Popular nightspot The Jolly Chinaman closes as Tedder Ave struggles with “malaise” exodus

THE once trendy and bustling Tedder Ave is in crisis after becoming a ‘bypassed community’ following the introduction of the light rail.

Tedder Avenue was once a busy hub of the Gold Coasts rich and famous. It now has restaurants that are near empty and shops moving out. Picture by Scott Fletcher

THE Gold Coast’s tram system that is bringing a new-found prosperity to areas it passes through is also creating pockets of struggling businesses in streets that are now bypassed.

The once trendy and bustling Tedder Ave at Main Beach is in crisis, with at least 10 shops and restaurants having closed this year.

According to local businessmen it’s a perfect storm of tram commuters not realising they are passing through a party precinct and landlords refusing to recognise hard times being suffered by their tenants.

‘UNNEEDED’ $150m COULD SAVE LIGHT RAIL STAGE 2

Foot traffic in Tedder Ave has dwindled and as each business closes it has a cumulative effect on the remaining businesses.

Neil Fisher has operated Domanis Italian Restaurant on Tedder Ave for more than 27 years and said rents needed to be slashed and efforts by the Gold Coast City Council to promote Main Beach improved.

He urged area councillor Lex Bell to immediately consider creating a canopy of fairy lights to connect the existing decorative features to near the Gold Coast Highway and light rail corridor, to draw in crowds.

“From the light rail strip you cannot see anything because, unlike when it goes through Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, there is nothing to indicate you are in the middle of the action,” he said.

“Tedder Ave needs to be promoted properly and this needs to happen next week, not in six week’s time, given it has been pretty quiet during this school holidays because people just do not realise we are here.

“The rent here is excessive and tenants have been paying charges that have been too high for too long, given the amount of foot traffic we are getting here now. ”

Mr Fisher urged landlords to consider dropping rents, declaring the alternative was “more empty shopfronts”.

Rents along the strip have previously been reported as being as high as $111,000-$195,000 a year.

Restaurants to close this year include Slyders, The Carvery, Tedder and Woodroffe, Provincial and Zorbas.

Main Beach businesses say the area is suffering due to the light rail route.

Domanis will be relocating soon to the former Tedder and Woodroffe site after 23 years at its present site.

The push comes just weeks after one of Main Beach’s oldest restaurants closed its doors, sparking fears the once-chic strip is turning into a no-go zone.

The Jolly Chinaman, a popular restaurant which dated back to the 1980s, was locked up earlier this month after going into rent arrears.

There’s a slew of empty shops in Tedder Avenue.

Now, with multiple empty shopfronts littering the area, community leaders are pinning their hopes on next month’s V8 Supercars event, the GC600, to bring punters back to the area.

Main Beach Progress Association president Terry Mulligan said Tedder Ave was going through a rough patch but it was hoped to turn things around and rekindle people’s love of Main Beach.

“It is going through a tough time and we do have an issue with the light rail taking people down the highway now — it seems like people have forgot that Tedder even exists and just bypass us,” he said.

“It seems like people have forgot that Tedder even exists.”

“We are hoping to get some new street signage put in to point in here but at the same time it still has a famous name and people are still coming here.

“It is not all doom and gloom and we are doing our best to pick the place up and get it moving.”

The council has thrown divisional funds into helping stage events in the precinct throughout October in the lead-up to the GC600.

An unoccupied Tedder Avenue restaurant.

C Bell said the closure of so many businesses was a worrying sign for the area.

“It is indicative of the malaise sweeping through the restaurant community on Tedder Ave but as far as the council is concerned, there is no easy solution,” he said.

“We are looking at updating the public areas but we cannot assist individual businesses and now the Tedder Ave Traders Association has been discontinued, so it is a tough time.

“There are going to be street functions through October in the lead-up to the GC600 race and I have provided funding for this, so it seems like these may be necessary to giving Main Beach a much-needed shot in the arm.”