Portillo

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Consistent with basic rules of appellate procedure, we construe the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the party who opposed summary judgment. (Sellery v. Cressey (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 538, 541, fn. 1.)

A. The Lease Agreement

Defendant Lilval owned real property at the intersection of Benjamin Holt Drive and Interstate 5 in Stockton. Defendant Grupe managed the property for Lilval. In 1971, Lilval leased the property to Shell Oil Company (Shell) to operate a gas station, which Lilval agreed to build under the terms of the lease. The gas station was completed in 1972. In 1990, Shell and Lilval amended the lease agreement to give Shell options to extend the lease for five additional periods of three years each. To extend the lease, Shell was required to notify Lilval in writing at least 45 days prior to the expiration of the then- current extension period. Shell later assigned the amended lease to Equilon Enterprises, LLC. Equilon Enterprises, in turn, assigned the amended gas station lease to John Kendrick (Kendrick) in November 2004. At the time, the lease was set to expire on May 31, 2006, unless…