Slawsby v. Cifrino

16 Mass. L. Rptr. 405
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedJune 13, 2003
DocketNo. 031515BLS
StatusPublished

This text of 16 Mass. L. Rptr. 405 (Slawsby v. Cifrino) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Slawsby v. Cifrino, 16 Mass. L. Rptr. 405 (Mass. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

van Gestel, J.

This matter comes before the Court on a jury-waived trial of Counts I and IV of the complaint. These two counts seek declaratory relief regarding the meaning of the word “supermarket” as used in a certain lease (Count I) and the right to exercise a certain “right of first refusal” relating to property adjacent to the leased premises (Count IV). The remaining counts of the complaint are reserved until after Counts I and IV are finally resolved.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The plaintiffs Stanley Slawsby and Judith Slawsby (collectively, the “Slawsbys”), reside in Newton, Massachusetts. For all purposes of this case, the Slawsbys have been, and still are, the owners of all of the capital stock of the remaining plaintiff Capitol Food Corp. of Fields Comer (“Capitol”).

Capitol operates a supermarket at 500 Geneva Avenue in the Dorchester section of Boston (the “Premises”).

The defendants Paul J. Cifrino and Thomas M. Cifrino are Massachusetts residents. They currently are Tmstees of Fields Station Realty Trust under a Declaration ofTrust dated October 15, 1973, and duly recorded in the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds in Book 8669, Page 147 (the “Trust”).

At all material times, and continuing to the date of the trial in this case, the Trust has been the owner of the Premises, which is approximately 21,000 square feet of a Mall (the “Mall”) owned by the Trust. The Mall has approximately 14 currently occupied tenant spaces, of which the Premises is the second largest.

Since October 1996, Capitol has operated a supermarket at the Premises pursuant to an Indenture of Lease (collectively with its amendments, the “Lease”) dated January 7, 1965, originally by and between Paul J. Cifrino, John P. Cifrino and James P. Cifrino, Tmst-ees of Fields Station Realty Trust2 as Landlord and Supreme Fields Comer, Inc. as Tenant. The Lease was amended three times: First Amendment of Lease, dated February 1, 1968; Amendment of Lease, dated January 8, 1982; and Second [sic] Amendment3 to Lease, dated November 13, 1985.

When originally executed, the Lease contained a number of provisions favorable to the Tenant. This is not surprising, as the Cifrino family, which included the Tmstees of the Trust which was the Landlord, also was the owner of the original supermarket tenant, one of the “Supreme Market” chain of stores.

As originally executed in January 1965, the Lease had a term of 20 years, with two successive options for the Tenant to extend for 10 years each. The February 1, 1968, First Amendment of Lease changed the extension options in favor of the Tenant, from two successive options of 10 years each to six such successive options of 10 years each, thus making it an 80-year lease from 1965 to 2045.

The following are certain significant portions appearing in the original Lease and its amendments.

Lease, Article VII, Sec. 1.

The portion of the demised premises marked “Supermarket” on said Exhibit A shall be used only for the conduct thereon of a supermarket business, which business may include the sale of such items as are presently sold, or as may be sold from time to time by Tenant in its stores, or by its competitors or any of them conducting similar businesses, except as restricted by the provisions of Article VII, Section 4 (C) of the lease from the Landlord to Stop & Shop, Inc. demising premises in the Shopping Center (“Stop & Shop lease”) . . 4

Lease, Article XI.

Tenant shall have the right to assign the lease or to make any sublease of the demised premises, or any portion thereof subject always to the terms of this lease, including without limitation the provisions of Article VII hereof. Notwithstanding any such assignment or sublease, Tenant shall remain fully liable on this lease.

Lease, Article XVIII, Sec. 14.

[406]*406This instrument contains the entire and only agreement between the parties, and no oral statements or representations or prior written matter not contained in this instrument shall have any force or effect. This lease shall not be modified in any way except by a writing executed by both parties. The attached Appendix is a part of this lease.

Amendment of Lease, January 8, 1982, Sections 1 and 2.

