Androse Associates of Allaire, LLC v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (In re Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.)

472 B.R. 666
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 8, 2012
DocketNo. 11-CV-5888 (CS)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 472 B.R. 666 (Androse Associates of Allaire, LLC v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (In re Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Androse Associates of Allaire, LLC v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (In re Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.), 472 B.R. 666 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

SEIBEL, District Judge.

Before the Court is the appeal of And-rose Associates of Allaire, LLC (“Androse” or “Appellant”) from the Bankruptcy Court’s Order (“Final Order”)1 granting a motion to assume certain unexpired leases and related subleases of non-residential real property (the “Assumption Motion”), (Bankr. Doc. 1959),2 of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (“A & P”) and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Appellees” or “Debtors”). For the reasons stated below, the Bankruptcy Court’s Final Order is AFFIRMED.

1. BACKGROUND

On or about May 1, 1986, Supermarkets General Corporation and Levcom-Allaire Village Associates (“Levcom”) entered into a lease for certain non-residential real property located at Allaire Village Plaza in Wall Township, New Jersey (the “Lease”). (Bankr. Doc. 2112 ¶¶2, 3; see generally [669]*669Lease.3) Subsequently, Pathmark Stores, Inc. (“Pathmark”), a debtor in the underlying bankruptcy, acquired Supermarkets General Corporation, and Levcom assigned the Lease to Androse. (Bankr. Doc. 2112 ¶ 3.)

The Lease is for a twenty-five year term, subject to possible extensions, at an annual rent of $470,630, exclusive of taxes and common area maintenance charges. (Id.) The Lease contemplated that Path-mark’s store was one of many stores in a “Shopping Center” named “Allaire Village Plaza,” (see, e.g., Lease ¶¶ 1.1(a); 2. 1; 3.2; 7.1; 7.4; 7.5; 9.2-9.5; 10.1; 11.1); indeed, it was the “anchor store” there, (see Bankr. Doc. 2112 ¶ 4). Under the Lease, Pathmark was required to open the store “for business to the public as a supermarket, but thereafter ... [was] not ... obligated to conduct, or to remain open for the conduct of, any business.” (Lease ¶ 6.1.)

At the time that Pathmark acquired the Lease, Pathmark and A & P did not have any relationship with each other. In 2007, however, A & P, which operated an A & P store directly across the street from Al-laire Village Plaza, acquired Pathmark. (See Bankr. Doc. 2112 ¶ 4.) Pathmark operated the Allaire Village Plaza store until sometime in 2009 when it “went dark” and ceased its operations there, although it remained the lessee of the property. (See id.) In the time since the Pathmark store went dark, Appellant has contended with other tenants of Allaire Village Plaza vacating their locations and asking for rent concessions because the anchor store has not been operational and thus the shopping center has been attracting fewer customers. (See id.)

Appellees commenced their bankruptcy case on December 12, 2010 by filing a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code (the “Code”). (Bankr. Doc. 1.) At the outset of the case, Appellees entered into an $800 million debtor-in-possession post-petition financing facility (the “DIP Facility”) to aid their restructuring efforts. (See Bankr. Doc. 1959 ¶ 2.) Appellees were given until April 26, 2011 to reject any unexpired non-residential real property leases under Section 365 of the Code. (See id. ¶2.) Together with “substantial involvement of the official unsecured creditors’ committee ... and other key constituents,” Appellees had their real estate advisor, Hilco Real Estate LLC, “review[] their store portfolio to identify opportunities to exit burdensome lease arrangements” and “determin[e] the value of retaining” other leases. (Id. ¶ 3.) After completing this analysis, Appellees decided to reject 150 “dark store” leases and subleases, and exit or sell 57 other operating locations. (Id.) Appellees also obtained rent concessions from certain landlords in efforts to generate approximately $14 million in savings over the life of certain leases they sought to assume. (Id.)

On June 22, 2011, Appellees filed their Assumption Motion with the Bankruptcy Court seeking entry of an order authorizing Appellees, among other things, to assume 205 leases and 98 related subleases of real property (the “Assumed Leases”). (See id. at 2.) In determining which leases to assume, Appellees had “implemented a systematic process to determine whether to retain or exit store locations,” (Bankr. Doc. 2106 ¶ 7), and had “taken into account the cost to cure any existing defaults under the Assumed Leases,” (Bankr. Doc. 1959 ¶ 5), each store’s potential for rehabilitation or cost savings from closure, (id. ¶ 11; see Bankr. Doc. 2106 ¶ 7), the effect [670]*670of assumption or rejection on other restructuring initiatives, (Bankr. Doc. 1959 ¶ 11; Bankr. Doc. 2106 ¶ 7), and that closing some stores would not result in savings to Appellees’ estate “and would forfeit the strategic benefits offered by keeping such stores in their portfolio,” (Bankr. Doc. 1959 ¶ 31). The Assumption Motion pertained to all the Assumed Leases, which included the Lease at Allaire Village Plaza, but did not specifically discuss that lease. (See generally id.)

Appellees represented to the Bankruptcy Court that their decision to assume the Assumed Leases satisfied the business judgment standard. (See Bankr. Doc. 2106 ¶ 12 (decision is “product of substantial process, analysis, and negotiations, and ... is a sound exercise of the [Appellees’] business judgment, utilizing the extensive expertise of the [Appellees’] management and professionals”); see id. ¶¶ 13-25 (explaining Appellees’ process and rationale for assuming).) To that end, Appellees stated that they took into consideration that “[i]n a highly competitive industry with relatively low margins, a competitor’s ability to take over a strategic location, which may not have been operated profitably by the [Appellees], could detrimentally affect the [Appellees’] store locations in the surrounding geographic area.” (Bankr. Doc. 1959 ¶ 28.) Appellees represented that they would cure all monetary defaults,4 and that they had provided adequate assurance of future performance for the Assumed Leases under which they had defaulted based on their cash on hand and the proceeds from the DIP Facility. (See Bankr. Doc. 1959 ¶¶ 39, 41; Bankr. Doc. 2106 ¶ 26 (“The [Appellees] collectively have in excess of $300 million in cash and cash-equivalent investments (as well as access to additional undrawn proceeds of the DIP Facility’s revolver).”).)

On July 1, 2011, Appellant filed an objection to the Assumption Motion. (See Bankr. Doe. 2112.) Appellant argued that Appellees had not provided adequate assurance of future performance for the assumption of a shopping center lease under Section 365(b)(3) because Appellees had not made assurances concerning “the source of rent and other consideration due under the Lease,” (id. ¶ 6 (internal quotation marks omitted)), and, further, Appel-lees had not (1) given Appellant a security deposit or guarantee, (2) filed a plan of reorganization, or (3) presented specific information demonstrating their ability to make future rental payments or become profitable, (id. ¶ 11). Appellant also argued that Appellees had failed to demonstrate that the assumption df the Lease was a sound business judgment for a store that was not operational. (Id. ¶ 17.) Appellant represented to the Bankruptcy Court that it had offered Appellees $1.25 million to terminate the Lease, but that Appellees rejected the offer without demonstrating the strategic value of the Lease. (See id.)

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Bluebook (online)
472 B.R. 666, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/androse-associates-of-allaire-llc-v-great-atlantic-pacific-tea-co-in-nysd-2012.