Latest news with #handoverceremony
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
B.C. billionaire wanting Hudson's Bay leases says landlord concerns are ‘misguided'
Billionaire Ruby Liu, centre, poses with her staff while holding a set of keys to a former Hudson's Bay-owned Saks Off 5th department store during a "handover ceremony" at Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall that she owns, in Tsawwassen, B.C., on Thursday, June 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck TORONTO — A B.C. billionaire who wants to buy some Hudson's Bay leases is pushing back on landlord claims that she won't be able to run a successful business in their spaces. In new court documents, Ruby Liu says the concerns are misguided and she's so confident in her plan that she will personally guarantee the first year of rent she'll have to pay to them. Liu wants to buy 25 former Bay leases to turn them and three others she bought at malls she owns into a new department store with entertainment, dining and recreation spaces. Landlords say their leases don't allow for such uses and even if they did, Liu's timelines and budgets are too unrealistic given the amount of work and repairs their properties need. Liu says she doesn't think the spaces need all of the repairs landlords are demanding because the Bay was operating in the spaces without the renovations. If they are necessary, she says her company will do them, even if they exceed her current budget. To counter landlord assertions that she doesn't have suppliers willing to commit merchandise to her stores, she provided the court with letters from brands like Conair and Northern Reflections that say they are willing to work with her. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025. Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
CTV News
09-08-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Landlord says Ruby Liu's plan for Bay properties ‘defies commercial common sense'
Billionaire Ruby Liu tours a former Hudson's Bay-owned Saks Off 5th department store after a "handover ceremony" where she received the keys to the space at Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall that she owns, in Tsawwassen, B.C., on Thursday, June 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Cadillac Fairview says a plan from a B.C. billionaire hoping to take over 25 former Hudson's Bay leases 'defies commercial common sense' and thus, she should not be allowed to move in. In filings made with the Ontario Superior Court on Saturday, Cadillac Fairview says it is 'resolutely opposed' to Liu becoming a tenant at some of its malls because she has no detailed or credible business plan. The mall owner also says Liu, who owns three B.C. shopping centres herself, has no brand, experienced staff or track record in retail. Her business is 'an empty shell without any guarantee of financial means beyond Ms. Liu's bare assertion that she will keep it afloat,' said Rory MacLeod, Cadillac Fairview's executive vice-president of operations, in an affidavit. 'All of the indications are that (her company) will run out of money before the first store opens.' MacLeod's affidavit ups the ante in a battle that has been festering between Liu and landlords since the Bay announced in May that it had chosen her to buy 28 of its leases. The first three got court approval and were transferred in short order because they were at Liu's three malls. The remaining 25, however, have been much more fraught. Those leases cover some of the country's most prized retail space and came with cheaper rent and very attractive terms for the Bay, which filed for creditor protection under the weight of tremendous debt in March. For example, the Bay paid $1.3 million in annual rent for 152,420 square feet at Fairview Mall in Toronto, court documents show, which is a fraction of what non-anchor tenants would pay. Unable to get most landlords onside with a lease transfer, the Bay asked a court at the end of July to force property owners to accept Liu as a tenant. Liu and the Bay have until next Tuesday to respond to Cadillac Fairview's allegations. A judge will hear the matter at the end of the month. Liu has said she wants to turn the Bay stores she is hoping to buy into her own department store named after herself. She has repeatedly told The Canadian Press her stores will not just offer retail space but also dining, entertainment, kids play and recreation areas. MacLeod says she's also talked of outfitting Bay spaces with grocery stores, educational centres, senior's facilities, robotics and musical performances. Cadillac Fairview says leases at the six malls she wants from the company — Fairview Mall, Sherway Gardens, Masonville Place and Markville in Ontario, Market Mall and Chinook Centre in Alberta and Richmond Centre in B.C. — don't allow for anything other than a department store to be operated there. 'Despite her private assurances that she intends to respect the lease terms, Ms. Liu has consistently presented a different idea to the public, one that would not be compatible with the leases,' MacLeod said. His affidavit also raised concerns with the timelines and budget in her business plan. Liu has said she will be ready to open at least 20 stores within 180 days of obtaining leases and will spend $120 million on 'overdue' repairs to roofs, HVAC systems, washrooms, elevators and escalators and $135 million on initial inventory. Cadillac Fairview says her proposed timeline is 'entirely unrealistic' for a new brand, let alone an established one, and her plan is underfunded based on the high number of repairs properties need and expensive terms suppliers will require her to agree to. MacLeod estimates the stores will need more than $15.8 million in repairs before the end of 2026 to bring the leases into good standing. By 2027, Liu will need to spend another $5.7 million on repairs, not including taxes, permits or fees for expedited labour. Over the next 10 years, he estimates Liu will be required to spend at least $43.1 million on the Cadillac Fairview leases alone. He also took issue with her staffing estimations, which show she will need 1,800 employees to carry out her plan. If all 1,800 are sales staff that would only leave 64 people on the floor of each of her 28 stores. Macleod said such staffing levels are 'inadequate to support a countrywide chain' and 'inconsistent with a retail location even a fraction of that size.' 'With my decades of experience in commercial real estate, it is apparent to me and Cadillac Fairview that (Liu) will fail and again leave these stores vacant,' he said. This report by Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press, was first published Aug. 9, 2025.
