Exclusive: Buyers Found For Hudson's Bay Buildings In Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa
Onni Group is buying Vancouver's Hudson's Bay Building, Astra Group is buying Calgary's, and Claridge Homes is buying Ottawa's.
Just about six months after they were listed for sale, purchase agreements have been signed for the iconic Hudson’s Bay Buildings in downtown Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa, according to court documents, as well as the former Hudson’s Bay space within the Devonshire Mall in Windsor, Ontario.
The transactions, which have not been previously reported, are all pending court approval, but appear likely to close — potentially as early as next month.
In February 2015, the Hudson’s Bay Company announced that it was forming a joint venture with RioCan REIT (TSX: REI.UN) that would see each partner transfer some of their real estate assets into a new JV entity. HBC contributed 10 properties it owned — five via freehold and five via leasehold — while RioCan contributed a 50% ownership interest in the Georgian Mall and Oakville Place shopping centres in Ontario, plus a cash contribution.1
This joint venture entity, RioCan-HBC Limited Partnership, became HBC’s “primary real estate subsidiary and an integral part of Hudson’s Bay Canada,” as the company’s Chief Financial Officer described it in court documents.
HBC filed for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) on March 7, 2025 and all of its stores were closed less than three months later. After no buyer emerged to rescue the company, RioCan placed RioCan-HBC Limited Partnership under receivership to begin the arduous process of disentangling themselves from what the Ontario Superior Court had described as a “fully intertwined” relationship.
The receivership came into effect on June 3 and many of the properties were listed for sale by the end of the year, with CBRE teams in the respective markets listing the Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, and Devonshire properties between late-October and early-December.
Bids were then solicited the following few months, with deadlines set for between mid-February and late-March. According to court documents, 16 interested parties progressed to the point of signing confidentiality agreements for the Calgary property, 19 for the Devonshire property, 32 for the Vancouver property, and 16 for the Ottawa property.2 Following the deadline, the successful bids were chosen.
The first was Astra Real Estate Corp., which signed an agreement on February 18 to buy the Hudson’s Bay Building at 200 8th Avenue SW in Calgary. Also known as Astra Group, the company is the parent of Peoplefirst Developments and behind several office-to-residential conversion projects in Calgary, as I’ve reported for Storeys,
A month later, 2808771 Ontario Limited signed an agreement on March 19 to buy the Hudson’s Bay Building at 73, 85 and 87 Rideau Street in Ottawa. A copy of the purchase agreement included in court documents was signed by Neil Malhotra of Claridge Homes, an Ottawa-based residential developer.
On April 13, Circle Retail Properties LP signed an agreement to buy the Hudson’s Bay space within the Devonshire Mall at 3030 Howard Street in Windsor, Ontario. A signed copy of the purchase agreement confirms that the purchaser is Primaris REIT (TSX: PMZ.UN), which makes sense because Primaris owns Devonshire Mall.
Lastly, on April 23, Vancouver-based developer Onni Group — operating as Onni Development Capital Corp. — signed an agreement to buy the Hudson’s Bay Building at 674 Granville Street in Vancouver.
The court-appointed Receiver has not disclosed the purchase prices, all of which have also been redacted from the signed purchase agreements, but the Receiver says the prices “represent the highest and best transactions available at this time.”
The outside completion date is May 15, 2026 for the Devonshire Mall transaction, May 30 for the Calgary and Ottawa transactions, and June 30 for the Vancouver transaction, all four of which have extension options.
Notably, however, Onni Group’s agreement to buy the Vancouver HBC building is the only one that includes a break fee, which was set at 4.4%. Commenting on the break fee, the Receiver acknowledged that 4.4% is on the higher end for break fees, but that there is no ongoing bid process and other bidders will not be invited to bid against Onni, so it would essentially only be paid in the event that the Receiver decides to pursue an alternative transaction.
For now, however, the Receiver is seeking court approval on May 4 for only the Ottawa transaction, citing administrative steps that still need to be completed for the others. The Receiver says it expects to seek court approval for the other three transactions “in the near future.”
RioCan bought out HBC from the Georgian Mall and Oakville Place last fall.
Signing a confidentiality agreement does not necessarily mean they submitted a formal bid.