Star Village Arcade landlords halve rents to keep Darwin CBD shops in business

THE commercial landlords of a popular Darwin CBD shopping arcade have halved rents for the past six months to give businesses much-needed relief during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Natasha Emeck

@tashemeck

less than 2 min read

October 1, 2020 - 12:30AM

JobKeeper and JobSeeker cuts will be "devastating" for Aussies

Business

Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.

THE commercial landlords of a popular Darwin CBD shopping arcade have halved rents for the past six months to give businesses much-needed relief during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The owners of the Star Village Arcade on Smith Street, Harris Holdings, made the decision to cut down rent for their 18 tenants by 50 per cent in March.

Six months later, director Tom Harris said 90 per cent of those shops had managed to remain open.

“For me it was a no-brainer,” he said.

Star Village Arcade owner Tom Harris has cut rent for his 18 tenants for the past six months. Pictures: Katrina Bridgeford.

“We wanted to give businesses certainty so they could focus on recovering rather than worrying about the rent.

“At the end of the day it’s paid off, the bulk of them have managed to survive and only one tenant (Red Cross) made the call to leave.

“As incomes start to improve, we will start looking to adjust that rent reduction to about 25 per cent but we know things are still pretty rough.

Darwin publican fears JobKeeper job loss ‘tidal wave’ as changes kick in for payments

Territorians splashed nearly $300m on retail pleasures in July as spending bounces back slightly

“I know all the tenants here personally and I think it’s really important to ensure everyone keeps working together in times like this.”

The NT News walked all the main streets and arcades within the boundary of the CBD — including Smith, Mitchell, Cavenagh, Knuckey, Bennett and Woods streets — and found 82 vacant shopfronts on Wednesday.

For Lease signs on shopfronts in the Voyage Arcade in Smith St. Picture: Natasha Emeck

A further 180 Darwin CBD commercial spaces are available for lease online, in comparison to the Palmerston CBD where there are about 100 commercial spaces available at the moment.

There were 13 vacant shopfronts counted on Knuckey St. Picture: Natasha Emeck

In light of recent JobKeeper cuts, Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce said he expected a few “zombie businesses” who were relying on the federal government initiative to stay open to start winding up over the next six months.