Rent hike sends another restaurant packing
One of Lan Kwai Fong's oldest restaurants, Va Bene, is being forced to move after a 150 per cent rent rise.
The rent for the 15-year-old Italian restaurant's 2,600 sq ft premises is rising from $240,000 a month to $600,000. Owner Pino Piano said the popular trattoria would move to larger premise nearby.
'Six months ago the premises was sold for $75 million. Our lease expires in February and the new landlord has told us he wants to increase the rent to $600,000,' he said.
'When we asked to meet with them, they said the bidding would start at $575,000. There is no way we can survive at that rent. It is impossible... We would just have been working for the landlord.'
However, fans of the high-end Italian restaurant may find they are temporarily spoiled for choice - Mr Piano intends to open the new Va Bene before the old one closes, so two versions of the restaurant will be available to diners for four months.
The new Va Bene will replace China Lan Kwai Fong restaurant opposite Post 97 and will open in October, while the current one will close at the end of January. The management plans to throw a party to mark both events.
Mr Piano rented the new premises, which he says is about 25 per cent larger, from Allan Zeman's Lan Kwai Fong Holdings on a six-year contract. 'It's a bit more than we are paying now, but it's still very reasonable,' he said.
Va Bene joins several bars and restaurants that have been forced to close or move due to huge rent increases.
Midnight Express, a small fast food takeaway on the corner of Lan Kwai Fong, closed earlier this year because of a rent rise and another restaurant is now renovating the site.
Club 64 was forced to move out of Lan Kwai Fong to Man Hing Lane below Hollywood Road after the landlord raised the monthly rent by a reported 70 per cent.
The current asking price for rents for ground-level shops in Lan Kwai Fong range from $120 to $170 per sq ft, according to Centaline Property Agency, which has six properties in the area listed at present. The asking price for the Va Bene property is $230 per sq ft.
Lan Kwai Fong Association director Stella Luk Chee-yen said the association members were curious to see what kind of business could afford a $600,000 rent.
Simon Wong Ka-wo, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said he was surprised Va Bene's rent had increased so much, saying a doubling in rents was 'almost normal' these days, but more than that was unusual.
