Kesler v. Elks Building, N.V.

689 P.2d 15, 1984 Utah LEXIS 907
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 23, 1984
DocketNo. 17939, 17975
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 689 P.2d 15 (Kesler v. Elks Building, N.V.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kesler v. Elks Building, N.V., 689 P.2d 15, 1984 Utah LEXIS 907 (Utah 1984).

Opinion

HOWE, Justice:

This case involves the interpretation of an escrow agreement which was made in connection with a contract for the sale of the Elks Building in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Defendant Elks Building, N.V., a Netherlands Antilles corporation (buyer), appeals from and seeks the reversal of the trial court’s judgment which awarded all of the funds placed in escrow at the time of the sale of the building to the sellers, plaintiffs Grant S. Kesler, James D. Fahs, Jr., G. Michael Tuckett, and Marvin J. Kirkham. Sellers are general partners of Elks Associates, a Utah limited partnership. They seek an affirmance of the judgment and also cross-appeal seeking a reversal of the trial court’s judgment awarding damages to buyer on its counterclaim for sellers1' failure to make certain repairs to the premises. Both parties additionally seek an award of attorney fees incurred during both the trial and this appeal.

FACTS

In late 1978 and early 1979, the sellers and buyer negotiated the sale and purchase of the building. The buyer carefully exam[17]*17ined and scrutinized the income and expenses which could fairly be expected. This analysis was complicated because the sellers’ lease with one of the tenants, The Cinegrill, Inc., a restaurant, did not provide for an established minimum or base rent. This lease, which was for a five-year term with an option to renew for two successive five-year terms, commenced March 1, 1979. It provided in § 3.01 that for the first eighteen months the rent would be six percent of the tenant’s gross sales. At the end of the eighteen-month period, the rental which had been paid by the tenant for the last twelve months would be averaged and that amount would become the minimum rent for the remainder of the term of the lease. In no event, however, could it exceed $6 per square foot per year. Section 3.02 provided that:

In addition to the aforesaid minimum rental, when established the Tenant shall pay to the Landlord a sum of 6% of Gross sales as reflected by the Tenant’s sales tax receipts and report filed with the State of Utah. At the expiration of the initial Eighteen months of the lease and based upon the rents paid as derived from the 6% of Gross sales in any quarter wherein the percentage rents fall below the minimum rents — minimum rents shall be paid.

On March 16, 1979, the parties entered into a written contract of sale. The purchase price was fixed at $4,100,000. That figure was reached by taking the fixed minimum annual income of the building (including the maximum base rent of The Cinegrill) and capitalizing it at 9.5 percent, which came to approximately $3,900,000. The remaining $200,000 (sometimes referred to as the “blue sky” above the building) was added to compensate for over-rents and other income expectations. However, since the eighteen-month period of The Cinegrill lease had just started to run, there was no way of knowing what its minimum rental would be after the end of that period on August 31, 1980. Since the sales price of the building was tied very closely to the capitalization of the minimum rental of the tenants of the building, it was determined by the sellers and buyer that an escrow account would be established to provide for the uncertainty of the minimum rent which The Cinegrill would be obligated to pay at the end of the eighteen-month period. The parties calculated the difference between the optimum amount The Ci-negrill might have to pay as minimum rent per year ($6 per square foot or $41,022) and the amount The Cinegrill had already paid as advanced rent for the last twelve months of the eighteen-month period ($18,-000) and capitalized that difference at 9.5 percent. The resulting $242,337 was placed into an escrow account with the Western States Title Company.

The escrow agreement provided that one month after the end of the eighteen-month period, to wit, September 30, 1980, Western States would make distribution of the funds held in escrow to the sellers or to the buyer or to both, according to a formula based upon the amount of rent actually paid by The Cinegrill during the crucial twelve-month period from September 1, 1979, to August 31, 1980. If that rent was $41,022, the full amount of the funds would be payable to sellers. However, if that rent fell below $41,022, the capitalized amount of the deficiency was to be paid to the buyer and any balance to the sellers.

The escrow agreement also contained in paragraph three what the parties have termed an “acceleration clause.” It is the interpretation of this clause which gives rise to the dispute which prompted this action. That clause provided:

3. If during the eighteen month period of the Escrow, buyers are able to effectuate a written amendment of the lease with Cinegrill, Inc. fixing a minimum base rent of six Dollars per square foot, with all other lease terms and conditions remaining the same, then the terms of the Escrow shall be deemed satisfied and all escrow funds shall be released to Sellers. [Italics added.]

Following the execution of the contract of sale and the escrow agreement, the sellers continued to manage the building for [18]*18the buyer. Over a period of several months, the sellers proposed to The Cineg-rill amendments to the lease which they thought would satisfy the acceleration clause and bring about the immediate release of the escrow funds to them. Finally, on October 4, 1979, The Cinegrill agreed to and executed an amendment to the lease, the details of which are not important here except that sellers believed that they met the terms of the acceleration clause. The amendment was mailed to the buyer, which found it unacceptable and refused to sign it. Shortly thereafter, the sellers commenced this suit for the payment of the escrowed funds to them under the acceleration clause.

Buyers then undertook to negotiate directly with The Cinegrill an amendment to the lease which would definitely fix the minimum rent to be paid after the end of the eighteen-month period. On January 30, 1980, an amendment to §§ 3.01 and 3.02 of the lease was executed by them which provided that until September 1, 1980, the lease payments would continue to be six percent of gross sales, but that commencing on that date, The' Cinegrill would pay a flat rent of $41,000 the first year and $56,-000 per year thereafter. It was further provided that that amount would be adjusted every twelve months to reflect any increases or decreases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Section 3.02 providing for percentage rent was eliminated. The term of the lease was extended from five years to fifteen years. A four percent late charge on any payment of rent was inserted. The buyer thereafter maintained, however, that the amendment did not activate the acceleration clause and steadfastly refused to agree to the release of the escrow funds to the sellers. While this action was pending in the trial court, the eighteen-month period expired. Western States Title Company thereafter issued a letter to the sellers and buyer that the actual rental paid by The Cinegrill during the last twelve months came to $20,465.67 (about $3 per square foot) and consequently the $242,337 in escrow should be divided, according to the formula in the escrow agreement, $25,-955.10 to the sellers and $216,381.90 to the buyer. That plan of distribution did not meet with the approval of the sellers and this action went to trial. The trial court ruled that the amendment activated the acceleration clause and the sellers were entitled to the entire escrow amount, less $140,352.

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Bluebook (online)
689 P.2d 15, 1984 Utah LEXIS 907, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kesler-v-elks-building-nv-utah-1984.