Sydney’s Bayside Council says it is facing a costly repair bill after cutting ties with the Antonopoulos family, who have run the iconic Le Sands restaurant at Brighton Le Sands for the past 45 years.
Council terminated the lease for the restaurant site after what it says were repeated breaches of the restaurant lease agreement and maintenance failures.
“Council had worked with the Antonopoulos family over many years to resolve recurrent breaches of the Lease agreement Council had with them. This resulted in the successful negotiation of a Settlement Deed earlier this year, but this was breached by the Antonopoulos family shortly after being signed,” Council said in a statement.
The Council says it is yet to recover outstanding amounts in excess of $100,000 owed by the family.
“Council has an obligation to be a responsible custodian of Brighton Pavilion, which is a significant community asset,” it stated.
The Council says the building is now in need of substantial repairs.
“Council is aware of a number of statements by the former tenants attributing blame for the condition of the building to Council, which necessitates this statement being issued.”
“The source of many of the defects is the lack of ongoing maintenance, which was the responsibility of the former tenant. The fat and water leak in the Le Sands kitchen referred to in recent media reports resulted from non-compliant plumbing work overseen by the Antonopoulos family as former head tenant.”
The Council said it had undertaken a thorough assessment of the building and continues to repair the numerous and costly defects identified.
Council says it has already completed or commenced includes works to the value of $1.5 million:
- Roof repairs and identification of redundant equipment and materials
- Removal of more than 500kg of bird/animal waste removal from gutters
- North and south viewing terrace upgrades
- Emergency internal plumbing repairs
- Internal deep cleaning, de-fitting and make good repairs in preparation for new tenants
It says work is also currently underway to determine how best to refresh and reactivate the Pavillion to ensure it is available to benefit the local community for many years to come.
“The state of the building when it was returned to Council means that this will be a multi-million dollar project. Council looks forward to sharing more details with Bayside’s residents as this work progresses,” it stated.
The Antonopoulos family closed the restaurant in March, posting a notice on the venue’s door that read:
“Our family has invested a minimum of $8 million in this building and created a landmark asset that basically belongs to Bayside Council/NSW Government, and we pay rent close to $800,000 per year for this building.”
“Council does not make any contribution to any outgoings or maintenance of this building. We look forward to seeing you in the very near future, and hopefully, we will be able to give everyone an explanation of what has happened.”
The Antonopoulos family maintains the closure stems from serious structural and operational issues that they say Bayside Council failed to address.
“Council acknowledges the dedication of Peter and Elizabeth Antonopoulos in running Le Sands restaurant, which was part of the fabric of Brighton Le Sands for over 40 years,” the Council said.
