Zephyr Cafe in Squamish is closing permanently
This story was updated on July 4 with comments from ICT Group.
An employee of Squamish’s Zephyr Cafe shared the unfortunate news earlier this week that the beloved cafe is being forced to close.
An integral part of the downtown Squamish community since 2008, Zephyr Cafe has offered a space for locals to gather, meet friends, and enjoy its vegan, organic, and gluten-free options.
In a Facebook post, shared on June 29, Amanda Jane Desjardins shared that “The Zephyr Cafe will be closing permanently at the end of September.”
“Our landlords have made little attempt to negotiate a reasonable rent increase for us to be able to stay on Cleveland Avenue, and have made it pretty clear we are not what their vision is for downtown Squamish,” she added.
In the post, Desjardins explains that, beyond her own emotional feelings at this news, she’s greatly concerned for the future of Squamish itself and how “the lack of community space will impact the place I love.”
According to Desjardins, the development company that has purchased the building is ICT Group (The Imagining Communities Together Group) and reportedly plans to replace Zephyr with a retail space.
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“Zephyr Cafe is not just a place to get coffee and food. It is a place where everyone is welcome. Where people can work. Meet up with friends. Meet new friends. Meet new climbing partners. Play a game of chess. Play music in the dead of winter, when your seasonal depression is at its peak,” Desjardins adds.
Adrian Blachut, a representative from Zephyr, confirmed with Dished that the cafe would “not able to continue after this summer” and would be closing sometime in late September.
Blachut is also part of the Brackendale Art Gallery in Squamish (which is currently undergoing renovations) and shares that much of the “equipment, love, and some of the people” will be moving over there upon Zephyr’s closing to “hopefully create a new community hub.”
In an email to Dished, ICT said that it is “not the owner of the building, either directly or indirectly” and that Delesalle Projects owns the building.
Further, the representative from ICT tells us that “the landlord negotiated in good faith with Adrian Blachut to try to come to terms on a mutually agreeable rent.”
“Even though Mr. Blachut appeared to agree with the landlord on a rental rate over a ten-year term (which would have provided a great deal of certainty for the Zephyr Cafe to operate from this location), Mr. Blachut changed his mind about pursuing that,” ICT says.
They also say that Blachut had the “unfettered right” to renew the lease up until April 30, but “did not exercise his renewal right.”
“Quite simply, we had hoped to keep Zephyr Cafe as a tenant, but Mr. Blachut did not move forward,” the Group claims. According to ICT, as Blachut did not choose to renew the lease, they are now searching for a suitable replacement tenant.
A petition has been started by the community to save Zephyr, and while it may be too late to save the space, according to Desjardins, she hopes that what replaces it can at least be a ” social space that encourages community.”