After the historic Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) closed all it’s locations across Canada in June 2025, the massive voids those stores have left in retails spaces pose a challenge for commercial landlords.
In many instances, The Bay was the “anchor tenant” – the primary draw bringing customers through the doors. With consumer habits trending more towards online shopping, retail analysts have speculated that the appetite for giant retail stores no longer exists.
A proposal to convert the former Hudson’s Bay location on Bay and Bloor Streets to multi-level self storage seems to bear out that theory.
An application has been submitted to the City of Toronto for a zoning bylaw amendment in relation to 2 Bloor Street East “to convert the existing retail space in the podium building (formerly The Bay) into a self-storage warehouse and to alter the Bloor Street East elevation by recladding it and replacing the canopies.”
The application was submitted on April 24 and is still in the early stages of making its way through City Hall. Next, the application will be sent to various City divisions and external agencies for review and ensure it meets minimum application requirements.
Thereafter a notice of completion is sent to the applicant and the application will enter the community consultation phase, which gives the public information about the proposed development. Once that phase is complete, the public gets a chance to weigh in on the proposal at a statutory public meeting.
After all these steps are complete, City Council votes on whether to amend zoning bylaws to support the application.
