The owners of a 50-year-old block of shops in Curtin Square will hoard up the building "indefinitely" if an application to redevelop it into a six-storey mixed use building is rejected.
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A spokeswoman for the family denied it was to bully outspoken opponents of the project into silence, but rather an inevitable end to a expensive problem.
Residents were told if the application received the green light, the shops would be fenced off for about a year before the ground and basement levels of the building could be reopened.
However, if the application was rejected, the shops would be closed until an "economically viable" solution arose.
Greens politician Caroline Le Couteur said such conduct would be "unconscionable".
"It is appalling that we're seeing these developers threaten to shut down their Curtin shops because they might not get their way," Ms Le Couteur said.
However Tania Parkes, who has been liaising with the community on behalf of the owners, said the community knew from the outset the building was a money pit.
"In the second or third meetings in about June or July, the question was asked about what would happen if the proposition didn't get up," Ms Parkes said.
"Several members of the family were at that meeting and said they couldn't keep pumping money into it. All along we've said once the lease expires at the end of September it's up to the owners as to what they do next.
"Recently the owners came back to me and said the centre will have to close until there is a proposition they consider commercially viable."
But Curtin Square Action Group convener Chris Johnson said the owners' failure to provide basic preventative maintenance was the reason why the shops were in that state.
"It was a standing joke at the rally we had the other week that the shops leak every time it rains," Mr Johnson said.
Mr Johnson said the "threat" was another indication of the hardball tactics used by the owners of the building to railroad the community into accepting their proposal.
"This is a sort of rhinoceros mode of negotiation," he said. "The owner has never negotiated. They've come out, presented information and said 'this is what I want to do'.
"Any objections from the public saying this is too big, they say 'oh we'll just persuade you harder'."
However, Ms Parkes said two-thirds of residents consulted were in favour of a change.
"There were three consultations and through that one-third of people said they did not want a change, another third were in favour of a change, but were concerned about the scale, and another third supported it," Ms Parkes said. "Of that last third, they were predominantly people under 40."
"We have a new generation of people moving into the suburb. This centre services a catchment area of around 16,000 people, not just the Curtin suburb. At some stage, the centre will need to increase in size and when you redevelop a building you need to look at the next stage of its life.
"What under 40s are looking for is a different shopping experience to what older residents are looking for. What they did is take notice of what future residents wanted and designed it to that."
Simon Maddox, who owns Beyond Q, still hopes a compromise can be struck, although it's highly unlikely his bookshop and cafe can return to the new building.
"Even if we were able to come back, and it's highly unlikely that we will due to the lack of space, we're going to have to find somewhere else to be for between 18 months and two years if the development goes ahead," Mr Maddox said.
"I'm sure there could be a compromise and we'd love to be a part of making that compromise happen but I think in essence the draft masterplan the government has put together really needs to be followed."
He said "hardball threats" against the community would backfire.
"I've spoken to a lot of solicitors who come down to the bookshop who have said if they do in fact hoard it up then there's a very good chance the government would be able to buy their commercial lease back from them at valuation so although it's a hardball threat, I just wonder whether he has got the same information I have," Mr Maddox said.
The development application closed for public comment on Tuesday.
