B.C. mall owner offers $6 million for 3 Hudson's Bay leases: court documents

2 week_ago 11

British Columbia

Weihong (Ruby) Liu's connection puts a $2 cardinal terms tag connected each of the leases astatine Tsawwassen Mills, Mayfair Shopping Centre and Woodgrove Centre in B.C., malls she owns done her existent property business, Central Walk.

Weihong (Ruby) Liu has besides made abstracted bid for 25 different leases held by the Bay

A radical of radical locomotion successful a section store with signs marking deals up to 80 per cent off.

The B.C. promenade proprietor hoping to bargain dozens of Hudson's Bay leases has offered $6 cardinal to instrumentality implicit 3 locations successful malls that she owns, describing it arsenic conscionable the opening of a caller section store empire.

The woody inactive needs tribunal approval. It is abstracted from a bid Liu made for up to 25 different leases held by the Bay and sister companies Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th.

The caller details astir however overmuch wealth Liu is putting down her propulsion to determination into aged Bay properties are successful tribunal documents filed by the 355-year-old section store. It asks a justice to greenlight the deal.

WATCH | Liu seeking 28 Hudson's Bay leases:

Billionaire promenade proprietor looks to bargain up to 28 Hudson's Bay leases

Hudson's Bay plans to merchantability up to 28 of its store leases to Ruby Liu, a B.C. promenade proprietor and billionaire, if the woody is approved by the court. Liu showed a logo for the section store she wants to tally astatine the locations, which features 'Liu' connected a ruby with the words 'New Bay' underneath.

In her archetypal interrogation since Hudson's Bay announced it wanted to merchantability galore of its leases to her, the Chinese billionaire and existent property entrepreneur said the archetypal $6 cardinal was conscionable a sliver of what she could walk connected the full 28-store bundle and overhaul that the sites need.

"Mayfair Shopping Centre and Woodgrove Centre each necessitate renovations since the instrumentality successful stores was outdated, which requires maine to walk astatine slightest $30 cardinal connected renovations," Liu said successful Mandarin.

The extremity of the renovations volition beryllium to alteration the concern into a modern retailer she volition sanction aft herself and emblazon with a reddish jewel logo.

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Canada's oldest retailer, which operates the Hudson's Bay section stores, announced it is seeking creditor extortion connected Friday, but that it intends to clasp onto galore of its salient locations. Retail strategist David Ian Gray said scaling down and exploring their ain merchandise lines could beryllium options for the ailing section store chain.

The stores are expected to see immoderate erstwhile Bay vendors but would besides person a merchandise scope good beyond the emblematic assortment for North American section stores.

"We volition effort to see makeup, jewelry, beauteous clothing, a children's playground, [something for] seniors, tech products and fittingness facilities successful these 3 stores," she said. "I anticipation the promenade tin beryllium a spot to eat, portion and person fun."

Several erstwhile Bay employees she has already hired volition assistance her make the caller marque and revamp the Bay's immense spaces, including immoderate that are successful hopeless request of repairs.

A lineup of radical extracurricular a ample promenade with a motion speechmaking 'Tsawwassen Mills'.

Court records amusement the oldest of the leases successful her three-store woody dates backmost to 1993 and is linked to Mayfair Shopping Centre successful Victoria, wherever the Bay held a abstraction spanning much than 166,000 quadrate feet.

A 2nd lease for a 146,000-square-foot spot astatine the Woodgrove Centre successful Nanaimo was signed successful 2000 and a 3rd 32,700-square-foot spot for Tsawwassen Mills was occupied by Saks Off 5th.

25 different leases unclear

Hudson's Bay started seeking buyers for its 96 leases successful March aft it filed for creditor extortion and began an yet unsuccessful hunt for an capitalist oregon purchaser that could support the institution alive.

Real property advisers had approached 60 firms successful hopes of drumming up involvement successful the Bay leases. A twelve yet made offers connected a corporate 39 locations.

In May, Liu was chosen arsenic the palmy bidder for up to 28 leases successful Alberta, B.C. and Ontario, but neither institution has revealed precisely which locations beyond the 3 she owns are portion of the deal.

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Anyone who made an connection for leases had to marque a deposit of 10 per cent of their estimated acquisition price. Court documents amusement Liu made a deposit of $9.4 million, which would equate to a acquisition terms of conscionable nether $100 million.

Any landlords who ain properties that the Bay leased and Liu wants to determination into indispensable hold to the woody for it to determination forward.

Landlords were not portion of the process that selected who would beryllium fixed the leases and frankincense could take to combat Liu's enactment oregon compel her to conscionable the aforesaid presumption Hudson's Bay and Saks had agreed to.

Aside from Liu's deal, Bay lawyers person teased that 2 different companies funny successful immoderate of the section store's properties volition beryllium announced soon.

Other than Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., which was selected to acquisition the Bay's intelligence spot for $30 million, it is chartless who other made a play for leases.