{"id":30036,"date":"2012-02-20T00:30:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-19T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=30036"},"modified":"2012-02-27T09:49:12","modified_gmt":"2012-02-27T07:49:12","slug":"paulaner-brauhaus-closes-down-due-to-dispute-with-va-waterfront","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/paulaner-brauhaus-closes-down-due-to-dispute-with-va-waterfront\/","title":{"rendered":"Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus closes down due to dispute with V&A Waterfront!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus closed its doors suddenly last night, after operating for more than ten years in the Clocktower section of the V&A Waterfront. \u00a0It was the largest restaurant in Cape Town, this country, and the southern hemisphere, with 1100 seats. \u00a0The restaurant and micro-brewery were closed down by its new owners Hospitality Property Fund Limited (HPF) due to an inability to reach consensus with the V&A Waterfront on an acceptable market value rental for the renewal of the five year lease.<\/p>\n

The Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus lease runs out at the end of March. \u00a0I was told that the rental, currently at about R250000 per month, would increase to double that of the most expensive Johannesburg rentals per square meterage, and would be double the current rental. \u00a0No amount of negotiation with the management of the V&A Waterfront could result in a reduced rental. \u00a0The owners of HPF decided to not prolong the running of the restaurant until the end of March, and informed the Paulaner management a week ago that the whole restaurant and micro-brewery operation would close down last night. \u00a0Staff were told on Wednesday, and customers were informed via Facebook as follows on Friday:<\/p>\n

“Dear Paulaner Patrons, <\/em><\/span>Please take note that as a result of our lease at the V&A Waterfront having come to an end, the week of 13 February will be the last week of trading by the Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus. Our doors will be closing indefinitely on Sunday, 19 February 2012 at 22h00. <\/span>We invite you to make use of this opportunity to visit us for a last taste of our renowned and award-winning beers and pop<\/span>ular food menu.\u00a0It is with great sadness that we, the management and staff of the Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus have to bid you farewell.\u00a0We would like to thank all our loyal supporters over the years – it has been a pleasure serving you! PROST!\u00a0Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus Management and Staff”.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I went to Paulaner yesterday afternoon, and given the hot weather and the last date of operation, the restaurant was jam-packed, many coming to pay their last ‘respects’ to a restaurant that was the epitome of Bavarian beer and food. \u00a0There was a lovely atmosphere, and there must have been ma\"\"<\/a>ny tears at 22h00 when they closed the Paulaner doors for the last time. \u00a0On Twitter one could read how many Twitterers had gone to Paulaner, and how sad they were about the closure. \u00a0 Mayor Patricia de Lille had come as well, and told a waitress that she was prepared to toi-toi to keep the restaurant open. \u00a0Initially a manageress told me that there was no comment about the closure, and that the GM Jan-Karl Schiebe could not speak to me about it either. \u00a0He did however come over to me, being very hesitant about sharing any information with me, until he worked out who I am from Twitter. \u00a0Then everything changed.<\/p>\n

HPF Limited did not entertain a management buy-out, nor extending the closing date by a week at least, so that a Farewell Beer Festival could be held next week, at the request of the Paulaner management. \u00a0HPF Limited bought Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus Restaurant and the Micro-Brewery, the Westin Grand at the Convention Centre (now Westin Cape Town), and Arabella Hotel & Spa in Kleinmond last year. \u00a0 The hotel and leisure property company is involved in 26 properties to the value of R 3,9 billion, says its website, including a number of Protea Hotels, and the Mount Grace Country Hotel. \u00a0There is no mention of Paulaner on the HPF website.<\/p>\n

Today the Paulaner branding will be removed, the furniture will be removed, the windows will be covered in newspaper, and the interior will be restored to how it was handed over to Paulaner in 2001, when Paulaner started off under the guidance of brewmaster Wolfgang K\u00f6del, who has been involved in the business throughout this period. \u00a0Clients of Paulaner beer will fetch what beer is left over today. I spoke to All\u00e9e Bleue GM Wolfgang Leyrer yesterday morning about the effect the demise of Paulaner will have on his business, being a stockist, and he was shocked to hear the news, not having received any notification about it. \u00a0Given the outpouring of support, both on Facebook and Twitter, and also at the restaurant, one can only hope that the management will obtain a franchise from Paulaner in Munich, to set up a restaurant and a brewery with more reasonable rentals elsewhere in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

The closure of the\"\"<\/a> Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus Restaurant and Micro-Brewery is a sad day for Cape Town – it was an attraction for German tourists who know the brand from Munich, where it was established in 1634. \u00a0They\u00a0loved its genuine German beer and food, with Bavarian music to match, and the female staff wearing the traditional Bavarian Dirndl. \u00a0It helped the V&A Waterfront to attract visitors to a part of the Waterfront that was an effort to get to, being across the Swing Bridge, and not visible from the shopping centre, and is only visited by those tourists going to Robben Island. \u00a0It will leave a gaping hole in an area of the V&A Waterfront that already does not attract locals.<\/p>\n

Attempts to receive a comment from the V&A Waterfront company have not been successful to date.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 21\/2<\/strong>: The Cape Argus<\/strong> has written about the Paulaner closure today<\/a>, and quotes from our blogpost. \u00a0The journalist Murray Williams was luckier in receiving a comment from the V&A Waterfront: “The V&A Waterfront’s leasing department was advised by HPF in April last year that they would not be exercising their option to renew the\u00a0lease agreement for the Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus property. The HPF did not negotiate the\u00a0lease agreement for the Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus. The V&A Waterfront is negotiable on its property rentals”<\/em>. HPF spokesperson Andrew Rogers tells a different story: “The V&A did not want to consider alternative leasing options and whilst the rentals were unsustainable for any business of this nature based on the historic escalations, the period was always expiring in March 2012. \u00a0The closure process has been under way for the past six months, always with the hope that the V&A would reverse their thinking in terms of the lease and operations, and that they would entertain offers for a similar type of operation. \u00a0However, it was not the case and it was finally decided to comply with the terms of the lease and vacate the premises”<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a> Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Paulaner Br\u00e4uhaus closed its doors suddenly last night, after operating for more than ten years in the Clocktower section of the V&A Waterfront. \u00a0It was the largest restaurant in Cape Town, this country, and the southern hemisphere, with 1100 seats. \u00a0The restaurant and micro-brewery were closed down by its new owners Hospitality Property Fund […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,20,22,21],"tags":[577,14959,14941,32366,32378,5787,14942,2381,14940,14939,14938,11852,13116,14175,14960,5216,252,1721,1587,32393,32373,13035,3293],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t