Popular Happy Valley pub calls time after 22 years due to soaring rent
Much-loved local bar, described as an English pub with a Hong Kong twist, forced to close after rent increases by more than 50 per cent
Soaring rents have forced a well-known bar in Happy Valley to call last orders this month, ending 22 years as a popular watering hole.
The Chapel on Yik Yam Street will serve its last beer next Wednesday after owner Surjit Mahal was unable to renew the lease owing to a 55 per cent rent increase.
He said that his rent was raised two years ago by almost 25 per cent and with profit margins shrinking in recent years, due to higher costs for food and beverages, keeping the pub open was no longer a viable option.
"I would barely be breaking even and it just did not make sense any more," Mahal said.
He considered reopening elsewhere but does not want to be in the same situation in two years when leases usually come up for renewal.
"Rents have been going up here and turnover is high," he said, noting that two restaurants in the area - one Japanese and the other Mexican - closed after a year or two of business.