Wanaka Chamber of Commerce president Leigh Stock said some businesses were staring down the barrel of big rent hikes at a time when their revenue had stalled.
Retailer Steve Worley, who operates Yes Photo and Digital on Helwick St, labelled his most recent commercial rental increase of 26% as "unreasonable and unacceptable".
He blamed "totally unreasonable" rental recommendations made to his landlord Helwick Holdings Ltd.
The recommendations had been prepared by Wanaka valuation company Central Property.
Helwick Holdings Ltd (HHL), a company owned by directors Phillip and Sharron Ryan, of Otatara, near Invercargill, and Leslie Keeper and Sharon Matthews, both of Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, owns most of the commercial buildings on lower Helwick St.
Retail tenants of HHL include bookstore Paper Plus, clothes retailer Glowing Sky, real estate agency Locations, cafe Ritual, pizzeria Da Vincis, and ski shop Base.
The directors of HHL could not be contacted by the Otago Daily Times yesterday evening.
Mr Worley said Wanaka's rental valuations were based on Queenstown rental rates.
He claimed his landlord and Central Property had taken a "hard-nosed, unrealistic approach, and were unwilling to move", on the issue of ongoing rent hikes.
The 26% increase last year came on top of a previous 13% increase.
Average rental rates came to about $400 per sq m, Mr Worley said.
Central Property owner Wade Briscoe said from his Helwick St office, about four doors down from Mr Worley, that property valuers provided independent advice.
He rejected any notion that they could be "bought" by landlords - or tenants.
Lessees had the opportunity to get a second opinion from another property valuer, if they disagreed with an original valuation.
Arbitration, admittedly costly, could also be pursued as a third option.
However, that had not happened in any recent instances, he said.
Wanaka commercial lease rates were not based on those in Queenstown.
They were "demand driven" and dictated by the market, Mr Briscoe said.
It was a commercial reality that landlords could be profit-driven "like any other business".
Market factors such as the economic downturn could shift after rental increases were locked in, and this had the potential to impact on tenants, he said.
Moore and Percy Ltd property valuer Ken Goldfinch said rental rates on Helwick St had soared after ASB bank had decided to lease a HHL property at significantly higher than usual rates.
Although the bank had not taken up its lease, rental prices had climbed to match that benchmark and this was having an impact on neighbouring tenants.
However, given the economic downturn and current market situation, he believed ongoing increases were very hard to justify.
Mr Stock said it would be of concern if more businesses sought to relocate out of the central business district because of rents perceived as too high.
Several businesses in Wanaka have recently closed their doors.
Mr Stock urged chamber members and people thinking about getting into business in Wanaka to get good professional advice before entering into lease agreements.
