Aug. 10, 2025 "Landlords say Ruby Liu's plan for Bay properties 'defies commercial common sense'": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on CBC:
Several of Canada's most prominent real estate companies are slamming an attempt from a B.C. billionaire to take over 25 former Hudson's Bay leases, saying her plan for their spaces "defies commercial common sense" and is "entirely unrealistic."
The landlords, including Cadillac Fairview, Oxford Properties, Ivanhoe Cambridge, KingSett Capital Inc., Morguard Investments Ltd. and Primaris Real Estate Investment Trust, made filings Saturday that ask the Ontario Superior Court to stop Liu from moving in.
Most said they are opposed to Liu becoming a tenant because she has
no detailed or credible business plan
and despite owning three B.C. shopping centres,
lacks the experience
or staff
she'd need to successfully operate a retailer out of the Bay's former digs.
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."
His affidavit and a slew from other retail executives up 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 and CBC News 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.
When Oxford Properties met with Liu, it got the impression her goal is to run her own mall within anchor tenant spaces
and felt she has ambitions that stretch well beyond what is permitted in the Bay's leases.
Nadia Corrado, a vice-president with Oxford, alleged in an affidavit that Liu criticized the food court at Hillcrest Mall, north of Toronto, and shared a vision for including Asian fine dining, "when the food court forms part of the shopping centre owned by Oxford – and not part of the HBC premises she is seeking to take an assignment of."
Concern over timelines and budgets
Affidavits from landlord executives 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.
Corrado from Oxford said Liu's $8-million budget for renovations at Southcentre Mall in Calgary was also insufficient.
She alleged Liu was surprised she'd be responsible for exterior or structural parts of the leased spaces, like the roof, and said Liu indicated her proposed budget did not account for such costs.
Even if her budget for renovations changes, landlords have concerns about whether she can secure inventory.
Though Liu maintains companies are willing to supply her with inventory, a KingSett Capital affidavit said evidence she's filed in court mostly amounts to letters from merchants saying they have capacity to support her stores, rather than committing to a relationship.
Staffing concerns
The landlords also took issue with her staffing estimates, 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.
Ruby Paola, a managing director with landlord Ivanhoe Cambridge's parent company, also agreed Liu is "most likely to fail"
because her retailer is
"uncertain,
untested
and unknown."
If that happens, it will "negatively impact the mall for many, many years to come and will likely far exceed the costs to be expended by Ivanhoe in redeveloping the space."
Aug. 13, 2025 "B.C. billionaire wanting Hudson’s Bay leases says landlord concerns are ‘misguided’": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on BNN Bloomberg:
TORONTO — A B.C. billionaire who wants to buy some Hudson’s Bay leases says landlord claims that she won’t be able to run a successful business in their spaces are “misguided.”
In new court documents filed overnight Wednesday, Ruby Liu says she is prepared to do what is necessary to make her venture successful
and if it makes landlords more confident in her plan,
will personally guarantee the first year of rent she’ll have to pay them.
“I would not have undertaken this process,
expended the time
and several million dollars that I have to date,
committed my considerable wealth going forward,
and proceeded despite the objections of the landlords
if I was not fully prepared to fund this venture,”
she said in an affidavit.
“I have no intention to invest $400 million into a business and then have it fail after such a significant expenditure.”
Liu wants to buy 25 former Bay leases to turn them and three others she bought at B.C. malls she owns — Tsawwassen Mills, Mayfair Shopping Centre and Woodgrove Centre — into a new department store with entertainment, dining and recreation spaces.
Landlords, including Cadillac Fairview, Oxford Properties, Ivanhoe Cambridge, have said 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.
A judge will hear arguments on whether landlords should be forced to let Liu move in at the end of August.
Liu has said she thinks she can get at least 20 stores open within 180 days of obtaining leases. Some of her estimates show she will spend $120 million on repairs to roofs, HVAC systems, washrooms, elevators and escalators. Landlords believe renovations will require much more money.
Liu disagrees. While she does believe many locations will need changes to their roofs, ceilings, lights and more, she says “some of the work is only cosmetic and not everything needs to be taken down to the bare walls.”
“For many stores, minimal renovations are needed,” she said.
In its own affidavit, the Bay takes Liu’s side, pointing out it was operating in the spaces she wants without the renovations landlords are outlining as necessary.
While some of the repairs landlords have identified were discussed with the Bay previously,
failure to tackle them never resulted in a landlord providing the retailer with a notice of default,
said Franco Perugini, the Bay’s senior vice-president of real estate and legal.
“Therefore, it is surprising for me to read the objections of the objecting landlords claiming that (Ruby’s) investment of $120 million into repairs and renovations of their stores will be insufficient
when it significantly exceeds any amount that Hudson’s Bay was planning to invest,”
he said.
If her budget winds up to be insufficient, Liu says she will fund the extra work and will explore
staged renovations that allow certain parts of a store to open for business sooner,
while other parts of the store get repaired.
She also used her affidavit to counter landlord assertions that she doesn’t have suppliers willing to commit merchandise to her stores.
Liu said she has had ongoing discussions with suppliers, even though she can’t finalize merchandise agreements with them until she knows if a court will give her the leases.
She provided the court with letters from 11 companies saying they are willing to work with her. The most prominent senders were hair tools maker Conair, women’s apparel retailer Northern Reflections and Indeka Group, which imports Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Dockers clothing.
“Many of the above potential suppliers have indicated that they have inventory in warehouses in Ontario and/or Quebec, some of which was previously ordered but not claimed by the Bay, and will be able to fill orders within weeks if needed,” Liu said.
She also appended a letter from Mimran Group Inc., whose namesakes Joe and Saul were behind Club Monaco and Loblaw Cos. Ltd.’s Joe Fresh.
The letter from executive vice-president Jordin Mimran pitches Liu on an opportunity to acquire trademarks and other intellectual property belonging to Canadian fashion brand Alfred Sung.
“I believe this strategic alliance could bring immediate substance and credibility to your New Bay transformation — both in the courtroom and with Canadian consumers,” Jordin says in a letter.
The Bay’s Perugini positioned the landlords as trying to discount such efforts from Liu because if they get their leases back, they “will be afforded much greater latitude to pursue projects that may include mixed-use developments, new retail concepts, or even residential towers.”
He said Oxford Properties wants to transform Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, Ont., into a mixed-use area for commercial, office, residential and recreational spaces.
Cadillac Fairview also has plans to redevelop Markville Mall in Markham, Ont., as well as Fairview Mall in Toronto, while Morguard wants to turn Centerpoint Mall in Toronto into a transit-oriented community with residential, commercial, open space and community uses.
“In many instances, terminating Hudson’s Bay’s leases will enable landlords to more fully realize the value of their properties, especially in terms of revenue generation,” Perugini said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
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