Chatswood yum cha restaurant loses fight to extend lease at Westfield

Behind some hoardings at a Sydney shopping centre a battle was playing out between a restaurant and operators.

Behind a generic Westfield shop vacancy hoarding is the story of an extraordinary battle that played out at a Sydney shopping centre.

The owners of yum cha restaurant King Dynasty had resorted to sleeping in their store and hiring a security guard at Chatswood as they fought to extend their lease.

Alex Zhang told A Current Affair this week he set up camp in the restaurant his family has run since 2016 after being told the lease would end on March 31.

“I’ve got no choice but sleeping here to protect the business,” he told the Channel 9 program.

“If I’m not inside, we don’t have security guard yesterday, we won’t walk into the restaurant again.”

The sign erected outside what used to be King Dynasty at Chatswood.

The business announced its closure on social media.

He claimed to have been told in December that the lease was not renewed because online reviews for Dynasty King influenced the decision.

Westfield said it could not expand on the decision due to an ongoing court matter.

The restaurant was on level six at Westfield Chatswood. Britta Campion / The Australian

This month the NSW Supreme Court ordered Mr Zhang to vacate the premises and on Wednesday staff could appear to be seen cleaning up inside the cavernous venue on level six.

News.com.au got a brief peek behind the white doors advertising a “new store opening soon” when staffers brought out some cooking equipment.

Staff members present declined to speak and news.com.au has attempted to contact the owners for comment.

Inside the King Dynasty restaurant.

It served yum cha.

In a statement, Scentre Group – which runs Westfield – said the business had been given fair warning that its lease was ending.

“King Dynasty purchased the business operating from the premises in 2016 with a lease in place that was due to expire in 2022,” it said.

“King Dynasty was given no assurance or representation of a lease renewal by Scentre Group after the expiry in 2022 when they made the decision to purchase the business from the previous operators.

“During Covid, Scentre Group provided King Dynasty with rent relief and extended their lease until March 2024.

“This lease expired on 31 March 2024.”

It said a new Chinese restaurant, Zilver, would move in to King Dynasty’s space in coming months.

“This matter is before the courts and therefore Scentre Group is unable to comment further at this point in time.”

Originally published as Chatswood yum cha restaurant loses fight to extend lease at Westfield