Two Wellington bars close, Meow Nui opening delayed
Tuesday, 27 August 2024
In more dire news for Wellington’s party animals, a music venue’s grand opening has been pushed back possibly months and two bars are closing in Central Wellington.
Courtenay Place venue SugarWoods Bar and Willis St’s Rubix Bar ‒ both owned by operator SugarWoods Limited ‒ have gone into liquidation, owner Jose Ubiaga confirmed. He blamed a dramatic drop in foot traffic and restricted opening hours for SugarWoods’ closure.
In addition, Meow Nui ‒ Wellington’s newest music venue, situated in the former Salvation Army church on Vivian St ‒ was no longer going to open this weekend, with local band Drax Project the launch act.
The band said last week the show has been postponed until early November due to circumstances outside their or the venue’s control.
Tickets would be transferred, but concert goers would be provided a full refund if they couldn’t attend the new dates.
“We were really looking forward to ending the Upside Tour in our home town. Thanks to everyone who bought tickets. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.”
A Meow Nui representative did not want to comment on why the opening had been pushed back, but said it would most likely be in November.
Meow Nui is owned by Damian Jones and Rahine O’Rielly, who also own Meow on Edward St.
Jones had previously told RNZ the venue would be ready in time for the initial August 31 deadline, saying the former church would be transformed into a 1000-capacity venue by that date.
However, the location required a substantial amount of renovation.
In 2022, Salvation Army Territorial Secretary for Business Administration Lt. Colonel Allan Clark said the venue had been abandoned by the Salvation Army after it was discovered there were water issues affecting the ceiling.
Drax Project members Sam Thomson and Shaan Singh previously told The Post they were excited to be the venue’s first gig, and it was great for the city to have a large music venue.
Singh had jokingly said he hoped the venue would be ready for their shows, as it needed a bit of work, but said he had the utmost faith in Jones and O’Rielly, who the band knew from performing at Meow.
Bar owner says times are the toughest they’ve been
Ubiaga said that when he went to set up SugarWoods, his alcohol on-licence was opposed by police, Te Whatu Ora, and Wellington City Council, forcing him to attend a hearing and spend thousands of dollars.
It was found that eight of the 14 liquor licences Te Whatu Ora had opposed in the past two years had been in Courtenay Place.
“I'm tired of being made the enemy against them,” he said.
Even though he won, Ubiaga said his trading hours were restricted, forcing him to close at 2am on Friday and Saturday.
With trading only starting to pick up after midnight, this ending up losing him thousands of dollars in revenue, he said.
“Blair St, it used to be the popular street four or five years ago. Now, it doesn't even come to life for the bars down there until after midnight, right?
“Three of the four bars that are on Blair St have to close at 2am. You can't survive with an hour and a half, two hours of trade.”
He had put time and money into revitalising the building where SugarWoods was located, which was the former site of Establishment Bar following its closure in 2022.
Foot traffic had also dramatically dropped, Ubiaga said, with backpackers around the area closed and fewer tourists. Fewer corporates were working in the area too.
The street was known for its night life, he said ‒ but, if venues were being forced to close at 2am, it was unlikely the street would be able to survive.
“The perception of Courtenay Place is not strong at the moment either. It’s not in a good place.
“It's tough. We're probably in the toughest time.”
Despite this, Ubiaga said business owners in the street had been working hard to improve the area.
Bar owner Grieg Wilson opened his venue Saint Diablo about the same time as SugarWoods opened.
His liquor licence was also contested, leading him to delay opening a year, and the bar’s trading hours were also restricted to 2am, he said.
“It was a difficult start, but we're growing,” he said.
Wilson said the business had started “on the back foot,” because of the delay, and he believed the agencies were pulling every lever they could to place pressure on bars.
SugarWoods and Rubix’s liquidation sent out a “big signal” to other people who were looking to invest money into the empty tenancies in the area.
“They see what happened with us and they go, do I want to open a new business on Courtenay Place?
“… So the signalling that sends out to the rest of the industry is terrible.”