Sears to Forbes and Palm Beach Gardens: pay our $2.1M legal tab for mall sublease lawsuit

City resolution preventing anchor tenants from subleasing their space without approval was ruled unconstitutional

The Sears store at Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens
The Sears store at Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens

After winning a four-year legal battle over plans to sublease part of its store at the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Sears, Roebuck & Co. wants its landlord and the city to pay $2.1 million in legal fees.

The litigation dates back to 2014, when Sears sued the mall owner, Forbes/Cohen Florida Properties LP, for blocking its plans to sublease the second floor of the department store to Dick’s Sporting Goods.

A year later, Sears added the city of Palm Beach Gardens to the lawsuit, citing that a city resolution preventing anchor tenants from subleasing their space without their landlord’s approval.

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R. Max Lohman, a Jupiter lawyer who represents the city, told the Palm Beach Post that the amount is “ludicrous” and “laughable.” He said he billed the city about $79,000 in total costs.

Sears, meanwhile, said it was billed $1.5 million from Denton law firm in Chicago and about $600,900 in attorneys’ fees from the Richman Greer law firm in West Palm Beach, according to the newspaper. Another $27,000 was billed for additional costs, including depositions, travel fees and subpoenas.

Over the summer, Sears successfully appealed a Palm Beach Circuit Court judge’s ruling that favored Forbes and the city of Palm Beach Gardens. The state appellate court ruled that the city resolution is unconstitutional. [Palm Beach Post] – Amanda Rabines