Carmel shop owners facing higher rent prices

It’s no secret in Carmel that longtime bar and grill Jack London’s is closing at the end of the month because of increased rent.

The owner was not available to talk but other business owners said this is a growing trend.

“There are a lot of outside investors coming in with a lot of money buying up properties. So not only are the rents going up but the property taxeshave increased likewise,” said restaurant owner Firok Shield.

Shield has been a restaurant owner in Carmel for 16 years. He said at first rents would go up slowly 10 percent every two years, but now that’s not the case. Depending on the location rent can cost anywhere between $20,000 to $40,000 a year.

“Now they’re talking about doubling rents and a lot of restaurants are facing that and that’s really hard for them,” said Shield.

This means shop owners have to put greater emphasis on events like Car Week. For many shops in town, Car Week is the busiest time of year with the arrival of car lovers from all over the world.

“We always have people come from Europe, from Asia, from Japan,” said market owner Azniv Amirkhnin.

But businesses said for many it’s still a struggle to stay open with new investors buying their buildings.

“And the tenants that were in those buildings have been either indirectly forced to relocate because of the high rent,” said Amirkhnin.