Robinson

Principal Life Insurance Company, Equity FC Ltd., and Petula Associates Ltd., a subsidiary of Principal, (collectively “Principal”) appeal the district court’s dismissal of Principal’s action for declaratory relief relating to a material dispute over a rent recalculation provision in a ground lease. The district court concluded that the case was not ripe for adjudication and thus that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Because the district court arrived at this conclusion by mistakenly applying a ripeness standard derived from cases involving administrative agencies, we reverse the district court’s jurisdictional determination.

This case presents an actual controversy, between parties having adverse legal interests, and with sufficient immediacy ordinarily to warrant the issuance of a declaratory judgment. Nevertheless, the district court had discretion to accept jurisdiction or not depending on an application of the Brillhart factors. Brillhart v. Excess Ins. Co., 316 U.S. 491 , 62 S.Ct. 1173 , 86 L.Ed. 1620 (1942). Because the district court did not articulate reasons for its provisional declination to exercise jurisdiction pursuant to Brillhart and its progeny, we remand…