A lawsuit was filed Tuesday in state Supreme Court in Erie County to remove the occupants of the Jamestown Brewing Company for failure to pay rent. P-J file photo

A local developer has filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Erie County seeking to evict Jamestown Brewing Company from its downtown Jamestown location.

The suit, filed Tuesday by Buffalo attorney Matthew Miller of Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham LLC, signals the latest in a series of escalating legal disputes between the owner of the former W.T. Grant building at the corner of Third and Washington streets and the brewery.

GPatti Enterprises claims Jamestown Brewing Company, operated by John McClellan I and John McClellan II, owes more than $85,000 in base rent. JBC first entered into a lease agreement for use of the building in August 2017.

The 115-121 W. Third St. brewery opened for business in July 2019, but briefly closed after a delay in receiving its state liquor license.

The license was received in September 2019.

In the lawsuit, GPatti Enterprises states JBC made “partial rent payments” in the amount of $10,000 in November 2019 and $5,000 in December 2019, which the developer said represented a “minuscule 17.5% of the $85,758.50 base rent owed.”

“Despite trying to work with JBC, only a tiny portion of the base rent due has been paid,” the lawsuit claims.

“By way of context, JBC also has failed to pay any of its other rent obligations required by the lease agreement, including the construction rent, additional rent, percentage rent or TI interest. Similarly, JBC has failed to make any of its contractual utility payments or tax payments.”

“Left with no option, GPatti hereby seeks to exercise its right under the lease to, ‘through summary proceedings reenter and take possession of the premises, repossess the same, expel (JBC) and those claiming through or under (JBC), and remove the effects of both or either,'” the lawsuit continues.

JBC did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

On Jan. 23, GPatti Enterprises sent JBC a “Notice to Pay or Quit,” demanding full past-due rent. The official notice required payment by Feb. 6, with failure to comply resulting “in the landlord commencing eviction proceedings against tenant.”

GPatti Enterprises said it did not receive payment during the two-week period. The developer is now seeking the occupant’s ouster through court order in an attempt to find a new tenant.

“The removal of JBC from the premises and the awarding of possession of the premises to the GPatti is in the best interest of all parties and the city and would enable GPatti to immediately obtain a new tenant ready, willing and able to utilize the premises as intended and generate revenue, pursuant to a new lease agreement,” GPatti said in its lawsuit.

A hearing is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, in state Supreme Court in Buffalo before Judge Timothy Walker. GPatti Enterprises is seeking primary relief by receiving possession of the brewery; the issuance of a warrant to remove the brewery’s occupants; and for “such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper.”

ONGOING LITIGATION

A trial in the initial lawsuit between JBC and GPatti Enterprises is scheduled for conferences over the first half of 2020 with a trial to be scheduled after a July 10 discovery compliance conference. All discovery and interrogatory responses in the case have to be completed by April 30 with pre-trial examinations to be completed before July 31.

JBC officials filed a lawsuit against GPatti Inc. on Dec. 21, 2018, alleging a breach of contract between the brewers and the developer. Several claims and counterclaims from the 2018 lawsuit were dismissed in April by Judge Walker.

Walker denied a motion by G. Patti Inc. to dismiss a breach of contract claim brought by the owners of the brewery. Walker dismissed JBC’s claims of fraudulent inducement, fraudulent misrepresentation and negligent misrepresentation while ordering a stay on the brewing company’s claim that state Downtown Revitalization Initiative money has been misspent.

The claims that were dismissed by the judge dealt largely with a contested environmental study conducted by the Gebbie Foundation in 2007. JBC’s lawyers claimed G. Patti failed to notify the brewers of the study, the results of which ended up delaying construction and harming the brewery. Jamestown Brewing Company was asking for compensatory damages, punitive damages, interest, attorneys fees and costs based on the alleged misrepresentations. Allowing the first breach of contract claim to proceed means G. Patti could still be compelled by Walker to pay compensatory damages, but there are now fewer claims on which damages could be awarded.

The brewery, which opened last year, seats roughly 280 guests in five different areas. The ground level holds 104 seats for dining, with an additional 18 at the bar. Two tasting areas, one at the bar and another around the brewery viewing area, also hold 18 seats. The mezzanine level will be a three-season dining area that seats 140 guests. The third floor level will have a banquet facility to be operational by the second year of the brewery. The banquet area, which is being designed into two sections, will hold a total of 280 guests. The project originally included plans for 24 employees, with eight full-time workers and 16 part-time. Projected income for the first full year of the business is expected to be $2.1 million, with projections being $3.6 million in 2019 and $4.4 million in 2020.

JBC was supposed to open in April 2018, but environmental delays with the project resulted in a series of setbacks.