Retailers and shoppers have been left devastated by developer Mirvac's cancellation of retail leases after Toombul Shopping Centre was flooded in February.
Business owners have been receiving letters informing them "it is impractical and undesirable to reinstate the centre to how it was prior to the flooding damage".
"As a result, to provide our retailers with certainty we have taken the difficult decision to close Toombul Shopping Centre and terminate all leases," the correspondence said.
Fruits of Eden and Eleni's Gourmet Deli owner Eleni Pippos said she was saddened by the decision, but was "one of the lucky ones that were covered by flood insurance".
"We have now received an official letter from Toombul Shopping Centre in regards to the future of the centre," she said.
"We are in talks with a few people in regards to a new premises, but needed the confirmation from Toombul with what was going to happen before we decided on the future of our store.
"Obviously this has impacted us with no income since closure, but yet again we were lucky with the Insurance side of things.
"We thank you all for your support at Toombul and miss seeing your faces.
Mister Minit franchisee Trevor Kelley said he also received a letter cancelling his lease.
He said the closure was "disappointing" and that Mirvac had left "a lot of people hanging".
"It's hard to move on," Mr Kelley said.
"I've got to start another business from scratch.
"I've put the last 20 years into that — [it] was going to be my retirement.
"We just scraped through COVID — I thought, 'Now I've got a year or two to put some money behind us for retirement.'
Mr Kelley said no-one at Mister Minit expected Mirvac to terminate leases.
"Mirvac owned the centre at Hinkler in Bundaberg and when it flooded they reopened," he said.
'Disappointing outcome'
A Mirvac spokesperson said the company had "undertaken extensive assessments to understand the full impact of the flood damage at Toombul shopping centre".
"As previously advised, there has been extensive damage to the centre across all major services, base building services and infrastructure," the spokesperson said.
"After taking into account the current and potential future impacts of flooding on the site, it is impractical and undesirable to reinstate the centre to how it was prior to the flooding damage.
"We appreciate this a disappointing outcome for our retailers and customers who are very loyal to our centre, with many tenants operating from Toombul for many years."
Documents sent to retailers also mentioned the centre's electricity, fire, air-conditioning systems, lifts and escalators "all need significant repairs or replacement and mould is a significant issue".
"Therefore all areas of the centre are not fit for occupation under the relevant building codes and reinstatement of services to allow UPSTAIRS to trade independently of ground level is not possible at this time," the letter read.
Some retailers approached on Wednesday had not been told about the future of their leases.
The owners of Toombul Barber and Home & Her had not received information from Mirvac early on Wednesday afternoon.
Both businesses were temporarily operating at new locations.
Maddy, who did not want her surname used, and her children enjoyed spending weekends at Toombul Shopping Centre.
She said it was easy to get to and "had everything".
"I'm literally gutted, my daughter is probably going to cry," she said.
"I don't like Westfield, you struggle to get a park.
"The retailers at Toombul were friends, they were so friendly.
