Bay Building (Montreal)

1891–1972: Morgan's

Built from 1889 to 1891 to a design by the American architect John Pierce Hill (1849–1920),[1] the four-storey Neo-Romanesque building was constructed from imported Scottish Old Red Sandstone for Morgan's department store,[2] which HBC acquired in 1960. The site had previously been occupied by terrace-type townhouses along Saint Catherine, Union and Alymer,[3] built with stones from the ruins of the 1849 Parliament Building,[4] including the former home of Dr. William Hales Hingston,[4] mayor of Montreal from 1875 to 1877, at the southwest corner.

The building was modified in 1923 (eight-storey Beaux-Arts style addition clad with red stone to match the original store) and 1964 (eight-storey modernist annex along De Maisonneuve Boulevard).[5] The later addition is mostly windowless, with windows only on ground level and in four arch features along De Maisonneuve and Union.

1972–2025: Hudson's Bay

While the Morgan's stores were acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1960, the Quebec locations retained their original name until 1972.

HBC announced plans to renovate Hudson's Bay Montreal Downtown to accommodate a 18580 m2 Saks Fifth Avenue facing De Maisonneuve Boulevard in 2016. The project was expected to be completed by fall 2018, but plans had been shelved by that February.

It was one of six locations tentatively spared from the creditor protection and liquidation filed by HBC in March 2025.[6] However, on April 23, 2025 due to court rulings deeming it "low probability" to find a buyer to keep the remaining six stores afloat, HBC announced liquidation and permanent closure of all Hudson's Bay stores which started on April 25, 2025 and closed in June 2025.[7][8] The store's iconic yellow sign was removed the following year, in March 2026.[9][10]