Liberte Café and Restaurant is set to close after operating for four years in Vancouver’s Collingwood neighbourhood.
Owner Charles Tsang says the property’s landlord is set to double their rent.
“When I look into the number, that is a 120% more increase,” said Tsang. “I was trying to negotiate with him. He’s just reply, say, non-negotiable on the rents. So after that, he start showing the place to some other tenants. And I have no idea what is his plan.”
Tsang and his wife opened the restaurant in 2021 and say they invested approximately half a million dollars into the business, which just started turning a profit.
“I was thinking initially I might, like, cut down on some staff, cut down the hours, try to survive, but after crunching all the numbers, I just figured there’s no way, no way that we can survive,” said Tsang.
While residential tenancies in B.C. have a yearly cap on rent increases, commercial leases have no such restrictions.
“It’s just unacceptable,” said Tsang. “A lot of people even say it’s disgusting.”
Several regular customers expressed their disappointment to CTV News.
“I think it’s disgusting,” said Ceri Postle, who lives in the neighbourhood. “Yeah, I think it’s a rip off. It’s just, it’s probably unrepeatable what I think.”
“We’re losing a lot of our cultural connection,” said Spencer Butts, a regular who commutes to the restaurant from North Vancouver.
“You know, food is a great way to to introduce yourself to a new culture.”
Liberte offers a mix of food and drinks, much of which is Filipino-inspired.
Tsang says he’s currently looking at other leasing opportunities in the neighbourhood, but is concerned his next endeavor could suffer a similar fate due to the current commercial tenancy laws.
“It is sad to see our staff go, as well,” said Tsang. “Hopefully we can see them in the future.”
