Tenant Had No Right to Buy Parking Lot

September 30, 2002

A lease gave a tenant the right of first refusal to buy its space in the building. When the owner transferred ownership of the building and an adjacent parking lot to a new owner, the tenant sued. The tenant claimed that the lease gave it the right of first refusal to buy the parking lot.

A lease gave a tenant the right of first refusal to buy its space in the building. When the owner transferred ownership of the building and an adjacent parking lot to a new owner, the tenant sued. The tenant claimed that the lease gave it the right of first refusal to buy the parking lot.

A Michigan appeals court ruled that the lease didn't give the tenant a right to buy the parking lot. The lease gave the tenant a right to buy the “premises.” But the “premises” included only a specific suite and other rooms within the building. So “the lease, and by extension, the right of first refusal, did not include the parking lot,” the court said [Dubin v. Oakview Dental Ctr., PC].

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