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Grandview-Woodland: Rent increase forces Little Nest to close

Rent jumped $2k a month at child-friendly eatery

A neighbourhood favourite for six years, Little Nest eatery will soon give up its home and close.

Mary Macintyre, pastry chef and owner of the child-friendly eatery just off Commercial Drive, can't afford to pay the monthly rent of $6,500 much longer. The rent was raised $2,000 a month starting in February.

Macintyre's rent was $2,900 a month when she opened the cafe in 2007 so she agreed to a lease that limited her operating hours and stipulated she couldn't obtain a liquor licence. Now she can't afford her rent without additional revenue. Little Nest operates 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week. Macintyre pays $45 a square foot for the spot at 1716 Charles St.

"It means that any profit I make goes directly to my landlord rather than me or reinvestment into the business," Macintyre said.

Sacha Thompson, owner of The Flowerbox, has rented in the same building as Little Nest for nine years and believes the Drive is changing.

"I don't know what the individual stories are, but I know the tenants in our building feel like the rent increases are constant and too high."

Thompson said she's grateful she's negotiated gradual rent increases with the representative of the owners of the commercial and residential building on the corner of Commercial and Charles. But she continues to build relationships with other landlords on the Drive in case she has to move. "That's what people don't realize with small business is where it's really public service," she said. "You drive the economy, you employ people, you create these beautiful spaces, you work your ass off, and there's not a lot of concessions or protection in place."

Thompson wants commercial rent increases regulated just as the province regulates increases for residential renters. "There are businesses on the Drive that have had the same landlord with marginal increases for the 15, 20, 25 years they've been there," she said. "And that's why they have been there, because they're not being cut off at the knees. Make it easy for us to thrive and we'll thrive."

Thompson is saddened to think small business owners who sell fresh and organic food could be replaced by "the cheapest products, the quickest, the prefab."

Bill Pomeroy, owner of Artrageous Pictures and Framing, believes rents have risen more than usual in the past year or two. He's noticed stores moving and empty spaces where no space was previously available for prospective business owners on the Drive.

Pomeroy, who five years ago bought his commercial space at 1256 Commercial Dr. where his business has run for 15 years, believes a "big chunk" of rent increases could be property taxes. Pomeroy noted he pays 33 cents a square foot for his residential property in North Vancouver and pays $10 a square foot for his shop on Commercial Drive.

The Commercial Drive Business Society tells potential renters on the Drive to expect to pay from $20 to $45 a square foot, not including a charge for property tax, garbage, insurance and electricity, said society president Carmen D'Onofrio. Increases in rent, property taxes, traffic along with parking problems and residents that favour different goods and services could be hurting businesses D'Onofrio said. "No! I didn't even know that," he exclaimed when he heard Little Nest will close. "It's a shame."

D'Onofrio said it's beyond the mandate of a business association to try to control rents or encourage certain businesses.

"We want to see fair rents that attract unique, eclectic responsible businesses," he added.

Macintyre expects to close Little Nest mid-July.

crossi@vancourier.com

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