Developers Sue Tenant For Reneging on $9 Mil. Office Lease and Land Purchase Deals

Palm Beach County developers Bruce Rendina and George de Guardiola have gone to court against ilife.com, alleging the online publisher backed out of a 10-year, 40,000-sf office lease with an estimated value of $8.4 million and a 2.15-acre, $608,751 land purchase contract.

The defendant hadn’t answered the two separate Palm Beach Circuit Court suits as of Aug. 17.

The suits allege ilife.com had agreed to lease back a new headquarters building at the developers’ 100-acre Abacoa Business Center in Jupiter. The publisher had also contracted to buy a 2.15-acre site next to the new building for future expansion, according to the complaint. The property is on the west side of Military Trail, north of Donald Ross Road.

The developers prepared design plans and received a permit for the build-to-suit. But before construction started, internal problems caused ilife.com to have second thoughts, the suit alleges. The tenant didn’t supply financial proof that it could comply with the lease and purchase terms, according to the suit.

Although the first 40,000 sf structure is on hold, the developers are moving ahead with another 40,000-sf office building at the park that is reported to be almost fully preleased to doctors and accountants. Class A office rents in the area average $21.37 psf, with the vacancy rate at 4%.