The building that once housed the historic Hudson’s Bay at the northeast corner of Bloor and Yonge streets may turn into a self-storage warehouse for downtown Torontonians.
A new redevelopment proposal, filed by Urban Strategies Inc. on behalf of Brookfield Properties this month, is suggesting turning the upper levels of the former department store into self-storage facilities.
Since the Bays departure, Brookfield says it has been exploring various ways to repurpose the space, but had been unable to do so, citing market conditions, site constraints and “the decline of large format retail space.”
The developer also pointed to its location, noting how its directly above the Yonge-Bloor interchange subway station, and its deep and large floor plates as other reasons that have posed challenges for how to repurpose the space.
“The addition of a self-storage warehouse uses adds a complementary commercial use to a mixed-use area of the downtown within a portion of the site that is currently vacant and challenging to feasibly utilize for other commercial uses,” Brookfield Properties said in its proposal.
In its zoning bylaw amendment application for 2 & 90 Bloor St. E., Brookfield says the addition of self-storage spaces at this site will pave the way for other improvements at the building, like reintroducing retail space on the ground floor and concourse levels.
The developer proposes renovating 8,330 square metres of retail space on those floors, as well as recladding the building’s façade to modernize it.
The proposed renovation will create three levels of self storage space, sprawling 20,096 square metres from floors two to five. Brookfield says this particular area of the building has minimal natural light and “no direct interface with the public realm.”
To load into the area, Brookfield proposed using the existing loading dock and parking access off Asquith Avenue, where there are 11 loading spaces and 571 parking spots.
The developer argues that downtown Toronto is lacking self-storage facilities and that the introduction of this could be beneficial to the area. The planning proposal also argues this will reuse the existing, and long-vacant, space with minimal construction and upgrade the building to ensure “Bloor Street East is reactivated appropriately.”
Hudson’s Bay shuttered this location in 2022, after more than four decades at the bustling intersection. Years later, in 2025, the Canadian department store filed for bankruptcy and closed down its remaining retail locations.
