Creditors for RioCan-HBC Limited Partnership, which is liquidating HBC’s Canadian real estate, has filed on the unapproved sale in Ontario.
Article content
The Hudson’s Bay’s downtown Vancouver store, the once-proud B.C. western flagship of the department chain for over 100 years, has been sold to one of the province’s largest developers, Onni Development Capital.
Article content
Onni hasn’t confirmed the deal but the purchase agreement and sale document is included in the sixth and latest report into HBC’s receivership released this week by FTI Consulting Canada in Ontario.
Article content
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
The store has been closed for almost a year and real estate observers say it will likely be years more before the public learns what’s planned to the site and the heritage-protected building.
Article content
FP West: Energy Insider
Article content
“I would think it would be a year or two before we even see a plan for the site, unless they went into this with a very big plan,” said Susan Thompson, a commercial real estate analyst for Colliers Canada.
Article content
Onni, which is involved in development in many areas, including residential, commercial, office and mixed-use retail projects, may have plans to develop the landmark site into one with multiple uses, she said.
Article content
In her latest overview of the Vancouver downtown for the first quarter of the year, she said the office market faces a prolonged recovery and it will likely take 3½ years to get the vacancy rate down to a balanced 10 per cent.
Article content
And the condo market has been off lately in Vancouver and elsewhere, and the glut of rental units is pushing rents down at the same time.
Article content
Article content
“Onni is a big enough company that they can take their time” to determine what’s needed at the location. “The former HBC building is really a prime location. Onni is going to be taking their time because it is such a prestige site.”
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
She said density will likely have to be increased because the only way to grow in Vancouver is vertically.
Article content
Article content
“It’s going to be a great site for commercial use and there’s a lot of potential” to include some street-facing stores that will improve the pedestrian culture around the area.
Article content
It’s important to build what residents and visitors need now and in the future, and she said the transformation of the nearby functionally obsolete Canada Post plant into the Post, an engaging area that people want to visit, is a good example of that.
Article content
“HBC holds a very big piece of everyone’s heart and soul and we all want to see something there” that they can connect with, said Thompson.
Article content
The receiver’s report says the six-storey-plus-basement Vancouver store at the corner of Georgia and Granville streets is among the four sales the receiver recommends the courts approve. The other three stores are in Ottawa, Calgary and Windsor, Ont.
Article content
The price Onni and the other buyers paid was redacted in the documents first acquired by freelance real estate reporter Howard Chai, which is protection for partners RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust and HBC in case any of the deals don’t close and the properties have to go back on the market, according to the report.
