Developer Suing BART Over Failed Retail Plan
A developer who planned to bring various franchise shops to Bay Area Rapid Transit stations is suing the transit agency for breach of contract. TransMart was contracted to bring shops like Dunkin’ Donuts and Ghiradelli Chocolate to BART’s 43 stations, but the deal fell through, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. BART let the contract expire since TransMart did not meet a deadline of opening nine retail stores by August 2016.
In 2008, San Francisco housing developer Alexis Wong told BART she could bring various retail outlets to the stations and formed TransMart to do so. BART’s board of directors agreed to the undertaking in 2011. After three years, a couple of pop-up stores opened, which were related to Wong’s online business, but have since closed.
By letting the contract expire, BART did not act in good faith over the deal worth upward of $95M, Wong’s lawyers said. The lawsuit says BART stalled TransMart’s store designs, cut back on the space promised and rejected the company’s financial plans.
