Thrifty Payless, Inc. v. MARINERS MILE GATEWAY, LLC.

This is a dispute about a lease for new commercial property between tenant and plaintiff Thrifty Payless, Inc., doing business as Rite Aid (Rite Aid), and landlord and defendant Mariners Mile Gateway, LLC (Mariners). The lease, negotiated in 2004 and 2005, required a heavy investment of time and money by Mariners to build a new, high-end shopping center, while Rite Aid had few obligations until the lease began. The parties agreed that unless the lease began by June 30, 2008, either party would have the right to terminate “for any reason.” One of Mariners’s many obligations was obtaining the necessary approvals for a traffic signal.

The years went by with various communications between the parties, including a request by Mariners to increase Rite Aid’s rent and the prospect of a substitute tenant. Eventually, relations deteriorated, leading to this lawsuit. Despite the problems and this litigation, there was clear evidence that Mariners continued to attempt to develop the property, including trying to obtain approvals for the traffic signal. Such approval, however, was never granted, and the center was never built. On July 1, 2008, Mariners exercised its right to…