Green Lab's success made it one of Brussels' hottest cocktail bars. But 10 years after opening, it is closing its doors for good.
Avenue Louise is losing one of its star businesses. While lifestyle magazines ranked it among the trendiest cocktail bars in Brussels, Green Lab is closing its doors exactly ten years after opening. In 2014, Sophie and Leslie set up shop on the corner of the Legrand stop, in Ixelles, and inaugurated what was to become a favourite spot for gin lovers. Today, between moving boxes, one of the co-owners reveals: ‘We wish the bar could continue to live on, it breaks our hearts to have to close.’
To understand how they got there, we need to go back in time to 2020. At that time, the Covid-19 crisis was rocking the world, and the hospitality sector was facing economic difficulties. Green Lab was no exception. How can you continue to pay the commercial rent when the business is no longer running and sales are falling? Sophie, Leslie and the owner of the property entered into a written agreement stipulating that payment of the rent would be suspended until the reopening of the bar (which had closed following health restrictions linked to Covid-19). However, despite the contract, they received a formal notice from the landlord. In 2021, they counterattacked. And so began a three-year legal battle.
The neighbour knocking on the door
‘One day, when we were due to meet the owner, he arrived with our upstairs neighbour. This same neighbour announced that he had just bought the building and was going to evict us as soon as he officially became the owner. From one day to the next, everything fell apart. While we were already in court, we learnt that our (ex-)landlord was selling the building, without telling us, and that our lease would not be renewed’, says Sophie.
'From one day to the next, everything fell apart.'
- Sophie
When he arrived in 2017, this neighbour, who owns a number of properties, had just bought two floors of the building in which the Green Lab was located. He had installed scaffolding along the entire front of the bar. ‘We seemed to be closed in. Most people in the neighbourhood thought we were, because of the scaffolding. We were dying underneath', the bar owner laments.
The subtleties of commercial leases
‘Our lawyer explained to us that we were the victims in this case and that we had the right to defend ourselves, and that our rights as tenants were being violated’, says Sophie. But was the former owner legally entitled to sell the property without consulting the tenants? Frédéric Dechamps, a lawyer at the Barreau Bruxelles for 15 years, explains that there are two possible scenarios: ‘In commercial leases, there may be an eviction clause authorising the new owner to evict the tenants, in return for compensation. In other cases, there is no such clause, and the new owner is obliged to comply with the lease agreement. On the other hand, the owner can sell the building without informing the tenants.
However, ‘commercial leases are a fairly subtle matter’, says Frédéric Dechamps. In general, they are concluded for a minimum term of nine years (except for short-term commercial leases, which may be for one year or less, according to the Belgian legal information website, notaire.be. This is the case, for example, with Pop-Up Stores). Between the 18th and 15th month before the end of the lease, the tenant may ask for it to be renewed. However, the landlord may reserve the right to refuse, subject to certain specific legal conditions, ‘for example, if he wishes to occupy the property himself, change the terms of the contract or increase the rent’, explains the lawyer. Eviction at the end of a lease is a common occurrence, and the Green Lab case is far from an isolated one.
Agreements that spread
Most evictions are linked to non-payment of rent following the Covid-19 health crisis,' Frédéric Dechamps observed. Given this unpredictable event, commercial tenants and landlords have had to adapt. ‘At the time of Covid, a number of solutions were put in place to provide a breathing space, and a huge number of agreements were reached between the parties to lower, suspend or reduce the commercial rent,’ he explains. However, the landlord cannot go back on his word.
And yet, despite the written agreement between the Green Lab managers and the owner of the premises, why the formal notice? ‘It's very strange, because the justice of the peace is normally obliged to respect a written agreement’, Frédéric Dechamps wonders.
In the event of conflict between the two parties, he recommends trying to find common ground first, before taking legal action. In his view, preference should be given to what are known as ‘alternative dispute resolution methods’, such as mediation, conciliation or negotiation. ‘A bad agreement is better than a good trial. This adage really comes into its own these days, especially when one of the parties is not in a particularly favourable legal position’, advises the partner lawyer at Lex4u.
And then...
Three years after the start of the trial (and nearly €30,000 in debts), Sophie and Leslie are giving up. ‘I really had faith in the justice system, but now I no longer do’, says one of them.
Despite the bitter taste these events have left in their mouths, they are trying to keep a positive attitude. Throughout April, Sophie, Leslie, the bar's staff and regulars paid tribute to the Green Lab. Last concerts, last cocktails and last toast, before closing its doors for good.
Are you an entrepreneur experiencing economic difficulties? BECI can help you with business mediation and Judicial Reorganisation Procedures (JRP) to reach an agreement between you and your creditor. More information here.