Cafe owner hopes to revive urban eatery dubbed by some as ‘Village of the Damned’

An urban precinct known as Village of the Damned because of the number eateries that failed could be on the up after several new openings including a cafe that replaces The Coffee Club.

One of more than a dozen stores that have been up for lease in The Village over the past two months. Picture: Darren Cartwright

A SAVVY businesswoman plans to succeed where The Coffee Club failed and help revive an embattled eatery precinct, dubbed ‘Village of the damned”.

The Village at Nundah has been leaking restaurants and cafes for the past two years.

Up until a month ago there were more than a dozen vacancies scattered throughout the precinct, but now it has a new cafe after Priscilla Williams and her business partner Boaz Keeda opened Jabiru.

The cafe is situated front and square at Nundah Village, in a site that stood vacant for seven months after the longstanding Coffee Club closed its doors.

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Co-owner Priscilla Williams hopes to succeed where The Coffee Club failed and help revive 'The Village' at Nundah. Picture: Darren Cartwright

The shopping centre forms part of the ‘Village’, a retail strip that stretches almost 300m along Sandgate Rd, from Wood St to Buckland Rd and earned the tag ‘Village of the Damned’ because of the number eateries that folded.

But the area appears on the up after several new business, including a vaping store, sprang to life in recent weeks.

Ms Williams said it took her four months to come around to opening a second cafe – their first is in Post Office Square – and it was structured around community consultation on social media.

“Before I even signed the lease I reached out on social media to all the Nundah locals to see what they wanted and the popular responses were a kids corner, pet friendly and healthy options,” Ms Williams said.

“This was empty for a long time so I hope we are able to provide what Coffee Club couldn’t and that includes being licensed and a Sunday sessions where local talent can showcase their skills”.

The Coffee Club sat vacant for seven months.

The transformed site at Nundah Village opened last week. Pictures: Darren Cartwright

The leap of faith in ‘The Village’ was not an easy one for Ms Williams and Mr Keeda.

First, they had to get their heads around weekend penalty rates.

It’s a financial impost they have not have to deal with at their CBD outlet because it only operates on weekdays.

“I had to do a lot of sums to see if it was viable for seven day trading because of the penalty rates which I have no experience of late because our CBD location is only Monday to Friday,” Ms Williams said.

“I know Nundah has a tight-knit community who look out for each other and I think the village needs some positivity and so far the feedback has been positive.”

Content Jabiru customer Brian Watson tucks into breakfast at the new cafe which only opened last week at Nundah Village. Picture: Darren Cartwright

The cafe greets every customer who enters through the front of the shopping centre while at the rear sits Broz Kebabs.

The fast food outlet temporarily closed because of a rental increase before the landlord backed down from their hard-line stance and agreed to terms with Broz Kebabs owners.

The return of Broz Kebabs came a day after Vapour Club opened its doors in mid-November.

The vaping store filled a premises that had been vacant for more than two years.

Co-owner Temaru Teamoke said they chose the Village because it was a ‘hipster’ precinct that suited their product.

“We liked the demographic and there’s lots of development in the area and also the south side was saturated with vape stores,” Mr Teamoke said.

“It’s seen as a real hipster new age vibe and we think our product fits in well with the area.”