$2,000 increase in monthly rent too much for Hamilton’s Tomah Restaurant, owner says

If it was a $200 or $300 rent increase, he would have gladly paid, but Mohamad Tomeh says the landlord of his Queen Street South restaurant wanted as much as $2,000 more per month.

That increase on top of the $3,700 he's currently paying was too much for the owner of Tomah.

I'm very sad because I will lose everything," Tomeh said. After tens of thousands of dollars invested, his Syrian restaurant will close at the end of February.

Tomeh, his wife and six children moved to Hamilton from Syria just a year before he opened his business in November 2019. Previously he ran three restaurants and a cheese factory in Syria - what his family has been doing for generations.

An artisanal cheesemaker, Tomeh's unique flavours and heart shaped falafel quickly became a local favourite.

They started out at the 132 Queen St. S. location after taking over from former tenant, Big Ed's Restaurant.

Tomeh said he spent $160,000 on the restaurant, including renovations and a deal with the former tenant for the last three years of a five-year lease.

The whole family put their life into the business, and around the neighbourhood, everyone (supported) me," Tomeh said.

With their original lease expiring this year, the landlord asked for a rent increase. Tomeh said the offers were as high as $5,700 per month, which he said is too much for me."

The Spectator spoke to landlord Nirwair Singh Gill who confirmed the lease expired and they were in negotiations."

Gill said they proposed a new deal at market rent," but it didn't work for Tomeh, so we're not renewing his lease."

Trying to keep his business going, Tomeh said he made an offer to buy the building for $1.1 million in October 2021. Earlier that year, the building, which includes the restaurant, two upstairs residential units and one residential unit in the basement, was on the market for $1.25 million.

However, Tomeh says, his mortgage application was denied.

The space is now listed for $26 per square foot, plus $9 in annual taxes, for the approximately 1,900-square-foot business - an amount that works out to be about $5,540 per month.

Real estate broker Tejwinder Sudan says the increase is due to a surging market in the city, with rising costs, including property taxes that have jumped approximately $8,000 per year over the past six years, from $11,000 annually to $19,000.

Sudan added that negotiations between Tomeh and Gill included another offer of $5,000 - under market value" - but the two couldn't come to terms.

Tomeh admits his landlord did nothing wrong. Unlike residential rentals, Ontario's Commercial Tenancies Act doesn't limit how much a landlord can raise the rent.

However, he had hoped a compromise would be possible.

After all, the business closing is not just about himself; his wife and four of his children also work at the restaurant.

The one consolation is the outpouring of support from the community. I want to say a lot to my customers," Tomeh says. Mostly love and thanks.

Community members have been reaching out on social media with condolences, promises to stop by the restaurant and questions about future prospects.

Tomeh doesn't know if there will ever be another restaurant, but he's hopeful for the future.

After a break, he says, he wants to focus on cheese. A cheese factory for Hamilton.

Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com