CTV News
30-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Hudson's Bay asks court to force landlords to let B.C. billionaire take over leases
Billionaire Ruby Liu, centre, poses with her staff while holding a set of keys to a former Hudson's Bay-owned Saks Off 5th department store during a "handover ceremony" at Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall that she owns, in Tsawwassen, B.C., on Thursday, June 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck TORONTO — Hudson's Bay has solidified its faith in a controversial deal to sell leases to a B.C. billionaire by asking a court to force landlords critical of her to let her move in. A motion filed by the collapsed department store late Tuesday asked the Ontario Superior Court to reassign 25 of its leases to Ruby Liu. Fifteen of the leases cover properties in Ontario, including Fairview Mall, Sherway Garden, Bayshore Shopping Centre and Bramalea City Centre. The remaining 10 are split evenly between Alberta and B.C. and include West Edmonton Mall, CF Market Mall and Guildford Town Centre. The group of leases will cost Liu about $69 million, minus a litany of fees she has to pay as a condition of taking them on, the latest documents show. The Bay thinks Liu should get the leases because the deal will help it repay creditors, offer jobs to former Bay employees and fill vacant properties so landlords avoid 'the visual and economic blight of a 'dark' or empty store for a significantly prolonged period.' If landlords aren't forced to accept Liu, the company warns 'significant benefits and value creation … will be lost' and it will have to turn its former stores back over to landlords. The filing sets up the Bay for a fight that will pit it against some of the country's most prominent landlords, including Cadillac Fairview, Oxford Properties and Primaris. If it wins, Liu estimates the retailer will make a $50 million dent in the roughly $1.1 billion in debt it had when it filed for creditor protection in March. That process led the Bay to close all of its stores and start soliciting buyers for its leases. One dozen bidders made offers for 39 properties. Liu was designated the winner of the bulk of them. The Vancouver-based entrepreneur made her fortune in Chinese real estate and owns three B.C. malls, including the Woodgrove Centre and Mayfair Shopping Centre, which she is willing to sell to advance her push for the Bay leases. Liu inked two deals to buy a collective 28 leases that belonged to the Bay and its sister Saks stores in May. The first deal – for three leases at malls Liu owns – sailed through court with no opposition. The second became fraught shortly after it was announced, when landlords began meeting with Liu and found she had little information to share about her bid to open a new department store named after herself and replete with retail, dining, entertainment and recreational spaces. A package Liu sent landlords in early June, which was obtained by The Canadian Press, showed she thought she was capable of opening up to 20 stores within just 180 days of signing leases. It offered a vague financial budget and mentioned hiring efforts and meetings with prospective suppliers but did not name the potential vendors. Court records filed on Tuesday showed the initial package and meetings with Liu left Cadillac Fairview 'with the strong impression that Ms. Liu is making this up as she goes.' Primaris REIT felt her plans were 'predicated upon hope, optimism and not on experience.' New plans filed alongside the Bay's motion show Liu has taken another stab at a business roadmap. This time around she's budgeting $375 million for her venture and is looking at opening three tiers -- flagship, platinum and standard -- of a new, self-named department store. Though she has spoken repeatedly about putting dining, entertainment and recreational spaces into her stores, she promises to take on the leases 'as is.' 'Much has been made of my public comments around the retail concepts that I believe may appeal to modern shoppers,' Liu writes. 'However, this should not be taken as any intention to ignore the terms of the lease.' Liu says $120 million will be invested on 'overdue' repairs to roofs, HVAC systems, washrooms, elevators and escalators and $135 million on initial inventory. She projects her plan will create at least 1,800 new jobs and by 2027, generate more than $420 million in annual sales. Despite the landlords' opposition to the assignment of the leases to Liu, she says she is 'confident that my growing team (which will include former HBC executives) will be able to build fruitful and lasting relationships with them and their communities.' Liu's filing was made after 50 pages she sent to judge Peter Osborne – against the Bay's advice – were entered into the court record. They included two notes to Osborne sent a day apart that were appended with letters the Bay's lawyers and landlord lawyers sent to her and her counsel. The records show the Bay's lawyers heeded early criticism from landlords and started pressing Liu to prepare a more in-depth plan. They urged Liu to hire the retailer's former CEO Liz Rodbell as a consultant and KPMG as a financial adviser and bring back Miller Thomson as legal representation and offered to shave $3 million off the price of the leases, if she did so. The new business plan Liu filed Tuesday makes no mention of Rodbell or Miller Thomson but lists KPMG as a potential tax adviser and auditor. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025. Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
CTV News
15-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Hudson's Bay heads back to court for fight with lender over Ruby Liu deal
Billionaire Ruby Liu listens during an interview at a former Hudson's Bay-owned Saks Off 5th department store after a "handover ceremony" where she received the keys to the space at Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall that she owns, in Tsawwassen, B.C., on Thursday, June 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck TORONTO — Hudson's Bay is headed back to court today for a fight with one of its biggest lenders. Restore Capital LLC will ask Judge Peter Osborne to terminate a deal between the defunct retailer and B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu, who wants to buy up to 25 of its leases. The lender argues efforts to get landlords opposing the deal on board with it have so far proven costly and unsuccessful, thus minimizing how much it will be able to recover from the collapsed retailer. To aid in the Bay's wind down, Restore wants the court to appoint a 'super monitor' to subject the department store chain to even more oversight. If the court doesn't agree to a 'super monitor' arrangement, Restore suggests appointing Richter Consulting Inc. as a receiver. The Bay says it doesn't need more oversight because it's properly governed. It maintains the Liu deal is the best shot it has at recovering more cash for creditors. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2025. Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
