Two Chicago-based technology companies are battling over unpaid rent.
Groupon is suing Uptake Technologies for more than $1.5 million for space it’s subleasing at 600 West Chicago Avenue, Crain’s reported. Uptake, an artificial intelligence software company, was founded by Brad Keywell, who also founded Groupon along with his business partner Eric Lefkofsky.
In 2016, Uptake agreed to sublease 57,600 square feet on two floors in the former Montgomery Ward catalog house, which was previously Chicago’s tech hub before the Fulton Market boom. The 10-year deal was worth a little more than $18 million.
Now, Groupon is saying that Uptake hasn’t paid rent since July.
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Chicago
Thor wins unpaid-rent suit against Fulton Market weed dispensary
Chicago office landlords have been cracking down on unpaid rents as the world slowly returns to a post-pandemic normal. In Fulton Market, Thor Equities is in the process of suing cannabis firm MedMen for not paying rent for the space it occupies at 942-944 West Fulton Street. The dispensary inked a 15-year lease for the 23,000-square-foot warehouse style space in August 2019, months before Illinois legalized marijuana on Jan. 1, 2020. The lease provided for an annual rent of $800,000, to increase each year to $1.2 million in the fifteenth year.
The complaint, which was filed in July, said MedMen owed Thor more than $950,000 for failing to pay the base rent of $70,727, operating costs of $2,667 and insurance costs of $556 for 11 months. The cannabis business countered the lawsuit, which was filed in the state of New York, claiming that Thor couldn’t enforce a lease due to cannabis not being federally legal. In response to that, Thor requested the initial lawsuit be thrown out so it could pursue MedMen in a jurisdiction where cannabis is legal.
— Victoria Pruitt