Alfred Wong, left, and Jimmy Hsu are both preparing to open restaurants upstairs at The Crossing.

Friends since meeting at school 25 years ago, two successful restaurateurs will become neighbours as they reopen their central Christchurch businesses together.

Alfred Wong and Jimmy Hsu both run big Asian restaurants, named Cookai and Joyful respectively, and both have been trading in Riccarton since losing their central city premises after the earthquakes. 

Both are preparing to shift back to the central city after leasing new premises upstairs in the $140 million Crossing complex. Also moving in is cafe franchise Coffee Culture.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF

Shoppers at The Crossing in central Christchurch.

Some central city landlords have struggled to lease space as the central city rebuild progresses, and Christchurch City Council recently opted to extend its free one-hour parking deal to try and boost foot traffic.

Cookai, which serves Japanese food, is closing in Riccarton and reopens in The Crossing in early July. Joyful will keep its Chinese restaurant open in Riccarton and open Joyful Express, selling dumplings, in The Crossing in August.

Before the earthquakes Joyful Express was in Colombo St and Cookai was in Cashel St. 

Dean Kozanic

Cookai is closing its restaurant in Nelson Street in Riccarton.

Wong said while they were rebuilding their "lives and livelihoods" after the quakes, more customers kept asking when he was returning to the central city.

He said they wanted to avoid the "vanilla mall culture" which had developed in parts of Christchurch during the rebuild. Hsu has designed the interiors of both new restaurants.

Wong, whose family is from Malaysia, and Hsu, from Taiwan, became friends at Papanui High School in the early 1990s. During the Christchurch rebuild period both travelled to gather ideas for their eventual move back into the city, Wong said.  

Stacy Squires

The Crossing opened late last year and has so far attracted mainly fashion tenants.

The Crossing is owned and was built by Philip Carter and began opening in stages late last year. It now has 20 tenants including fashion chain H & M and a supermarket, and recent months have seen the first cafes open.

International retailer Top Shop's plans to open a two-storey store at the complex fell through when it's New Zealand business went into receivership, and part of that space remains vacant.

Downstairs, Coffee Culture will move into the round retail space in the centre of the courtyard. It will be one of about 20 outlets of the chain in New Zealand.

The complex was reconnected to neighbouring department store Ballantynes this month when the airbridge between them reopened for the first time since the earthquakes.

 - Stuff