Mount Maunganui retailers, who survived a very lean winter, are now facing huge rent increases, says Mount Maunganui Mainstreet manager Les Cresswell.
Les says downtown Mount Maunganui businesses are facing rent increases of $500 – $1000 a month
'It seems to be pretty general,” says Les, 'Some have already had increases, a couple have moved out because of increases in rent.”

Les Cresswell.

Les says valuers are benchmarking high rent demands off a new building that was recently on-sold in the downtown area.
The real estate people were promoting how much rental income the new owner would be getting from the five retail spaces in the building.
But that's a new building says Les.
'Some are in buildings that are not modern or upgraded. Some haven't got separate toilets or hot water. Their buildings leak – there's that sort of carry-on.
'Their rent seems to go up with no improvements – that seems to be the sense of it, it's pretty tough.”
A couple of downtown retailers have managed to negotiate a zero rent increase, says Les.
'I think that particular landlord had a look around at the number of sites that could be available. They have got to make up their minds, if they are going to keep a good tenant or have a vacant site. Some of the retail spaces under the apartment buildings have never been occupied.”
In a retirement speech to the Tauranga City Council monitoring committee yesterday, Les had a parting shot on an issue that has dogged Mount Maunganui retailers since the former borough was amalgamated into Tauranga in 1989 – parking meters.
At the recent Small Towns Conference he asked visiting Australian town planners their feeling about parking meters.
'They said if you want to kill the town it is the best way to do it,” says Les.
'They were looking at some paid parking here during the summer months, but where that's got to I'm not quite sure.”
Speaking afterwards senior traffic engineer Wayne Thompson says the debate over paid parking at Mount Maunganui is ongoing, but he's not aware that anything has been determined.
Les retires as Mount Mainstreet manager next month.