Richmond’s only 10-pin bowling alley and associated brew pub has closed again — but this time it seems to be for good.
The Zone Bowling and its sub-tenant Big River Brew Pub, also known as Be Right Back Brew Pub, in the Riverport Sports and Entertainment Complex closed temporarily in the summer of 2015 over a rental dispute with The Zone’s landlord.
However, the Richmond News understands that, as of last Friday, Sept. 2, The Zone Bowling, owned by a numbered company, has initiated bankruptcy proceedings after failing to pay its rent.
An official notice taped on the business’s front door indicates that more than $55,000 was overdue in rent.
And according to the lawyer appointed by The Zone to deal with the bankruptcy, Steve Lum, of Campbell Saunders, the landlord exercised its right to change the locks on the building and force its tenant out.
As a result, the brew pub, which wasn’t connected financially to The Zone, was also forced out of business.
There are suggestions that the tenant’s lease was not going to be renewed when it expired in 18 months and that the building was going to be turned into residences.
In September 2015, the entire Riverport Entertainment and Business Park sold for $103 million to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), according to Avison Young Real Estate.
The South China Morning Post reported the sale was facilitated by Sun Commercial Real Estate (SunCom), a firm that specializes in “pooling wealthy investors from Vancouver’s Chinese immigrant community.”
Online, SunCom advertised the site as “River White Homes,” despite the fact the properties are zoned commercial (city council would need to approve rezoning).
Scott MacDonald, the lawyer representing the building’s numbered company owner, said he wasn’t aware of any future plans along those lines.
“I’m not sure whether another tenant is being sought; we still have to deal with the former one,” added MacDonald, when asked who or what might replace The Zone and the brew pub.
The Old Spaghetti Factory, which sits at the south end of the building, was still trading as normal on Monday.
Lum said he was initially appointed by The Zone’s owners back in mid-August, to help them file a notice of intention to restructure.
“The company was unable to raise the funds (to stay open) long enough for the proposal to be filed (30 days from the notice of intention),” Lum explained.
“It simply didn’t generate enough cash to pay the rent.”
Lum said the matter is now in the bankruptcy process and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), as is often the case, is involved.
According to Lum, some of the assets inside the building belong to The Zone and, as the CRA are first in line as a creditor, it remains to be seen if the assets will have enough value to satisfy the CRA debt. It’s also understood that not all of the Zone’s employees have been paid up to date, and they may have to take their place in the line of creditors.