1. Notwithstanding the terms of the Lease which permit Tenant to assign or sublet without obtaining Landlord’s consent, Landlord’s prior written consent to the assignment of this Lease or the subletting premises occupied by Tenant’s supermarket shall be required if (a) Tenant desires to assign this lease or sublet such premises for use other than a supermarket for a term which commences after or extends beyond the initial term of the Lease, (b) such assignment or subletting is to a non-affiliated party and (c) Tenant paid or was obligated to pay percentage rent during either of the preceeding two lease years. In the event Landlord’s consent is required pursuant to the provisions of this Section, the provisions of Sections 2-10 below shall apply.
2. Tenant shall give Landlord notice of its intent to so assign this Lease or sublet such premises at least thirty (30) days prior to the proposed execution of such assignment or sublease. Such notice shall set forth the name of the proposed assignee or subtenant, the intended use of the leased premises, and the rent or other consideration to be paid by such assignee or subtenant and all other financial details of the proposed transaction.

Over the years leading up to October 1996, when Capitol became the Tenant under the Lease, the prior tenants were first a Supreme Market and then a Purity Supreme Market.

When Capitol took over the Premises, it executed an Assignment and Assumption of Lease, dated September 9, 1996, with PSLP Realty Corp., the latter being the then holder of the Landlord’s and Tenant’s interests in the Lease. Included in the Assignment and Assumption of Lease, as Section 3, is the following:

Confirmation of Use Provision. The parties hereto hereby confirm that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Lease (and any amendments thereto), express or implied, including without limitation, Section 9 of that certain Amendment of Lease dated January 8, 1982 (the “First Amendment”),5 the supermarket portion of the Demised Premises shall be used only for the conduct of a supermarket business consistent with the provisions of Article VII of the original lease document dated January 7, 1965. The First Amendment contains specific provisions for the Landlord’s consent in the case of certain proposed assignments of the lease or sublettings of the Premises for use other than as a supermarket, which are not intended to be altered by this provision and remain in full force and effect.

Section 9 of the January 8, 1982, Amendment of Lease addressed instances in which the Tenant might use the Premises “for non-supermarket purposes.” It recites methods for the Landlord and Tenant reaching agreement on percentage rental payments in such circumstances. This situation is not a matter in issue in this case.

In the fall of2000, Capitol’s principal supplier — and an entity with secured interests in Capitol’s business — began to aggressively press for payments on outstanding debt.

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

Related

Scirpo v. McMillan
247 N.E.2d 368 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1969)
Greenstein v. Flatley
474 N.E.2d 1130 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1985)
Stapleton v. MacChi
519 N.E.2d 273 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1988)
Teitelbaum v. Hallmark Cards Inc.
520 N.E.2d 1333 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1988)
McAndrew v. School Committee of Cambridge
480 N.E.2d 327 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1985)
Graphic Arts Finishers, Inc. v. Boston Redevelopment Authority
255 N.E.2d 793 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1970)
Guerin v. Stacy
56 N.E. 892 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1900)
Mutual Paper Co. v. Hoague-Sprague Corp.
8 N.E.2d 802 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1937)
Shea v. Bay State Gas Co.
383 Mass. 218 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1981)
Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co. v. Offices Unlimited, Inc.
645 N.E.2d 1165 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1995)
Starr v. Fordham
648 N.E.2d 1261 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1995)
Citation Insurance v. Gomez
426 Mass. 379 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1998)
116 Commonwealth Condominium Trust v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.
742 N.E.2d 76 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2001)
Pearl v. Merchants-Warren National Bank
400 N.E.2d 1314 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1980)
Plymouth Rubber Co. v. Insurance Co. of North America, Inc.
465 N.E.2d 1234 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1984)
American Employers' Insurance v. City of Medford
644 N.E.2d 241 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1995)
Kobayashi v. Orion Ventures, Inc.
678 N.E.2d 180 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1997)
City of Haverhill v. George Brox, Inc.
716 N.E.2d 138 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1999)
Gross v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America, Inc.
718 N.E.2d 383 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1999)
President & Fellows of Harvard College v. PECO Energy Co.
787 N.E.2d 595 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
16 Mass. L. Rptr. 405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slawsby-v-cifrino-masssuperct-2003.