping the mall.......or rather, that side of the mall.

I believe Hudson's Bay's lease ran into the 2040's or 50's.

I wonder if this could make them consider re-ordering the phasing of their masterplan to bring forward the phase that would have seen the east side of the mall where the Bay store is located be demolished and commence construction there.
It's actually on a side of the mall where there would be minimal impact on the rest of the mall operations, and you already have Concord's project and construction ongoing right outside.

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have any insider knowledge nor work for them.

I was just going by the lack of any visible signs indicating they might have found a tenant.
(like signs on the display window announcing something like "Exciting new tenant opening soon")

Also, they'd likely be some rumblings on the grapevine if they did find some (big-name) tenant to replace Nordstrom. That kind of news tends to be hard to keep under wraps for very long.

There was a recent post on here about how they've received a permit to demolish the inside... hmm.

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10393734&postcount=4286


Ron.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by NewfBC

There was a recent post on here about how they've received a permit to demolish the inside... hmm.

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10393734&postcount=4286


Ron.

Yes, I edited my original comment to kinda reflect that.

That was the time when speculation was that they were getting Simons and/or Eately, but there's been no recent word on either of those two opening up new stores at that location since then.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

I wonder if this could make them consider re-ordering the phasing of their masterplan to bring forward the phase that would have seen the east side of the mall where the Bay store is located be demolished and commence construction there.
It's actually on a side of the mall where there would be minimal impact on the rest of the mall operations, and you already have Concord's project and construction ongoing right outside.

That makes sense.
They could demolish the mall corridor up to the food court, leaving that as a temporary anchor, then carve back a bit more at a time.


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metropolis-at-metrotown-mall-redevelopment-master-plan-concept

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

One party or parties that may not be too broken up or terribly disappointed over this news of all the Hudson Bay stores closing might be the Metrotown owners, Ivanhoe Cambridge

As mentioned earlier in reference to the downtown location all of that is dependent on who gets control of the lease or how that lease is structured in the case of insolvency etc

[connect2source]

Visited the downtown Hudson's Bay location today to capture some photos before the liquidation signs take over, likely Monday. If anyone wants a last look at the store in its current form, tomorrow will likely be the last chance.

The store was quite busy, many braving the stairs to the upper floors, out of breath, while the staff, all smiles, did their best to mask their sadness and deal with the store's crumbling infrastructure. As the freight elevators were also not functioning, staff were bucking the crowds on the stairs carrying merchandise between the floors. The whole sight was rather bizarre. Imagine a store that size without a single functioning elevator or escalator?!

Many of the departments, especially clothing, were already lacking significant merchandise, I suspect much of it had been returned to the respective vendors, where possible, in advance of the liquidation.

The whole sight today was rather melancholy, I suspect many were there to find a bargain, but many like me, were there to pay a last visit, to remember a store that was certainly embedded in many of our lives. For me the downtown store most certainly holds a place in my heart and watching it crumble in recent years hasn't been easy to witness. We are certainly losing an iconic symbol of our Canadian history and with that, the oldest company in North American, one that was intrinsically tied to Canada as a whole. Visiting today, I was struck by the scale and beauty of the place and was surprised to see the staff doing their best to keep the merchandise well displayed and taking pride in their work.

With Hudson's Bay gone, Simon's is the only retailer we have left outside Ontario and Quebec that vaguely resembles a department store. It's my hope that perhaps a new player in the department store category will enter the Canadian market in the future although there are almost no players remaining in North America. Perhaps Primark could be a potential entry, especially given their ties to the Weston family and their recent entry into the US market.