B.C. mall owner's push to buy 25 Hudson's Bay leases faces landlord opposition, documents show

A Hudson Bay Company store in Toronto is shown on Monday, January 27, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
A Hudson Bay Company store in Toronto is shown on Monday, January 27, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

New court documents show that the landlords of former Hudson’s Bay properties overwhelmingly oppose the department store’s sale of leases to a B.C. entrepreneur.

The documents filed by a court monitor appointed to help the Bay through creditor protection say landlords representing 23 leases in a group of 25 Liu purchased won’t approve the plan.

Court monitor Alvarez & Marsal says the landlords have also said they will oppose any future moves that would force them to accept the lease deal the Bay signed with Liu.

As well as the group of leases the landlords oppose Liu also plans to buy three real estate contracts the Bay had at B.C. malls she owns. The Bay will ask a court to approve that deal Monday.

In addition to the Liu deals, Alvarez & Marsal say an unnamed party is interested in up to eight leases in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

It says another lease transaction the Bay signed fell through after an unnamed company refused to correct errors in an agreement and then backed away from the purchase.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

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