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Sears sues landlord and city over blocked sublease at Palm Beach Gardens mall
Sears has been trying to sublease the second floor of its store since 2011
TransformCo, the new owner of Sears, is suing The Gardens Mall and the city of Palm Beach Gardens over millions of dollars in rent it alleges it would earn from a sublessee.
Dick’s Sporting Goods terminated its sublease for the Sears store at The Gardens Mall, at 3101 PGA Boulevard, effective Dec. 20, which led Transform to file its latest lawsuit. The suit alleges the city and the mall worked together to block Dick’s sublease, according to the Palm Beach Post. The Forbes Company owns the mall.
Sears has been trying to sublease the second floor of its store since 2011. Transform said in its suit that The Gardens Mall and the city “finally succeeded” in preventing Sears from subleasing the space to Dick’s. Most recently, an application for new signs and entrances for Dick’s was blocked, according to the Post.
Transform is alleging that the city violated its First Amendment rights by violating Transform’s constitutional due process and retaliating against Transform for suing the city in 2014. The city and the mall denied the allegations. [Palm Beach Post] – Katherine Kallergis