New Thriving Restaurant is set for a major expansion with a new eatery and hotel to be opened in the early months of 2014 and to be located in the spanking new five-storey edifice located at the corner of Camp and Lamaha streets.
The gleaming new building appears to have been finished some months back and was awaiting a tenancy deal.
The building has evoked much interest because of its modern architecture and distinctive atrium. Its owners have remained in the background of what is a large investment.
A manager at New Thriving Restaurant, Qiyuan Zhang, told this newspaper yesterday that the paperwork for the tenancy has been signed up and work is to soon commence to prepare the building for occupancy and to make it suited for the purposes of a restaurant and hotel.
“We have signed off the contract [with the owners of the building]. We have to now set up the building to suit [the purposes of] restaurant and hotel,” said Qiyuan. “This will take a couple of months,” he added.
Qiyuan told Stabroek News that the businesses will be opening in the early months of 2014. He said that the restaurant will also retain its present location on Main Street. New Thriving is seen as the leading Chinese restaurant in the city.
Qiyuan was unable to provide other details with regards to the cost of the rental of the building to the company and other related details.
One of the owners of the building, Patrick Sukhlal of Impressions Agency, had told this newspaper last week that the building would be rented out but he was not prepared to provide details. Construction of the edifice began in 2011.
It is this newspaper’s understanding that while there have been many expressions of interest for rental of floors from various business enterprises, the owners of the building preferred to rent the entire edifice to one tenant.
New Thriving restaurant started by Che Jiang Ping and her husband Xiao Guang Zhao in 1993 on Regent Street became one of the preferred eating houses in the city.
Soon after, the couple opened a second restaurant in Alexander Street, Kitty and in 1997 opened yet another at the then Park Hotel on Main Street.
After fire destroyed the Main Street restaurant in the Park Hotel in 2001, management rented a second location on Barr Street, Kitty.
They then had the idea to open the ultimate eating establishment which be-came a reality with the present Main Street location in 2009.
