X Corp., a social media company previously known as Twitter, has been ordered to pay more than $ 8 million to its former owner at Boulder after a judge decided that they broke the rent.
“Twitter is not entitled to credit to be rented on December 1, 2022, and does not pay rent for December and after that is a violation,” judge Nancy Solomon wrote May 23.
In 2020, Twitter agreed to rent 64,500 square feet from Railyard covering an area of 70,000 square feet in the S’Park office building, which was later built in 3401 Bluff St. The rental is calling for the company to remain 10 years, until 2032. It lasted a little more than one year.
Twitter stopped paying the rent at the end of 2022, being expelled and demanded by the former owner for the wrong eviction, and was sued for leasing. The five -day trial was held last March.
Rent a triple-net between Twitter and the owner of S’Park, John Buck Co. In Chicago, giving Twitter an increase in tenant’s allowance by $ 5.8 million. As Salomone recorded in his verdict last week, “The central dispute in the litigation is whether Twitter meets the condition of the precedent rental to access the tenant’s improvement allowance.”
Rent 192 pages for 3401 Bluff St. Requires Twitter to build property and send documentation that proves that before they can collect benefits. Twitter did a development work-at a cost of $ 40 million, according to his own estimate, in the period after the purchase of the company Elon Musk, never sent the evidence to the owner.
Solomon was persuaded by the Video Deposition of Joseph Killian, a former Twitter executive, who testified that Twitter stopped paying rent in December 2022 as “Re -negotiating tactics – Tactics to save money.” In comparison, the judge found the trial testimony of Nicole Hollander, a musk top aide who led the Twitter real estate division, “Not credible at all.”
“This testimony shows the court that the termination of Twitter rental payments reflects a business strategy rather than a bona fide in its right to rent credit,” Salomone wrote.
Because Twitter could not claim lease credit in December 2022, his rejection to pay for rent was a lease violation, the judge decided. With that, he ordered the company, which is now running by X Corp., to pay $ 8.3 million, plus interest and the cost of Buck Co.
The Buck Co. has requested $ 8.5 million. Twitter thinks the amount must be far less, because the former owner has not taken a serious attempt to rent space after the eviction of Twitter, surviving for a very large tenant than dividing. Salomon disagrees.
“(The Buck Co.) has bet that the possibility of waiting for market recovery will ultimately be more profitable than dividing buildings and looking for smaller rental rental at a lower price,” the judge wrote in his decision. “The court did not find the strategy to make no sense.”
John Buck Co. represented by the trio of lawyers – Jose Ramirez, Shawn Eady and Sarah Perkins – from the Denver Holland & Hart office, who refused to comment.
Twitter was represented by Jonathan Hawk and Kathryn Barragan at Mcdermott Will & Emery, plus Damien Zumbrennen with Zumbrennen Law, who also refused to comment.
Get more business news by registering for our current economic bulletin.
