Tui Lifestyle, the furniture store linked to prominent designer Tui Pranich, has just vacated its Biscayne Boulevard site at the edge of Miami’s Design District after the landlord filed an eviction lawsuit, seeking more than $46,000 in unpaid rent.
The eviction follows another lawsuit by namesake Pranich against his former partner Sevin Ergun, who heads the limited liability company that owns the store, as litigation reveals how the designer has essentially lost control of his brand name.
On March 8, the landlord of 3886 Biscayne Boulevard, 3886-3898 Biscayne Boulevard LLC, filed an eviction suit against Soho Design Operating Company LLC, doing business as Tui Lifestyle. The suit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, seeks repayment of $46,768 in rent for the month of March.
Tui Lifestyle’s Miami Gardens manufacturing facility has also been evicted, litigation shows. In July of last year, Soho Design Operating Company LLC, doing business as Tui Lifestyle, and Tui Pranich as personal guarantor, were sued for eviction by the landlord of that facility, Elsaja Miami. That suit seeks more than $200,000 in unpaid rent and damages.
Tui Pranich declined comment on all the litigation, and referred The Real Deal to his attorney John H. Schulte.
Tui Lifestyle LLC was originally formed in 2008 by Tui Pranich — whose full name is Noranit Tui Pranich — and a partner, Jason Atkins. Atkins ran the business side, and Pranich was the designer. The firm created furniture packages for condominiums, offering to furnish entire units in 72 hours.
In 2014, Ergun bought out Atkins, Schulte said, and created a new company, Soho Design Operating LLC. She ran the business, while Pranich had a contract to design the furniture packages sold at the store.
According to Schulte, in November Ergun terminated Pranich. His suit against her, filed in December, alleges breach of his design contract that stipulated payment to him of $20,000 per month. It also alleges breach of Pranich’s exclusive jurisdiction over design and creative products because Ergun began selling products from her native Turkey in addition to his designs. Also, the suit alleged that she used company funds for herself and her family and not for the company.
“She terminated all contact and said that if he came on the property she would have him arrested,” Schulte told TRD.
Ergun was previously represented by the Miami law firm Coffey Burlington, but the law firm withdrew due to lack of payment. The case is now on hold, awaiting new representation for Ergun.
“Tui has had no control, has no say. He is not responsible for what went on because he just had the design contract,” Schulte said. “But the name Tui is on the door and that is what bothers him. He is a world famous designer and decorator.”
Pranich told TRD that he still maintains a separate interior design business.
Chariff Realty Group is now marketing the 6,600-square-foot former Tui Lifestyle site for $65 per square foot, triple net, Lyle Chariff, president of Chariff Realty Group, told TRD. The rate equates to $430,000 a year.
The owners of the property at 3886 Biscayne Boulevard are Elizabeth and Neil Rosen, according to public records. The couple just sold another Design District property last week, at 111 Northeast 40th Street, for $21.5 million.
“The bad news is we lost a tenant,” Chariff said. “But the good news is it’s an unbelievable space now available at the entrance to the Design District.”