Tishman Speyer Trying to Boot Pret A Manger From 300 Park Avenue
By Nicholas Rizzi February 8, 2021 5:13 pm
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Landlord Tishman Speyer is trying to boot Pret A Manger from 300 Park Avenue after the sandwich chain’s lease expired in the summer and it hasn’t left or paid rent since.
Tishman Speyer filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court accusing Pret of failing to leave its ground-floor space in the 26-story building once its lease expired in June. Pret still hasn’t left the storefront, which it first leased in 2017, according to the suit.
The landlord switched to a month-to-month lease on Dec. 3, 2020, but terminated that agreement on Jan. 31, according to the suit. It claims Pret owes $401,908 in late charges and other fees for the space, including $70,371 in missed rent.
Spokespeople for Tishman Speyer and Pret declined to comment.
However, the suit said that Pret “disputes that the lease’s term expired and has been terminated” and a “ripe and justiciable controversy exists between landlord and tenant with respect to whether the lease’s term expired and has been terminated.”
If the lease isn’t expired, Tishman Speyer said in the suit that Pret still owes $270,980 in missed rent since the summer.
The coronavirus pandemic has battered retailers, and landlords have taken brands, including Mattress Firm and Bed Bath & Beyond, to court to recover missed rents at Manhattan storefronts.
Retailers have also fought back in the courts. Tishman Speyer is facing a lawsuit itself from Banana Republic, which argues that the drop in foot traffic due to the pandemic has dimmed the value of its Rockefeller Center lease, The Real Deal reported. Banana Republic wants to remain in the spot, even though it hasn’t paid more than $700,000 in rent.
