Whole Foods terminated its lease in September with developer TRF Pacific after putting a halt to interior work on its new 60,000-square-foot store in Interbay, according to a lawsuit TRF filed in King County Superior Court on Sept. 26.
Both TRF and Whole Foods are tight-lipped about the reasons behind the lawsuit, but Seattle-based TRF is suing Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods for breach of contract and asking for $67.9 million in damages, according to the lawsuit.
TRF told Whole Foods in a letter that, if the grocery bailed, the move could cost TRF additional financing costs or loss of financing, along with the possible loss of rents from other tenants in the complex, according to the lawsuit. It further alleged that the shutdown of Whole Food's part of the project interfered with the work of the contractor on the rest of the shopping center.
"This is the first time in our company's history that we've had to file a lawsuit against an anchor tenant for breach of lease," TRF said in a statement, which adds that the Interbay project is the third TRF has put together with Whole Foods.
Both companies are pointing fingers at each other. "Whole Foods is disappointed that TRF Pacific was unable to meet the schedule we all agreed upon several years ago," said Whole Foods' Pacific Northwest Region president John Clougher in an Oct. 3 press release.
Whole Foods also has its own scheduling problems, according to the lawsuit, which indicates the grocery chain wanted to push back its Interbay opening date from December of this year to October or November next year because of cash-flow problems.
Furthermore, Whole Foods has been in negotiations with TRF for several months to reduce the size of its new store from 60,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet, according to the lawsuit.
Whole Foods believes the negotiations with TRF are "a work in progress," according to Clougher's press release. TRF, on the other hand, is sticking to its guns. "We're hopeful that Whole Foods will reconsider its decision and honor the commitments it made," the company said in its statement.
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