Tom Agosta, owner of Angelina Italian Bistro in the Madison Building in downtown Detroit, says he's battling rent gouging and eviction by his landlord, billionaire Dan Gilbert.
Agosta accuses Gilbert's Bedrock Detroit real estate company of unfairly raising the rent on his 5,900 square-foot restaurant by 174 percent and then trying to kick him out, Frank Witsil of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Update: The property management firm's chief executive tells Deadline the restaurant owner is "attempting to extort favorable terms and special treatment" through media attention. His full statement is below.
"They are looking to get as much money out of their leases as they can," Agosta told the Freep. "It looks like there is a pattern. If Bedrock signs up someone with a new lease, it's pretty lucrative — a good deal — and then when they renew it's much, much higher. It's like a shakedown."
Bedrock tells the Freep that it has tried to work something out with the bistro, but finally turned to the courts for action. It said the business hasn't paid rent in more than 19 months.
The building owner wants to increase his rent by 174 percent from $13.50 to $37 per square foot, Agosta says.
Bedrock CEO responds:
'Angelina's has attempted
to leverage undue benefits'
Angelina’s has been in default on its lease for over 19 months. Bedrock has attempted to work with Tom Agosta and accommodate him in countless ways over the past five years. We have worked diligently with Angelina's to try to resolve its continuous and habitual defaults without success.
Jim Ketai: "Bedrock nor any of our family of companies will ever be intimidated by threats."
(LinkedIn photo)
The bottom line is that Mr. Agosta will not pay the severely delinquent rent and the long past due balances that Angelina's legally, ethically and morally owes under the terms of its lease obligations.
In addition, Bedrock nor any of our family of companies will ever be intimidated by threats of attempting to extort favorable terms and special treatment by deploying the ". . . or I will run to the media" tactic. This is now the third episode where Mr. Agosta and Angelina's has attempted to leverage undue benefits by using this strategy.
Allowing special treatment and habitual delinquency and default of basic rental obligations for one tenant is not only bad business, but would be unfair and disrespectful to the hundreds of other hard-working small business owners who lease space in Bedrock's buildings that all pay their rent in full and on time.
At this point, we have no choice but to ask the 36th District Court to intervene.
-- Jim Ketai, Bedrock CEO
