A Washington state appeals court has found that Bellevue Square cannot force 365 by Whole Foods, which is now owned by Amazon, to remain open. This was first reported by PSBJ.
In October 2017, 365 by Whole Foods closed after 13 months of occupancy at Bellevue Square due to poor sales, even though the lease was signed through 2035. Since the closing, Bellevue Square has sued Whole Foods with hopes of enforcing the lease, which requires 10 years of business without interruption.
The court on Monday found that 365 by Whole Foods must pay rent, as well as other payments or losses, but is not required to occupy the space to fulfill the lease agreement.
So does this mean that space is just going to remain empty indefinitely since Bellevue square can just keep collecting rent from Whole Foods/Amazon
I don’t think the Bellevue Square Mall is after the rent per se. It is the regular foot traffic that the Whole Foods store would have generated and some of that could flow inside the mall to spend more. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense to me that they took them to the court. It is absolutely a waste of space though.
Bellevue Square sued WF365 because they had a guaranteed rental income and % of sales through 2035. They spent a ton of $$ reconfiguring the space for a grocery store – and they did so due to the incoming lessee (WF). After 13 months, WF pulled out and left BSQ with an empty grocery store that was no longer bringing in income. Although WF365 won’t be forced to remain open – which hasn’t been the case for some time – but they will have to pay rent through whatever date was agreed upon by the courts. WF will settle up that bill and move on (or in this case – out.) The space won’t sit empty for too long as we all know that Kemper Freeman will not allow that to happen. It may prove to be a great opportunity to stage construction of his next extension taking place where the SW garage sits today, and will certainly be brought up to snuff during that process – if not before. Happy Holidays folks.
I wonder if amazon can sub lease it ? It’s bad for everyone if the space stays empty for 10 years .