Excelsior Lodge Number One v. Eyecor, Ltd.

9 Haw. App. 354
CourtHawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 28, 1992
DocketNO. 15435; NO. 15658
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 9 Haw. App. 354 (Excelsior Lodge Number One v. Eyecor, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Excelsior Lodge Number One v. Eyecor, Ltd., 9 Haw. App. 354 (hawapp 1992).

Opinion

[355]*355OPINION OF THE COURT BY

BURNS, C.J.

Appeal Nos. 15435 and 15658 both arise from First Circuit Court Special Proceeding No. 90-0066. This opinion decides both appeals.

Pursuant to a lease that commenced on January 1, 1957, an arbitration panel on April 26, 1991 decided the amount of the lease rent payable for the ten-year period beginning January 1, 1987. Upon the application of the lessor, Applicant Excelsior Lodge Number One, Independent Order of Odd Fellows (Lessor-Excelsior), a Hawaii eleemosynary corporation, the circuit court [356]*356confirmed the arbitration panel’s award. In Nos. 15435 and 15658 the lessee, Respondent Eyecor, Ltd. (Lessee-Eyecor), a Hawai‘i corporation, appeals the circuit court’s June 10,1991 Order Granting Applicant’s Motion for Confirmation of Arbitration Award Filed on April 26, 1991 (June 10, 1991 Order Confirming Arbitration Award). In No. 15658, Lessee-Eyecor and the sublessee, Respondent Atkinson Towers, Inc. (Sublessee-Atkinson), a cooperative housing corporation as defined in Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 519-3 (1985 and Supp. 1991), appeal the circuit court’s October 1, 1991 order denying Lessee-Eyecor’s May 6, 1991 motion for reconsideration of the circuit court’s April 24, 1991 order deciding that HRS § 519-3 did not impose a ceiling on the amount of the lease rent legally due from Lessee-Eyecor to Lessor-Excelsior.

We dismiss No. 15435 for lack of appellate jurisdiction. In No. 15658, we vacate the June 10,1991 Order Confirming Arbitration Award and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FACTS

Lessor-Excelsior owns the land at 419A Atkinson Drive, Honolulu, subject to a March 30, 1957 lease (Lease) to LesseeEyecor’s predecessor in interest and a sublease to SublesseeAtkinson’s predecessor in interest. The term of the Lease is sixty years commencing January 1, 3957. The Lease fixed the rent for the first twenty years through December 31, 1976. The rent for each ten-year period thereafter is by agreement. If the parties are unable to agree, each shall

choose an appraiser and these two shall choose a third appraiser. All such appraisers shall be recognized and qualified appraisers____The appraisers shall deduct from the value found by them the total amount of buildings erected by the Lessees and also any improvement assessments or charges which shall have been levied against the [357]*357demised premises and paid by the Lessees or for which the Lessees are required to reimburse the Lessor under the terms of this lease. The value found by a majority of the appraisers, less said deductions, shall be deemed the “appraised value” for the purposes of their determining the rental [under the lease].
* * *

The Lease also states in relevant part as follows:

* * *
5. That the Lessees will not, without the consent in writing of the Lessor, assign or mortgage this lease or sublet the whole or any part of said premises; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that the Lessor will not unreasonably withhold such consent, and will not require the payment of any moneys as consideration for the giving of such consent; PROVIDED, FURTHER, that the Lessees may, without such consent, (a) sublet or rent rooms or apartments in the operation of an apartment house business on the premises; (b) assign this lease by way of mortgage to a recognized lending institution for the purpose of financing the cost of erecting buildings on the premises herein demised or any additions or improvements to such buildings.
* * *

On October 10,1958 Lessee-Eyecor’s predecessor in interest subleased (Sublease) 419A Atkinson Drive to Atkinson Building, Inc. Lessor-Excelsior consented in writing to the Sublease. On October 10,1960 Atkinson Building, Inc., assigned its sublessee’s interest in the Sublease to Sublessee-Atkinson. Lessor-Excelsior consented in writing to the assignment.

The Sublease expires one day prior to the expiration of the Lease. After December 31,1976 the Sublease rent is the same as the Lease rent. The Sublease provides “that the Sublessor hereby [358]*358constitutes and appoints the Sublessee its agent for the purposes of negotiating the rental to be paid during each ten-year period following December 31, 1976 with said Lessor[.]”

HRS § 519-3, which became effective on June 12, 1982, states in relevant part as follows:

(a) All leases, including subleases executed by a cooperative housing corporation as lessee, and all leases, including subleases acquired by a cooperative housing corporation by assignment, whether executed prior to or after June 12, 1982, which directly or by incorporation provide for reopening of the contract for renegotiation of lease rent terms, shall provide or be construed in conformity with the following:
* * *
(2) Upon renegotiation, the lease rent payable by a cooperative housing corporation as lessee, sublessee, or assignee shall not exceed the amount derived by multiplying the “owner’s basis” by the original percentage rate.
* * *
(d) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Cooperative housing corporation” means a corporation:
(A) Having one and only one class of stock outstanding;
(B) Each of the stockholders of which is entitled solely by reason of the shareholder’s ownership of stock in the corporation, to occupy for dwelling purposes the dwelling unit in a building, owned or leased by the corporation, and situated on land leased by the corporation;
(C) No stockholder of which is entitled (either conditionally or unconditionally) to [359]*359receive any distribution not out of earnings and profits of the corporation except in a complete or partial liquidation of the corporation; and
(D) Eighty per cent or more of the gross income for the taxable year in which the taxes and interest described in 26 U.S.C. section 216(a) are paid or incurred is derived from tenant stockholders.
* * *
(4) “Owner’s basis” means the value of the lessor’s leased fee interest in the property that would apply if such interest were normally traded on an open market. The fair market value of the owner’s basis shall be established to provide the lessor with just compensation for the lessor’s interests in the lot and shall take into consideration every interest and equity of the lessee in establishing that market value. The value may be determined by any method which is normally used by qualified appraisers in establishing the fair market value of a lessor’s leased fee interest in land.

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Bluebook (online)
9 Haw. App. 354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/excelsior-lodge-number-one-v-eyecor-ltd-hawapp-1992.