Papa John's Tangled Up In New Lenox Lawsuit

NEW LENOX, IL — Several weeks ago, the Papa John's Pizza in the 700 block of East Lincoln Highway closed. Now, Papa John's is at the center of a contentious civil lawsuit filed last week at the Will County Courthouse. The plaintiff is East Lincoln Highway LLC, a limited liability company. The defendant is Ozark Pizza Company, doing business as Papa John's Pizza.

Thursday's lawsuit was filed by the Law Offices of McLaughlin & Associates for breach of a commercial lease.

"Defendant provided Plaintiff with a letter, dated February 14, 2018, whereby Defendant stated that it had vacated the leased premises on February 14, 2018, after which point possession of the premises should be deemed irrevocably tendered to you; and we will have no further right to possession of the premises after that point,'" the lawsuit reads.

From late January until Feb. 13, 2018, both sides "exchanged numerous emails relating to the possible early termination of the lease and conditions for such termination ..." the lawsuit notes.

The lawsuit contends that Papa John's Pizza offered "$50,000 to terminate the lease and a promise to vacate ... the leased premises by the end of the February 2018."

East Lincoln Highway advised that "the landlord would accept a buyout of $75,000 or if you work with a new tenant, a $50,000 buyout and $18,000 to the new tenant for ramp up. Let us know.'"

According to the lawsuit, Papa John's responded with an email stating "we accept your offer to take a buy-out of $75,000. Please send the lease termination paperwork ..."

However, the lawsuit contends that Papa John's ultimately vacated the New Lenox storefront "without a valid and binding termination agreement" putting the giant pizza chain "in violation of Paragraph 8 of the lease."

"Plaintiff's purchase of the property and the retail center value of the property was based in part on the credit rating of Ozark Pizza (doing business as) Papa John's Pizza," the lawsuit argues. "Plaintiff has suffered loss of retail center value in the amount of $250,000 from the loss of operation of the Papa John's restaurant at the leased premises."

The Will County lawsuit claims that Papa John's is liable for:

1. $183,750 in base rent and additional rent through Aug. 31, 2021
2. Loss of retail center value of $250,000
3. Loss of profits in excess of $100,000
4. Attorney's fees and costs.

Main image via Oak Lawn Patch