Bunker Hill Park Ltd. v. U.S. Bank National Ass'n

Plaintiff Bunker Hill Park Limited (Bunker Hill) filed a petition to compel arbitration with its tenant, defendant U.S. Bank National Association (U.S. Bank), to resolve the parties’ disagreement over whether subleases automatically terminate if the underlying lease between Bunker Hill and U.S. Bank terminates. The trial court denied the petition on the grounds that the parties’ disagreement had not ripened into a justiciable controversy meriting declaratory relief. Bunker Hill timely appealed. For the reasons stated below, we reverse and remand with directions to grant the petition.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The facts underlying this appeal are not in dispute. The parties are successors in interest to a 99-year ground lease governing a parcel of land located at 201-281 South Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles. Landlord Bunker Hill owns the land, and tenant U.S. Bank owns the five low-rise office buildings and other improvements erected on the parcel until the lease expires in 2077 or is terminated, at which point the improvements become the property of Bunker Hill. Bunker Hill may terminate the ground lease only if U.S. Bank defaults. U.S. Bank, on the…