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Boston landlord latest to sue Twitter

Elon Musk’s company allegedly $632K behind on rent

Elon Musk, 2 Center Plaza in Boston (Getty, Center Plaza Boston)
Elon Musk, 2 Center Plaza in Boston (Getty, Center Plaza Boston)
By
Feb 25, 2023, 9:00 AM

Another day, another fire for Elon Musk to put out at Twitter.

An LLC controlled by Synergy Investments sued the social media company this week in Massachusetts’ Suffolk Superior Court, the Boston Globe reported. Twitter is a tenant at the Center Plaza, a Boston office near City Hall.

The lawsuit states Musk’s company has failed to pay rent for the past three months, racking up more than $632,000 in arrears. Employees have continued to use the space, though, according to the suit.

Twitter leased 44,000 square feet in 2019 for $227,232 per month, a deal scheduled to run through January 2027. Twitter turned around and subleased a quarter of the space to another company for more than double the rate, according to the suit.

The landlord claimed it notified Twitter it was in default after rent wasn’t paid for December. After the same misses allegedly occurred in January and February, Synergy drew $454,000 from a letter of credit Twitter posted.

Synergy wants to continue with the lease, but is seeking payment for the bills that are past due and a replenishment of the letter of credit. It also wants damages, interest and legal fees.

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Twitter did not comment on the lawsuit.

Synergy is in sync with other Boston-area companies going after Twitter in the legal system. Consulting firms Analysis Group and Charles River Associates filed separate lawsuits against the company, seeking upwards of $4 million for unpaid bills.

The landlord can also take solace in seeing the other landlords facing similar problems with Twitter, which has seemingly decided to stop paying the bills after Musk purchased the company at the end of October for $44 billion.

Last month, Twitter landlords in San Francisco also sued the company for failing to pay rent. Twitter allegedly failed to pay $6.8 million of rent in recent months for its South of Market headquarters.

Others to go after Twitter for alleged unpaid rent include Columbia Property Trust —  which just defaulted on a massive loan that involved two Twitter-tied properties — and the Crown Estate, which manages property for King Charles III.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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