Chef's No. 4, Inc. v. City of Chicago

453 N.E.2d 892, 117 Ill. App. 3d 410, 73 Ill. Dec. 67, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2196
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 26, 1983
Docket82-2339
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 453 N.E.2d 892 (Chef's No. 4, Inc. v. City of Chicago) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chef's No. 4, Inc. v. City of Chicago, 453 N.E.2d 892, 117 Ill. App. 3d 410, 73 Ill. Dec. 67, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2196 (Ill. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

JUSTICE LORENZ

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Chef’s No. 4, Inc., an Illinois corporation doing business as Beef N’ Burger, filed a complaint in inverse condemnation seeking a declaratory judgment, and an injunction against defendants, the City of Chicago (the City), and Chicago Title & Trust Company (CT&T), as trustee. Plaintiff sought, inter alia, just compensation for the taking of its trade fixtures located on property formerly owned by CT&T as trustee and acquired by the City by eminent domain. The trial court granted defendants’ motions to dismiss the complaint and plaintiff appealed.

The sole issue presented for review is whether the trial court erred in granting defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint for failure to state a cause of action.

The following facts are pertinent to our decision.

CT&T, as trustee, owned property located at the southwest corner of State and Van Burén Streets in Chicago, Illinois, which consisted of a parking garage and four street-level stores. In 1966, the subject property was leased to Erwin Horwitz, who in turn assigned his leasehold interest to State-Van Burén Garage Corporation (State-Van Burén) in 1968.

Article XII of the original lease between CT&T and Erwin Horwitz provided that the lessee could sell, convey, or assign its interest in the lease upon satisfaction of five preconditions: (1) the assignee would pay all real estate taxes; (2) the assignment would be delivered to CT&T; (3) the assignment would be recorded with the recorder of deeds of Cook County, Illinois; (4) the assignee would expressly agree to assume and be bound by the original lease, and (5) the assignment required prior written approval from CT&T. Article XII further provided that: “nothing herein contained shall be construed to impair the right of Lessee to sublet the leased premises *** provided only that all such sublease agreements shall be made subject to the terms and provisions of this lease. Lessor agrees that should the Lessee default in any of the covenants and agreements herein contained to be kept, observed, and performed by Lessee, Lessor will recognize and honor any and all subleases theretofore made by Lessee with the prior written approval of Lessor.”

In October 1972, State-Van Burén, as sublessor, leased one of the four stores to plaintiff, the sublessee, without the prior written consent of CT&T, the lessor.

On December 27, 1977, a rider was attached to the sublease which provided, inter alia, for a 10-year extension of the sublease from January 1, 1982, until December 31, 1991. A condemnation clause contained therein further provided that “the lease term shall cease as of the day possession shall be taken by such public authority ***. Lessee shall be entitled and shall have the right to pursue its remedies against such public authority for loss of revenues and/or its leasehold interest.”

Thereafter, plaintiff spent over $50,000 on leasehold improvements including ovens, counters, refrigerators, air conditioning units and duct work, lighting fixtures and signs. On the valuation date of the subsequent condemnation suit these leasehold improvements had a market value of approximately $35,000. Plaintiff continued to pay rent to State-Van Burén until June 1981.

On November 22, 1976, the city of Chicago filed a petition to condemn the subject property, naming CT&T and plaintiff among the party defendants. Plaintiff, however, was not served with summons, did not participate in the ensuing condemnation litigation, and initially learned of the condemnation in June of 1981 when the City demanded possession of the subject property.

Over three years after the institution of this condemnation suit, CT&T, as lessor, filed a forcible entry and detainer action on January 11, 1980, against State-Van Burén, as lessee, for nonpayment of rent. Plaintiff was not served in this action.

By an agreed order entered on December 19, 1980, the trial court held that State-Van Burén was in default and no longer entitled to the possession of the property. The order further recited that, by stipulation of the parties, “State-Van Buren Garage Corp., its successors and assigns, [agree to] completely waive and release any rights or interest it may have, if any, in the condemnation award in the City of Chicago v. Chicago Title & Trust Co., etc., et al. ***.”

On May 1, 1981, an order was entered in the condemnation suit setting the sum of $1,050,000 as full compensation to the owner or owners of and party or parties interested in the subject property. This award was deposited with the Treasurer of Cook County on May 17, 1981.

Thereafter, CT&T filed a petition for withdrawal of the entire award. On June 2, 1981, the trial court, finding that CT&T, as trustee, was owner of the subject property, and that no one else had any rights to the award, directed the treasurer to pay the full award to CT&T.

In June 1981, the City demanded possession of the property from plaintiff. Plaintiff subsequently filed a complaint in inverse condemnation for a declaratory judgment and an injunction against CT&T and the City on August 3,1981.

Various pleadings followed, and both defendants filed motions to dismiss. CT&T’s motion to dismiss alleged that plaintiff had no interest in the property or the award because (1) a sublease was not permitted under the top lease between CT&T and State-Van Burén, and (2) the order in the forcible action operated to terminate any interest plaintiff may have had in the property. The City based its motion to dismiss primarily upon its argument that plaintiff was estopped by reason of the finding in the order of withdrawal. Following a hearing, the trial court granted both motions to dismiss, and this appeal follows.

Opinion

The sole issue on review is whether the trial court erred in granting defendants’ motions to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint for failure to state a cause of action in inverse condemnation.

As a general rule, in determining the legal sufficiency of a complaint on a motion to dismiss, all well-pleaded facts are to be taken as true (Fitzgerald v. Chicago Title & Trust Co. (1978), 72 Ill. 2d 179, 380 N.E.2d 790) and a reviewing court must determine whether the allegations of the complaint, when interpreted in the light most favorable to plaintiff, are sufficient to set forth a cause of action upon which relief may be granted. (Burks v. Madyun (1982), 105 Ill. App. 3d 917, 435 N.E.2d 185.) Accordingly, we turn first to the contention of whether the complaint states a cause of action sufficient to withstand the motion.

As a preliminary matter to a consideration of plaintiffs’ case on the merits, however, we must necessarily address the issue of the court’s jurisdiction where notice and service of process were not effected upon plaintiff as a necessary party to both the forcible action and the condemnation proceeding.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Village of West Dundee v. First United Methodist Church
2017 IL App (2d) 150278 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2017)
Conroy v. Village of Lisle
716 F. Supp. 1104 (N.D. Illinois, 1989)
Kigin v. Woodmen of the World Insurance
541 N.E.2d 735 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1989)
Lanski v. AMER. NAT'L BK & TR. CO.
462 N.E.2d 607 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1984)
Lanski v. American National Bank & Trust Co.
462 N.E.2d 607 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
453 N.E.2d 892, 117 Ill. App. 3d 410, 73 Ill. Dec. 67, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chefs-no-4-inc-v-city-of-chicago-illappct-1983.