Metropolitan Brewing (2020)

I think it is important to point out that they have not paid rent because of a dispute over the square footage listed in the lease, and not because they are struggling financially and unable to pay.

They have been paying all of their rent into escrow, which would presumably get paid to the landlord if and when they resolved the dispute.

Hope they are able to work things out.

 

Yeah I don't think this means Metropolitan is closing. They could contract brew for a while if they need to. It would certainly be a huge blow to them if they got locked out of their space for sure but not sure it would be the death of them.

 

Thanks for this. I just quickly saw the text in the link and about had a heart attack.

 

Non-paywall'd article: https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/12/01/metropolitan-brewing-fights-eviction

 

One article I read made the Metropolitan folks look very poorly. Things to paraphrase "We signed the lease without our lawyer reviewing it" and "we were having to take pay cuts and so had our accountant review the business and found out that it was because we were missing 9,000 square feet." Seriously?

After looking at press releases from the Metropolitan opening, they all tout the brewery as 20,000 square feet so I truly feel like they thought they were paying for 20,000 SQF. Interested to hear the Landlords take on this.

And regardless, how do you not look at the monthly rent before signing?

 

Their messaging on this is weird for sure. And now they've laid off at least one person....potentially more I'm not sure.

 

I find it unlikely that they signed the lease without knowing the amount. But perhaps the pandemic has caused them to look more closely at their finances and realized the square footage on the lease does not match the space and used that to try to get a rent reduction. The landlord refused and thus this dispute.

 

This makes sense. However, if anyone went to the brewery when they first opened, the entire complex was completely under construction. Literally, walls were still being demolished. You had to walk over pallets and particle boards through half demolished buildings to get to the back. It was a broken ankle lawsuit waiting to happen. I can easily see how they could have been given incorrect dimensions/square footage. Not having the lawyer review beforehand is definitely the concerning part though. That's going to be hard to argue against unless they have plenty of proof they were misled.

 

The couple articles I've read have seemed to be at least leaning toward Metropolitan being a victim here. That may very well be, but we don't know either way from what's currently out there.

But even if they have been taken advantage of - they seem like they don't have a handle on understanding basics of the business they run. Yes, it's a mistake that they signed something that their attorneys had been reviewing, but how could they go 2+ years and not do basic A times B math to realize they were paying too much. Whoever writes that check should have realized this was an issue with the first payment. I would think rent has to be one of their biggest 3 expenses. Doesn't seem like something that you'd need a forensic accountant to do some massive digging to figure out. Sounds a bit fishy though I'd tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dini...0201202-xtffpllwzrdgvgrs5jgfalugmy-story.html

It also sounds like there's some other claims like getting a food license was against the lease. Again, no way to know from articles reporting this - for now that's a he said / she said.

 

This Tribune article is even more damming against them. They claim they have smaller square footage because they didn't take over a second floor. But the second floor is gone because their tanks were too large. So they still occupy that space.

 

I'm curious as to if that is true, generally you have to put the space back into the condition you found it. If they removed a floor to put their tanks in, it's going to be a big shock when they have to pay to put the floor back in....

 

I am getting tired of landlords thinking they have all the high cards in the deck when dealing with beer-orbiting tenants.
The original Fischman's location at Milwaukee and Lawrence has been unoccupied for how many years now? Does its landlord think he is ever going to get more revenue out of that location?
Does Metropolitan's landlord think that if he gets rid of them, he can roll the location over to Molson Coors or Yeungling? What else could go in there?
If Metropolitan has to vacate the location, for what else would somebody go to an address on N. Rockwell? The coffee grinder? (Would he double down and try to unload that space to Starbucks?)