H&M Sued For $4M In Unpaid Rent At Manhattan Flagship
A retail landlord in Herald Square is the latest to file a lawsuit against one of its tenants, alleging the retailer owes the landlord rent payments.
JEMB Realty is suing H&M, claiming the Swedish clothing giant hasn't paid $4M in rent it owes for its flagship location at 1293 Broadway in Herald Square, Crain’s New York Business reports.
H&M's lease for its 63K SF, multilevel store costs around $1.2M per month, according to the suit, which was filed in New York State Supreme Court.
Over the past month, landlords across the the country have been filing lawsuits against their corporate retail tenants who have failed to pay rent in full. Last month, landlord Stawski Partners sued Gap, a tenant at 1212 Sixth Ave., for allegedly failing to pay $530,334 in rent and other fees in April and May, The Real Deal reported.
Simon Property Group filed a lawsuit against Gap Wednesday, alleging that the retailer, which also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic, owes the mall landlord nearly $66M in rent payments across the country.
Retailers have been trying to negotiate major rent concessions with their landlords as well. Retailers sued SL Green at the end of May, hoping to end their lease early, Crain's reported last week. Coffee retail giant Starbucks requested rent forgiveness for a year, which real estate industry leaders called "ridiculous."
This isn’t the first legal spat between JEMB Realty and H&M. In 2015, the retailer sued JEMB for changing the façade of its building without permission and sought $11M in damages, The Real Deal reported.
