The owner of a popular cafe and bar based at the Australian National University has accused the uni of acting unlawfully in terminating his lease ahead of the Union Court redevelopment.
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The Gods Cafe and Bar owner Jaye Min has until July 3 to vacate the ANU's Arts Centre despite signing a lease with the university for his current site until 2018 with an option to extend to 2023.
Mr Min said a temporary site offered up until 2019 was about one-third the size of what the cafe currently enjoyed but would cost the same $75,000 per year in rent and bring fierce competition from larger commercial operators.
The final cafe space would be 200m², 96m² smaller than its current site, and cost his business $150,000 per year plus about $500,000 to fit out.
"If you double the rent and double the amount of students, that would make sense," Mr Min said.
"[Accepting this] would be a suicide mission."
The ANU has withdrawn its offer of the pop-up lease after Mr Min's refusal to sign the offered contracts.
A spokesman said the university had made it clear the Arts Centre would be demolished since 2014 when the project to revitalise Union Court was announced.
"The university negotiated with all affected vendors and is delighted that many existing campus vendors are moving into the pop-up village, and that we'll have some new ones as well. We'll be announcing the full list in coming weeks," he said.
"The ANU cannot comment on individual negotiations other than to confirm it negotiated in good faith. The university is now in progressing with another campus provider to fill the café space that was first offered to The Gods."
According to Mr Min, the ANU has said that its Notice of Termination complies with its licence, which would allow the uni to end The Gods' lease for "higher priority use".
However, Mr Min and his lawyers have argued that the contract is overridden by legislation that requires tenants with a lease of more than one year be given at least six months' notice of termination and be paid compensation for associated losses.
The demolition of The Gods will also spell the end of its smaller sibling, The Gods Cafe at Hedley Bull, which relies on its bigger counterpart for its commercial kitchen.
Mr Min said he had easily lost more than $600,000. If he included the profit multiplied by the remaining time on his lease, his losses would be more than $1 million, he said.
"It's my home and I invite people into my home every day to enjoy coffee, to enjoy food, but now they've just brutally taken that away," Mr Min said.
The $220 million Union Court and University Avenue project will include new teaching and student buildings, a purpose-built events and theatre building, student accommodation, a swimming pool, gym, outdoor spaces and amphitheatre, bars, event pavilions, cafes, services, shops and underground parking.
Other businesses have spoken out about changes brought by the redevelopment, including one cafe owner who faces increased rents and longer opening hours, and the ANU Union, which lost the tender for ANU Bar.
