2 Bloor East is an office and retail complex in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, formerly known as the Hudson's Bay Centre. It is located in
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Stre ...
at the intersection of
Yonge Street
Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes.
Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
and
Bloor Street
Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkw ...
at the east end of the
Mink Mile
Mink Mile is an upscale shopping district in the neighbourhood of Yorkville in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, along Bloor Street between Yonge Street and Avenue Road.
History
In the 21st century, mid-market retailers have begun to locate along the M ...
.
Brookfield Properties
Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
owns and operates the centre. The centre is composed of a 35-storey office tower and a retail concourse. From its opening in 1974 until 2022 it had a
Hudson's Bay department store as its anchor store.
Description
The tower stands at 135 metres in height. It contains 35 floors and , and its address 2 Bloor Street East, at the northeast corner of the intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets. The extensive retail concourse was anchored by a flagship store of Hudson's Bay/The Bay (known as the "Toronto, on Bloor Street" store at 44 Bloor Street East, the main brand of HBC. The mall contains over 45 specialty shops, boutiques, services and eateries. The complex also includes the
Marriott Hotel
Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 160 ...
, an
RBC Royal Bank
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...
branch, a
Jack Astor's Bar and Grill
Jack Astor's Bar and Grill is a chain of 40 restaurants located in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Canada, and formerly New York in the United States. All locations include a restaurant and bar area. It is corpora ...
, apartments, and condominiums.
The centre has space for 1,200 cars in its underground and above-ground parking lots, multiple entrances located on Yonge, Bloor Streets, Park Road and Asquith Avenue and is surrounded by several parks and the
Yorkville neighborhood which is known for upscale shopping.
The building is connected to the
Bloor–Yonge subway station, the
TTC's major east-west/north-south transfer point. There are also below-grade connections to the
Holt Renfrew Centre
Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (Trade name, doing business as Holt Renfrew and known Colloquialism, colloquially as Holt's) is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. It has been owned by the Weston family ...
and Cumberland Terrace, which continues westward to 60 Bloor Street West and
Manulife Centre
The Manulife Centre is located on the southeast corner of Bay and Bloor streets, along the Mink Mile and adjacent to the southern edge of the Yorkville district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of a 51-storey 800-suite luxury resident ...
. The pedestrian tunnels stretches along Bloor Street West to the
Bay subway station, making this Toronto's largest
underground network
''Underground Network'' is Anti-Flag's third studio album, released on Fat Wreck Chords in 2001. Widely considered to be the band's breakthrough album, it helped make Anti-Flag become a household name in the U.S. punk scene with tracks like "Und ...
after
PATH
A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail.
Path or PATH may also refer to:
Physical paths of different types
* Bicycle path
* Bridle path, used by people on horseback
* Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle
* Desire p ...
.
History
Completed in 1974, the
International style office
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
has served as the headquarters for the retailer
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
(HBC). The company remained the main tenant until 2022, although the company relocated its head office to the
Simpson Tower
The Simpson Tower, located at 401 Bay Street, is the 38th-tallest building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1968 by architect John B. Parkin, as the headquarters of the Simpsons department store company, it has 33 floors and is high. In ...
in 1978. The department store opened with the tower and was the first location of The Bay within the
former city of Toronto. It overtook the Winnipeg location to become the flagship branch of The Bay (despite being actually smaller in size than the former) and maintained this distinction until the conversion in 1991 of the larger
Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, a ...
store also located in Toronto.
In 2013, it was announced that the
Hudson's Bay/The Bay store could undergo a renovation to become the Canadian flagship location of
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...
, the American luxury department store chain which is now also owned by Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).
However, it was subsequently announced that HBC would instead be renovating its flagship Hudson's Bay store at Yonge and Queen to include a 150,000 square foot Saks Fifth Avenue, and would leave the Yonge and Bloor location as a Hudson's Bay store.
In August 2014, the centre became the subject of controversy when its property manager, Brookfield Properties Ltd, admitted to regularly confiscating bicycles that were locked to a pole on a municipal right of way on Bloor St. outside of the mall. Many Torontonians accused the centre of theft and the City of Toronto assigned by-law officers to investigate.
In 2021, the iconic "The Bay" signage that was displayed on top of the office tower for nearly 50 years was removed.
The following year, the Hudson's Bay Company announced that the Yonge and Bloor department store would close at the end of May 2022, and the site is expected to be redeveloped in conjunction with a major overhaul of the
Bloor-Yonge TTC station. The store finally closed on May 13, 2022.
Hudson's Bay Store in Bloor St 2022.jpg , Facade of the department store
Hudson's Bay Centre Concouse Level shops 2022.jpg , Concouse Level shops
Hudson's Bay Centre Lobby 2022.jpg, Office lobby
Hudson's Bay Centre Level 5 2022.jpg, Yonge and Bloor department store Level 5
References
Note
External links
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{{Toronto skyscrapers
Skyscrapers in Toronto
Modernist architecture in Canada
Hudson's Bay Company
Brookfield Properties buildings
1974 establishments in Ontario
Skyscraper office buildings in Canada
Retail buildings in Canada
Office buildings completed in 1974