The location was open Friday.
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The restaurant said in the lawsuit that it has been hit hard financially by the pandemic, and sought an agreement with the landlord to defer rent payment. The lawsuit said Bob Evans had trouble getting in contact with GR8R Miami Investments and eventually received a notice of default letter.
Bob Evans said it was then that their lawyers and GR8R Miami Investment lawyers began speaking.
“During these discussions, rather than act in good faith, GR8R Miami attempted to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related financial crisis as a way to coerce Bob Evans to agree to convert the long-term Lease term, which expires in April 30, 2036 and could be extended until 2061, into just a three-year lease,” the lawsuit says.
The suit says Bob Evans then decided to pay both April and May’s rent and is now current on payments and expects to pay on time in June.
But that didn’t stop the negotiation.
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“Just two hours after Bob Evans made that payment, counsel for GR8R Miami sent a letter to Bob Evans at 6:45 pm purporting to unlawfully terminate the lease and threatening to take other alleged remedies under the lease, which could include reentering and taking possession of the Bob Evans restaurant, expelling Bob Evans from the restaurant, or taking other actions such as locking Bob Evans out of the restaurant,” the lawsuit says.
A message seeking comment from an attorney for GR8R Miami Investment wasn’t returned. A reply to the lawsuit also wasn’t filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court as of Friday afternoon.
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