Vornado sues Planet Hollywood for $6M in missed rent

The lights have dimmed on Planet Hollywood.

The memorabilia-laden theme restaurant chain is being sued by Vornado Realty Trust for $5.5 million in missed rent at its Times Square location at 1540 Broadway, Crain’s reported.

A lawsuit filed Thursday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan alleges that the restaurant — which has a 10-year lease at the location — has had issues paying rent since December 2018, and the situation has only gotten worse.

Vornado notified the company in July 2019 that it owed about $1.7 million in back rent, according to the report. Planet Hollywood did not dispute the figure but paid Vornado just $250,000, the suit alleges.

The restaurant — which opened in New York in 1991 with celebrity backers like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Demi Moore — continued to underpay its landlord throughout the rest of the year, and stopped making payments when the pandemic hit in March, the suit alleges.

Vornado has sued multiple tenants over unpaid rent since the pandemic took hold, including the eatery Dig at 11 Penn Plaza for about $87,000; and U.S. Polo, also at 1540 Broadway, for $1.2 million.

Vornado collected 72 percent of rent from retail tenants in the second quarter, and 93 percent from office tenants, not including deferrals.

[Crain’s] — Sasha Jones

Read more

New York

Vornado may convert Midtown J.C. Penney space to last-mile facility

New York

Vornado sees $100M retail JV loss, $190M in 220 CPS gains

New York

New round of layoffs as NYC struggles to come back