Bowling Green Cafe to close, lease available. Post Reply

[juliantenniscoach]

The Bowling Green Cafe at the Clapham South Tennis Courts is to close next month. The facility is up for lease and the letting agent board is posted next to the cafe.

I understand that Lambeth Council are seeking a rent of £25k/pa which is quite a hike from the previous deal. I am not sure whether Lambeth would commit themselves to some refurbishment as part of the rent, which the cafe is certainly in need.

There was a programme called the "Co-operative Park Initiative" launched some years ago to encourage local stakeholders to assume greater control of such facilities. Many groups including a team of tennis coaches, registered for the process and submitted plans, attending meetings and consultations to meet the required conditions. Unfortunately despite engaging completely within the process the Council changed their position so many times, it became impossible to maintain any dialogues with the Council. They have now quietly dropped the Initiative leaving everyone in the dark as to the next steps.

It will be very interesting to see if anyone takes the lease up at that cost, which I think is high, given the turnover you'd have to generate in order to pay just the lease alone before you have paid yourself a penny.

Watch this space.

[Goldhawk]

A quick google suggests that for 2012-13 Lambeth received...
Bandstand Café: £16,000
Bowling Green Café: £16,500
Rookery Road Café: £13,000

£25,000 seems a huge amount esp given the small size of the venue

[juliantenniscoach]

I think the existing tenant paid a rent closer to the 2012 figure quoted. However Lambeth have completely abandoned the Co-Op parks programme (after years of planning and thousands spent) and now are simply chasing the short term cash. In the meantime they are back to the drawing board in terms of a long term policy which is a worry for local stakeholders like me who could be displaced if a big company moves in.

The cafe most definitely has potential but it would be even better if it was taken as a whole with the pavilion and the two functions were integrated to offer a better more co-ordinated service.

I don't know if Lambeth have/would commit themselves to some capital spend at the cafe to attract a new leaseholder.

[Denwand]

Reading between the lines from the facts given.

Lambeth Charged £12,000 rent for 2013

Now Lambeth (supposedly) charges £25,000 for 2016

No problem I don't know why people are bothered by this!

The new proprietor, Instead of charging £2.00 for a latte an charge £4.00

instead of £1.75 for a slice of carrot cake they an now charge £3.50

Instead of 70p for a Kit Kat they can charge £1.50

Instead of £3.50 for a sandwich they can charge £7.00!!!

Oh how the customers will flock in!

Looking into my crystal ball I predict:

2017: Cafe empty - nobody can afford to rent

2018: Cafe still empty but covered in "Tag" graffiti

2019 Cafe empty and vandalised

2020: Cafe a smouldering ruin having been burnt down by vandals...

Lambeth: Serving the community!

[pie81]

Maybe Lambeth is planning to build a brand new playground next to this cafe and that will justify the price hike.

<wishful thinking>

[Denwand]

Possibly

I must admit I haven't used the cafe very much over the years - it's a bit off the beaten track and low on "footfall" - at least the Clapham Common Bandstand Cafe has potential customers over the weekends.

I did visit one late summer afternoon about two years ago. My impression then was that it was working at subsistence level with few customers (well just me in this case) and (if I recall correctly) had no espresso machine so hot drinks were limited to tea or instant coffee - no competition for the Caffe Neros or the Costa outlets.

How Lambeth came up with an accurate rent of £25,000 intrigues me, I would love to see the reasoning behind it as you would have to sell a hell of a lot of take-away teas, cans of fizzy drinks or packets of crisps just to break even, let alone pay yourself and any staff - setting them up to fail?

[Goldhawk]

It appears the Rookery Café lease is currently 28K pa
They are trying to sell the business for a 90K premium

[juliantenniscoach]

Don't forget, a café will also open on the common lawn outside Clapham South tube some time in the near future.

Really? You mean the old toilets right opposite the tube? That's very interesting. I thought the most obvious option for the BG Cafe was to open earlier to get the commuter traffic for coffees and sandwiches etc.

Having said that, what do I know, I hit tennis balls for a living

[juliantenniscoach]

Don't forget, a café will also open on the common lawn outside Clapham South tube some time in the near future.

Really? You mean the old toilets right opposite the tube? That's very interesting. I thought the most obvious option for the BG Cafe was to open earlier to get the commuter traffic for coffees and sandwiches etc.

Having said that, what do I know, I hit tennis balls for a living

[Goldhawk]

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press ... er-to-life

[Denwand]

A cafe right opposite the station in the WW2 air raid shelter rotunda would do excellent business.

The BG cafe is too tucked away from commuter traffic. It also would need a total makeover and possible rebuild (it is , after all, no more than a hut at the moment, and a fairly scruffy one if that).

If the council could reduce the rent to take account of the above it may be able to survive on the meagre business it's position dictates - otherwise I fear it won't survive.

[juliantenniscoach]

Trying to get a clear answer from Lambeth Council is a bit like trying to catch fog.

[Caferacer]

Artist's impression of the Clapham South air raid cafe!

[mamalemon]

What a shame that the rent is so high. That is an impossible figure for such a small site. It would be lovely to have a new coffee shop there though. Is the bowling green itself still operating?

[juliantenniscoach]

All the sports facilities are open except the bowls green which is shut for the winter.