Jury Must Decide Whether Project Redesign Will Hurt Tenant's Business

A tenant leased space in a proposed development that was designed as a place where people could walk around and have easy access to shops and stores. The tenant picked a space in a retail building it “felt very strongly about” and deleted language in the lease about relocation because it didn't want to be relocated. The developer then sold the property, and the buyer completely redesigned the project, replacing the retail building with town houses. The new owner offered the tenant space in the redesigned project, which the tenant rejected. The tenant then sued the owner for damages and asked the court to require it to rebuild the project as originally designed. The owner asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, which it did.

A Florida appeals court reinstated the lawsuit, ruling that a jury must decide whether the project redesign would hurt the tenant's business. The court said it couldn't order the owner to rebuild the project as originally designed, because that would require the demolition of 11 town houses worth $5 million. But the tenant could still be entitled to damages if a jury found that the project redesign would hurt the tenant's business. And the court noted there was evidence to support that conclusion: While the original project was designed to attract shoppers and strollers, the new project had a “gated community” atmosphere [Craven v. TRG-Boynton Beach, Ltd.].