Abandoned Toronto department store at prime corner dealt a sad fate

A former department store that has sat abandoned at a major Toronto intersection for over four years will be transformed as part of an evolving development scheme, but anyone expecting a major retail regeneration for the shuttered Hudson's Bay location at Yonge and Bloor might be left a little disappointed by the latest plan for the site.

The department store closed its doors in March, 2022, and plans emerged soon after for a reconfigured retail project that would have refreshed the complex's concrete aesthetic. However, that plan apparently fizzled, and property owners have since explored options like office conversion and a full redevelopment.

However, the bunker-like structure has proven to be a limiting factor, and the latest plans from developers Brookfield Property Partners and Larco Investments comes as somewhat of a shock.

They want to turn the thing into… a self-storage facility.

The updated plan from Adamson Associates Architects and KPMB Architects would retain the complex's ground floor as retail space, but the second through fifth floors would be transformed into self-storage space.

City of Toronto

If there's ever been a move that signalled the death-knell of large format retail in Toronto, it just might be this.

The Hudson's Bay Centre has long been maligned for its poor interaction with the cityscape, often described as an impenetrable-looking concrete bunker that turns a blind eye to the busy Yonge and Bloor intersection.

However, it seems the best Toronto will get out of this situation is a concrete bunker being reskinned into a somewhat shiny but still opaque and mostly featureless expanse.

I'll hold for sarcastic applause.

City of Toronto

The former department store abandoned within Yonge and Bloor's fortified bunker since 2022 is just one of many large-format stores to go the way of the dodo in recent years.

Nordstrom suddenly shut down all Canadian stores in 2023, while widespread Hudson's Bay department store closures followed in 2025.

The initial proposal to reconstruct large portions of the complex for a continued retail presence seemed far-fetched just a few years after it was proposed to City planners. 

The resulting plans now before municipal staff essentially read as a tactical retreat by property owners, balking at the idea of large-format retail and leaning into the bunker-like qualities by pursuing a form of development that doesn't require large-scale modifications, windows, or any level of design quality beyond just slapping some glazing onto a malignant tumour of urbanism.