City centre trading too slow for many stores
NEW research has benchmarked commercial rental prices in the Cairns CBD against two comparable cities to reveal whether landlords really are charging too much.
The city centre is in a distressing state with a new Urbis study commissioned by Cairns Regional Council finding 15 per cent of commercial properties are vacant.
The same report found 12.3 per cent of CBD business owners were considering closure in the next 12 months, while 14 per cent were thinking about moving out of the city centre.
Intime Surf and Street Wear owner Anita Gardiner is a member of the former camp and will shut the shop at the end of April despite having to keep paying rent until July.
The shop has been part of the Cairns retail industry for decades, moving to its current Shields St premises in 2016 after the street underwent a major pedestrian redevelopment. Customers have dried up and Ms Gardiner’s repeated pleas for authorities to stop hawkers and touters from scaring off potential shoppers have not led to action.
“It’s sad … I think I’ll miss the conversations and the stories the most,” she said.
Ms Gardiner and her husband Dave have held on longer than many of their neighbours.
There are some glimmers of hope, including a ballet school soon to take up residence at Lake St in the top floor of the Rockmans building.
Division 5 councillor Richie Bates said CBDs everywhere were making the shift towards arts and entertainment precinct destinations – and councils should make life as easy as possible.
“We need to review our footpath policies to give restaurants and cafes the best opportunity to trade outdoors.”
The study found the average commercial rental listing for the Cairns CBD was $128 per square metre – compared with $219 for Darwin and $258 for Newcastle.
Premium-grade property was much cheaper in Cairns ($412/sqm) than Darwin ($1322) but more expensive than Newcastle ($363).
However, Ms Gardiner said even cheap rent was too much when there were no customers.