The former Hudson’s Bay Company store on Rideau Street is one step closer to a sale, with a deal in place that could reshape one of the capital’s most iconic downtown sites. A numbered company tied to Claridge Homes has agreed to purchase the five-storey building at 73 Rideau Street, according to documents tied to the court-supervised sale. The final price has not been disclosed. The 332,000-square-foot property on one-point-five acres of land, across from the CF Rideau Centre, was put on the market after Hudson’s Bay liquidated its stores and closed the downtown location last June. The landmark building, dating back to the early 1900s, has heritage designation, likely meaning its exterior will be preserved even as its interior is expected to be redeveloped. Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the continued investment in the ByWard Market is a positive sign, pointing to a 50 per cent jump in foot traffic to the area over the last year, along with increased tourism, new restaurants and upcoming area attractions, like the new concert hall, which is attached to the former Bay store. “I don’t know all the details of the transaction or what the plans are, but that is an iconic building in downtown Ottawa and to see a great local company investing in that site is great news,” Sutcliffe said. “It validates the work that we’ve been doing as a community to improve the ByWard Market and build a better future for this really wonderful place in our community.” Local resident Bill Bottomley, who lives near the site, says added development, particularly housing, could bring a renewed life to the neighbourhood. “Down here you can walk to shopping. The mall is across the street. There’s great restaurants and it’s wonderful to be able to do that,” he says. “If condos are part of the Bay’s redevelopment, I’m sure that we’ll see a lot more people down here and that will be fun.” Retail analyst Bruce Winder says the space is likely to be converted into a multi-use space, including residential, retail and offices. “The favourable aspect of the Ottawa location [The Bay] is that you’re so close to downtown and it would be a great place for some form of condominium or commercial mixed- approach,” he says. Winder says large department stores are becoming less viable in their traditional form. “If you look at how consumers are shopping now they’re buying more on e-commerce, they’re buying more from specialty stores and they’re buying from discounters,” he said. “The bottom line is that in most cases, the footprint needed to operate the store as much smaller than it was years ago. The department stores, by definition, they carried numerous departments, so they needed a lot of space. There was more service, there was more browsing now it is a very different approach in terms of what customers are looking for at retail.” Business owners, like Arim Sadi with restaurant Coza Mia in the ByWard Market, say more residents living nearby would help support shops year-round and strengthen long-term growth. Similar sales are underway in other cities, with Vancouver’s former Bay building being acquired by Onni Group and Calgary’s by Astra Group, as the company’s real estate holdings are sold off following its bankruptcy and collapse. No final plans for the Ottawa property have been released. Claridge Homes is not commenting, and the deal remains subject to court approval as part of the receivership process.
