The Mall of San Juan owners sue BRIO Hospitality for $2.2M
Plaza Internacional, the owners of The Mall of San Juan, have filed a lawsuit against BRIO Hospitality P.R. Inc. — the local franchisees of the now closed BRIO Tuscan Grille — seeking to collect nearly $2.2 million, this media outlet learned.
As this media outlet informado exclusively in June, the BRIO restaurant formerly located at the mall closed abruptly after more than three years of operations at the shopping center. It was the only BRIO location in Puerto Rico and its last day of operations was June 17, 2018.
In the lawsuit, Plaza Internacional claims BRIO’s owners failed to pay any rent on the “priviledged location” they occupied while doing business at the mall.
“Despite multiple efforts to collect the multi-million debt, and the disposition by Plaza internacional to renegotiate the debt, BRIO Hospitality never paid, nor tried to renegotiate the amount,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed at the San Juan Superior Court names BRIO Hospitality P.R. Inc. partners Julio Canales-Figueroa, Alice Cuebas-Canales and José Fernando Rodríguez-Ortiz as defendants.
As a result of the failed negotiations, Plaza Internacional sought an eviction order from the court, which was granted June 21.
This media outlet attempted to obtain comments from Plaza Internacional officials, who responded with a “no comment.”
The Mall of San Juan is owned by Taubman Centers — which does business in Puerto Rico as Plaza Internacional — is expected to release second quarter earnings next week.
Three years without paying a cent of rent? Good luck with the lawsuit because you probably won’t find the “owners” of BRIO ( Julio Canales-Figueroa, Alice Cuebas-Canales and José Fernando Rodríguez-Ortiz).