The dispute between developers and an Elephant and Castle household goods store has rumbled past the deadline, with the two parties at loggerheads over rent costs.
Last week, the News reported that Pricebusters had until Friday 22 April to accept or reject developers’ offer of £392,000 and a new retail unit, or risk getting nothing.
But at the eleventh hour, it emerged the two parties disagreed on the cost of renting the new unit. The deadline has passed, but negotiations continue.
Unable to disclose the exact figures, Rakesh said: “They’ve offered ‘x amount’ and what we want is ‘y’.
“They’re building loads of flats and god knows how much money they’ll make. This money is a drop in the ocean for them while this is our livelihoods.”
Relocated traders are supposed to get a 40 per cent discount off market rent, but Lendlease and Pricebusters now disagree over how much ‘market rent’ is.
The sudden emergence of market rent as a key factor, when the focus had been on relocation costs, demonstrates how fraught and complex negotiations are.
Even if this market rent dispute is now solved, Rakesh will still expect the extra £230,000 he is demanding from the developers.
The squabble harks back to the Elephant and Castle shopping centre demolition, where the council allowed developers to displace shops if they covered owners’ relocations costs.
In a deal signed by the council, developers had to allocate just £634,700 to pay for the relocation costs of approximately 70 traders.
Developers Delancey and Lendlease later agreed to provide an additional ‘discretionary’ amount if traders needed it – but the council did not insist on a specific amount.
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In theory, the new financial care package could be as little as £10. Rakesh says the deal “wasn’t the smartest thing”.
A spokesperson for Lendlease said: “We’ve been working hard for some time with Mr Patel to secure Pricebusters’ future within Elephant Park and have made him several offers to do so of which our latest includes a heavily discounted rent, as well as a substantial contribution towards the fitout of the unit. Both those elements are at much more generous rates than required by planning regulations, but they reflect our appreciation of Pricebusters’ value to our local community.
“Over twenty retailers have now opened their doors within the Elephant Park development, and ten of these are local businesses taking advantage of discounted affordable rents. We’re eager that Pricebusters becomes the eleventh of these businesses so they can maintain their presence in Elephant and Castle.”