Five months on from the fire in the Sydney Building, retailers who have reopened their doors have said they are struggling to attract customers back to the area.
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The fire on February 17 devastated a large section of the historic building, and forced a number of businesses and part of the bus interchange to close.
While many venues have reopened, the most damaged section of the building remains covered in hoarding, with a temporary footpath jutting out onto the road.
Staff in a number of venues along East Row said that business is down, which they all blamed on low foot traffic.
One of the retailers, who did not wish to be named, said they believed that the hoarding scared off pedestrians off.
Even staff from the Zambreros store, which is the furtherest retailer in the row from the damaged section, said that the area had been noticably quieter in the months following the fire.
Restaurateur Mamoru Aizawa, owner of both Coo Japanese restaurant, which was at the centre of the fire, and Iori Japanese Restaurant, which has reopened, said that government departments were initially very helpful with getting venues up and running again.
“They sent the inspectors out for no cost. They did quite a fast job and I appreciate that,” he said.
Since then, Mr Aizawa said the businesses were all struggling as the building continues to look like a construction site.
“Quite a lot of the customers are saying they didn’t know we are open. They think we’d closed since fire,” he said.
"Business is down 30 to 40 per cent of what it was last year."
Mr Aizawa suggested that more lighting or additional signage informing that businesses were open would encourage customers back to the area,
The most recent venue to open in the building is popular music venue The Phoenix, which let customers know they were back with a Facebook post on Tuesday night.
While the opening night drew large crowds, the front door of the venue is still flanked by hoarding, with a sign reading “Danger: Demolition Work in Progress” only two metres away.
The Phoenix had previously announced they were re-opening on March 26, but difficulties to comply with regulations pushed back the date.
A spokesperson from the Environment and Planning Directorate confirmed that a certificate of occupancy had been issued for The Phoenix, and that it had been deemed compliant for public safety.
While the directorate did not say when the hoarding was set to be removed, they said that the other Sydney building tenants were still working with them and undergoing works to achieve compliance.
