Stars Over Gatlinburg, Inc. v. Tipton (In Re Tipton)

18 B.R. 803, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 4721
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedFebruary 26, 1982
DocketBankruptcy 3-80-01233, Adv. No. 3-81-0843
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 18 B.R. 803 (Stars Over Gatlinburg, Inc. v. Tipton (In Re Tipton)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stars Over Gatlinburg, Inc. v. Tipton (In Re Tipton), 18 B.R. 803, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 4721 (Tenn. 1982).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

CLIVE W. BARE, Bankruptcy Judge.

This adversary proceeding was commenced October 1, 1981, by the plaintiff, Stars Over Gatlinburg, Inc., the lessee of certain property in Tipton Terrace Mall, seeking an adjudication of the rights of the plaintiff and the defendant, Richard Tipton, dba Tipton Terrace Mall, the lessor, arising from a leasehold agreement dated September 14, 1978. 1 Linda Tipton, Richard Tip-ton’s wife, averring that she is also the developer and lessor of the property known as Tipton Terrace Mall, intervened on October 23, 1981. In an Answer, Counter-Complaint and Third-Party Complaint, also filed October 23, 1981, the Tiptons named as third-party defendants, Angel Garcia dba Angel’s Turquoise & Silver, John L. Per-lingero and Pamela K. Perlingero dba Gep-etto’s Toys and Games, Walter D. Sauer dba Old South Barbeque, Tennesco, Inc., First National Bank of Gatlinburg, and Richard A. Sedgley, Trustee. Garcia, Perlingero and Sauer are lessees of premises in the Tipton Terrace Mall. Tennesco holds a mortgage on the Mall in excess of $1,500,-000. Sedgley was appointed trustee by order of this court April 16, 1981, 11 U.S.C. § 1104. In their counterclaim the Tiptons sought a temporary injunction enjoining the named lessees from interfering with the proposed construction of a building in the common ways/common areas of the Tipton Terrace Mall. The request for a temporary injunction was denied.

The essential issue in this adversary proceeding is whether the debtors have the right to lease most of the common ways/common areas of the Tipton Terrace Mall to third parties for the purpose of constructing a Gateway Bookstore and other retail shops. Trial was held February 4 and 5, 1982.

II

Tipton Terrace Mall (the Mall) is a retail shopping mall located on the Parkway in the center of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It is owned and operated by Richard J. Tipton and Linda A. Tipton, husband and wife, who are the debtors in a Chapter 11 Reorganization case. The Tiptons (hereafter Tipton) obtained ownership of the Cooper Court Motel in 1976, converting it since that time from a motel to a retail shopping mall. The lower level shops in the Mall were originally the Cooper Court Motel units. What is now the “common way” was originally a walkway and parking lot. The words “common areas,” “common ways,” and “walkways” have been used inter-changably by Tipton, the tenants of the Mall, and the architects for the Mall to refer to the open areas of the Mall located adjacent to the Parkway, surrounded on three sides by shops, and developed with fountains, terraces, benches, and walkways.

In 1976 Tipton retained Birney Hand, a licensed architect, to develop plans for converting the Cooper Court Motel into retail shops. (Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and 4) Tipton wanted to create a series of boutiques and shops on the lower level, maintaining a motel on the upper level. The primary goal for the development in the center area was to get people off the street and into the Mall area, as well as to draw and attract prospective tenants. Although there was *806 some discussion about covering the center area, there was no discussion concerning the construction of a commercial building in the center area. Instead, Tipton wanted to expand the existing structures. Hand was aware that future development of the Mall was planned above and to the rear of the common ways and the renovated motel units and, in fact, drew plans for the proposed development.

In February 1977 the architectural firm of Goodstein, Hahn, Shorr & Associates and specifically Harold K. Hahn (Hahn) was retained by Tipton to provide drawings and plans for the Mall development. When Hahn was retained by Tipton, the first phase of the renovation of the motel units into retail shops had been completed. The parking lot and walkways had been reconstructed into the common ways as they exist today. Due to Tipton’s financial condition, a master plan for the Mall was not feasible. Hahn and Tipton had general discussions regarding overall development of the Mall. At one point Hahn proposed a winding road going through the center of the Mall and up the hill to the rear. This plan was rejected by Tipton. “Bits and pieces” were added as Tipton obtained tenants. The common ways, as designed by Hand, however, were not significantly altered or modified.

In the fall of 1978, Tipton entered into a lease agreement with Stars Over Gatlinburg, Inc., for the construction of a wax museum (Exhibit 21). The Stars lease provides in relevant part that Tipton as lessor leases to Stars Over Gatlinburg, Inc. (Stars), the interior area of the first two stories of a motel building located on the Mall property. The Stars lease was dated September 14, 1978, with its term to begin November 1, 1978, for twenty-five years, with additional options to renew for five additional periods of five years each, so that it has a potential term of fifty years. The draft of the Stars lease was prepared by Stars or Stars’ attorney.

At the time of the execution of the lease, the center portion of the Mall, i.e., the common areas, consisted of walkways, trees, flowers, planters, and a Bomanite ground covering. Tipton’s negotiations with Stars were conducted with Eric Uber-man, whom he had known for several years. At one time Tipton was employed by a corporation in which Uberman is a principal. Tipton approached Uberman in early 1978 to become a tenant in the Mall. Hahn, at the request of Tipton, prepared drawings showing Stars Over Gatlinburg in the Mall as it exists today. (Exhibit 20). Hahn, thereafter, was retained by Stars to design and renovate the building in which the museum is presently located. Stars was designed by Hahn as the “focal point” of the Mall, at the top of a “grand stairway,” so that it would be visible from the Parkway and the sidewalks. (Exhibit 20) According to Hahn, the view was “critical.” Tipton approved and paid for the plans. Tipton did not advise Hahn and Hahn was never aware of any plans for construction in the common ways until after Stars, Sauer and Garcia (who later entered into leases with Tipton) had commenced operation of their respective businesses.

Tipton represented to Uberman that the common ways of the Mall would remain as they were; that they were there as a “draw”; that there was nothing else like it in Gatlinburg; that the cascading falls would draw people. Tipton never advised Uberman of any plans to construct a building in the center area.

Tipton’s representations that Stars would be the focal point of the Mall, with visibility both from the Parkway and sidewalks, induced Uberman to enter into the Stars lease and ultimately to invest some one-half million dollars in the project. Tipton showed Uberman a drawing of the proposed project (Exhibit 17), as an aid in selling the project. According to Uberman, the grand stairway and the view from the Parkway and sidewalk were “crucial” to the project. Uberman would not have entered into the Stars lease had he known that Tipton was planning to develop the center area, thereby destroying the view of the museum from the Parkway and sidewalks.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
18 B.R. 803, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 4721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stars-over-gatlinburg-inc-v-tipton-in-re-tipton-tneb-1982.