Nundah Village: It’s the village of the damned as restaurants and cafes close down

It’s a suburban village that has become heavily populated in the past decade but it has not equated into more sales for eateries who with many having closed down this year.

One of about a dozen outlets for lease in the Village, Nundah. Picture: Darren Cartwright

A SUBURBAN ‘village’ that has been in development overdrive with hundreds of units coming online this decade has become the village of the damned for restaurants and cafes.

Nundah retail strip, known locally as the Village, is dotted with a dozen empty outlets of which at least half are former restaurant, cafes or fast food outlets.

The Village stretches along Sandgate Rd, from Wood St to Buckland Rd, and the latest eateries to bite the dust are Be Bold cafe, the hugely popular Nundah Kitchen and The Coffee Club.

The site of the former Coffee Club remains vacant at Nundah Village. It's one of a dozen shops along Sandgate Rd which are empty. Pic: Darren Cartwright

The carcass of a former Earth ‘n’ Sea pizza restaurant and a dessert and high tea cafe are also eyesores.

The Village should not be confused with the boutique shopping centre Nundah Village on the corner Buckland and Sandgate roads.

Local Ray White real estate agent James Clark, who has sold properties across Nundah and round surrounding suburbs since 1994, said high rents and a lack of parking had been toxic.

He said, while hundreds of units had sprung up in recent years, many of the apartments had just one car park, leaving occupants scrambling to find all-day street parking.

“Parking is a massive issue. Even we have to shift our cars all the time and our frustration levels are at an all-time high,” Mr Clark said.

“If you look at previous council regulations and the number of cars developers were required to provide for each unit, I was 0.8 cars per unit and that was just crazy.

“If you can’t get a car park then you can’t stop to have a coffee or a bite to eat to support local business.”

The Nundah Kitchen appears it will soon reopen as another eatery after it closed on August 31. Pic: Darren Cartwright

The closure of Nundah Kitchen after five years saw an outpouring of sadness on social media.

The eatery, which sits next door to long standing fast food outlet Broz Kebabs, was under renovation on Tuesday and a new owner appears imminent.

Broz Kebabs manager Sam Shinwari said rising rent had forced Nundah Kitchen not to renew their lease.

“I asked him what was happening and he said it was the rent was too much,” Mr Shinwari said

Broz Kebab manager Sam Shinwari said rents keep rising at the Village and it's cost a few business owners their livelihoods. Pic: Darren Cartwright

He said there appeared to be consensus among landlords that because Nundah’s population was growing rapidly that restaurants and business would increase their profits.

But that couldn’t be further from truth and their sales had not increased anywhere near in proportion to the number of people who have made Nundah their home of the past decade.

“That’s why they increased the rent because Nundah has grown but we didn’t see much change at all,” he said.

“The economy is down and people are not spending as much and the reality is that not more people are coming out to eat.”

Cafe Be Bold recently closed and rising rents and lack of parking are some of the reasons being blamed on eateries closing down in the "Village'. Picture: Darren Cartwright

Mr Clark said there was lot of merit in Mr Shinwari’s observation that there had not been a marked increase in foot traffic.

He suggested landlords need to be more mindful of local economy which thrives on Friday and Saturday nights but is lacklustre during the week.

“The rents are very high and the landlords have taken the attitude that rents would be affordable because of the infrastructure that has gone in but the trade has never been there,” Mr Clark said.

“It’s a big concern because if they keep turning businesses over it has a devastating effect for the area because it shows they’re unsustainable.”

The shell of a former Earth ‘n’ Sea restaurant is for lease. One of about half a dozen stores that were former eateries that are up for lease. Picture: Darren Cartwright

While restaurants and cafes may be struggling gyms are plentiful and there are at least four recruitment and employment agencies.

Several prime positions for lease lend themselves more to white collar businesses, such as tax agents and solicitors which have moved into the village, than eateries.

The ability for some landlords to reduce rents maybe nigh impossible if they were locked into business loans or if the property was linked to private investors, said JLL’s head of retail leasing Cameron Taudevin.

He said landlords also could make a vacant property more attractive to a potential businesses, and ultimately their customers, with a makeover.

“We see a number of landlords in market are working to meet the market however a number of private investors have bank pressure requiring a minimum return if locked away on a long term commitments,” Mr Taudevin said.

“Landlords need to be proactive with capital works and improvement programs; especially during the downtime when properties are vacant to breathe new life in to the premises and attract quality national retail groups.”