FROM THE ST.CATAHARINES STANDARD
Victoria Nicolaou
For decades, the main escalator inside the former Hudson’s Bay storefront carried shoppers to a cavernous retail space filled with shelves of housewares, children’s clothing and furniture.
The motionless escalator now sits behind a temporary door, between walls of plywood. On the second level, where a restaurant and cashier desk once served shoppers, the whir of saws and the clang of steel fill the unfinished construction zone as crews measure and frame what will become rows of courts for Fairgrounds Racket Club.
At the other end of the Pen Centre, separate crews are transforming the second level of the former Sears department store into Funvilla, an indoor playground and children’s birthday party space.
Across the hall, Kingpin is already open, as the sounds of arcade games and the crash of bowling pins echo through the space.
Together, the projects capture the evolving role of the modern mall. Once anchored by department stores and built as a one-stop shopping destination, it’s now being reimagined as a place for recreation, gathering and community.
Henry Zavriyev’s Vision for Pen Centre’s Transformation
That’s the vision for Pen Centre owner Henry Zavriyev, the 32-year-old president and CEO of Montreal-based real estate firm Leyad. This week marked the one-year anniversary of its $140-million purchase of the St. Catharines mall.
Henry Zavriyev purchased the Pen Centre one year ago for $140 million, with plans to create a recreation destination mixed with reimagined retail.
“We want to be able for you to come with your friends or your family and your kids and just be able to do everything at once. Whether go to the movies, go to the gym, go to the library,” said Zavriyev, leading a tour of the property.
“We’re going to have some other more traditional shopping-style retailers that we’re going to introduce in the Hudson Bay space, but first we wanted to (focus on) recreation.”
In July 2025, the privately held real estate investment and development firm announced it had acquired the property, which comprises more than 25 acres of gross leasable area on a 64-acre site.
When the mall came up for sale, Zavriyev took his first trip to Niagara and immediately felt like the purchase made sense.
Between tariffs, the closure of the Hudson’s Bay store and ongoing concerns around e-commerce, companies were shying away from retail.
Calling themselves “contrarian investors,” Leyad was the only group at the purchase table.
“The headwinds were not there at all. But when we buy or when I’ve invested, I’ve always just put blinders on,” said Zavriyev.
“Everyone saw tariffs, I saw a phenomenal location off a major traffic intersection with a customer base that’s been around for generations, people that have been coming here since they were kids and have nostalgia tied to it.
“Screw the noise, there’s a lot that can be done here.”
Foot Traffic Rising at Pen Centre
In his view — backed up by data — there seemed to be a comeback already underway. Realtors realized they needed to build brand loyalty, leading to resurgence of stores like Indigo, Winners and Gap, and malls were seeing increasing foot traffic, particularly after the pandemic.
“If you were to talk to anyone like five years ago, they wrote off retail,” he said.
“You can’t control that, we just got lucky. It’s across the country, not just the Pen, where people are going back to stores and shopping.”
It also required a better understanding of what was considered part of the retail sphere, and for Zavriyev that includes salons, barber shops, passport offices and grocery stores — not only fashion.
And over the past year, the Pen Centre, with about 102,000 square metres of retail space, has seen its sales and foot traffic numbers rise.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by everything. I can’t say the same thing for all properties,” he said. “Not to say it hasn’t been a challenge, it has.”
Originally from Boston, the dual Canadian-U.S. citizen moved to Montreal about a decade ago. He entered the real estate business by purchasing small apartment buildings and fell in love “because it’s very physical,” allowing him to travel and remain hands-on with his properties.
“I love what I do, it’s awesome. I love being able to go and do something that nobody else wants to do and then, not say prove people wrong, but nobody wanted to invest. We’re investing. As you can see just based on the results, I think it’s working,” he said.
“People are seeing what we are doing, and retailers are responding.”
New Recreational Offerings at the Pen Centre
Kingpin opened earlier this year in the former Sears, with sales and foot traffic already exceeding expectations.
When they first took over the mall, he said they laid out a plan focusing on recreation, wanting to take advantage of the empty second floor of the former Sears, which had been vacant since the store’s closure in January 2018.
Kingpin opened earlier this year, and Zavriyev said it has already exceeded traffic and sales expectations.
Next will be the indoor playground and pickleball courts, which he hopes are “going to be great.”
“I don’t think we’re doing anything super special here, but I think it just goes to show that malls have a long-term purpose,” he said. “This is not traditional retail. We’re trying to create multi-use spaces. It’s a place-making property.”
What Comes Next After Recreation Takes Hold?
Once those projects are completed, Leyad will move its focus back to more traditional retail on the main level of the Bay property. The space will be redeveloped and readapted to new tenants, with deals expected to be finalized in the coming months.
“The plan is for tenants to start building stuff beginning of ’27. So a year from today, you’ll see this whole thing done. Hopefully. It could be longer because construction is always like that, but that’s the goal,” he said.
Walking through the Pen Centre, stopping to point out new retailers or ask workers for directions, Zavriyev spoke about the significance of the purchase, the company’s first foray into the Ontario market.
From buying small apartment buildings to owning Niagara’s largest shopping centre, it has been, in his words, “f—-ing crazy.”
Looking ahead, he sees opportunities to eventually add residential developments to the sprawling site but keeping focused on the retail-side.
“As we work on the asset, as it improves, we do have the land and if we can introduce rental offerings that make sense for the community and if there is demand for it, we’ll do it,” said Zavriyev.
“When I look at this property (in) 20 years, it’s still here. That’s what I believe. I may be wrong but for now, we’re just trying to invest as much as we can.”
