Wichita Eagle & Beacon Publishing Co. v. Pacific National Bank

343 F. Supp. 332, 11 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 167, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15097
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJanuary 12, 1971
Docket43598
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 343 F. Supp. 332 (Wichita Eagle & Beacon Publishing Co. v. Pacific National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wichita Eagle & Beacon Publishing Co. v. Pacific National Bank, 343 F. Supp. 332, 11 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 167, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15097 (N.D. Cal. 1971).

Opinion

OPINION AND DECISION

LEVIN, District Judge.

This action arises from a Complaint filed herein on May 4, 1965, by the Wichita Eagle and Beacon Publishing Company, Inc. [“Wichita Eagle”] against the Pacific National Bank of San Francisco 1 [“Bank”].

Facts

Beginning in 1962, Wichita Eagle had been a lessee of certain property [“Property”] located in downtown Wichita, Kansas, upon which were three buildings used by the Wichita Eagle for its publication business. In 1960, the then-Wichita Eagle had purchased the assets of a rival newspaper, the Wichita Beacon, and had proceeded to merge the Wichita Beacon into the Wichita Eagle. Among the assets purchased by the Wichita Eagle was a new publishing plant owned by the Wichita Beacon. The Wichita Eagle decided to move its operations to this new plant after the merger and thus freed the Property, upon which its old plant remained, for other development.

Following a period of negotiations, on February 28, 1962, Marcellus M. Murdock and others, lessors of the Property [“Lessors”], entered into a 99-year lease [“Lease”] with Circular Ramp Garages, Inc. [“Circular Ramp”] of the Property. By subsequent amendment the date of the Lease was changed to April 28, 1962.

Paragraph IV(a) of the Lease required Circular Ramp to exercise due diligence to obtain necessary permits and to commence and complete construction on the Property of a parking garage in accordance with a specified time schedule and having a minimum value of $500,000.

Paragraph IV (b) of the Lease required Circular Ramp to deposit cash or government bonds in the amount of $250,000 in a Kansas bank or provide a surety bond, letter of credit, or other form of guaranty in the same amount to guarantee Circular Ramp’s performance of paragraph IV(a) of the Lease. Pursuant to this provision, Circular Ramp arranged for the Bank to issue to the Lessors and the Wichita Eagle as beneficiaries an instrument [hereinafter sometimes “instrument”] dated May 9, 1962, and designated “Letter of Credit No. 17084” [see Appendix hereto for full text of the Instrument]. The Bank made and received its usual letter of credit charge for issuing the Instrument.

Circular Ramp thereafter entered into an agreement with the Pacific Company- *335 Engineers & Builders of Berkeley [“Pacific Company”] in May of 1962, whereby the latter would be the contractors for the parking garage to be built. The contract between Circular Ramp and the Pacific Company followed the language of the Lease and required Pacific Company to use due diligence to meet all specified deadlines, prepare all necessary plans, and obtain a building permit from the City of Wichita, Simpson, Stratta and Associates [“Simpson, Stratta”] were retained by Pacific Company in August to work as architects and engineers for the garage. Simpson, Stratta was required to prepare plans and specifications for the garage in form adequate to allow an application for a building permit to be filed with the City of Wichita on or before September 10, 1962.

Simpson, Stratta prepared preliminary plans for the garage and submitted them to the Department of Public Works for the City of Wichita. On July 9, 1962, C. L. McCaig, the Construction Inspection Supervisor for the Department of Public Works, wrote Simpson, Stratta and said that he had reviewed the preliminary plans and noted that certain items had to be corrected under the city’s building code. McCaig indicated that an alley dividing the Property would not be vacated until the latter part of August.

Simpson, Stratta made certain corrections in the plans and submitted them in August of 1962. On September 7, 1962, McCaig advised Simpson, Stratta that corrections would be needed on specifications concerning live load requirements fon the slabs and columns for the proposed garage in order to comply with the Wichita Building Code. McCaig requested that the new plans and computations be submitted to him. Simpson, Stratta responded on September 12, 1962, and provided part of the required information. On September 17, 1962, McCaig wrote Simpson, Stratta and said that the specifications as to reduction of live loads for the columns would be permissible, but that no such reductions could be approved for the floor slabs.

Counsel for the Wichita Eagle wrote counsel for Circular Ramp on October 25,. 1962, and said that the City Commission of Wichita had given final approval as of October 23, 1962, to vacation of the alley dividing the Property.

On October 30, 1962, the Manager of the International Department of the Bank wrote Circular Ramp and inquired whether under the circumstances the required building permit had been obtained or whether it would be in order for the Bank to reduce the principal sum of the Instrument to $50,000 in accordance with its reduction provision. In response to this letter, John Malone, the President of Circular Ramp, and counsel for Circular Ramp decided to go to Wichita on November 4, 1962, to ascertain the status of the entire project.

McCaig again wrote Simpson, Stratta on November 8,. 1962, calling attention to the earlier letter of September 17. Mc-Caig reminded in closing that no building permit could be issued until the matters referred to in the September 17 letter were corrected.

Simpson, Stratta responded to McCaig on November 21, 1962, and offered to satisfy the required changes by substituting a stronger grade of reinforcing steel in the floors and walls of the proposed garage. Simpson, Stratta said that an answer to McCaig’s letters of September 17 and November 17 had been delayed pending some other revisions which were being contemplated but which were later abandoned.

On November 29, 1962, counsel for the Wichita Eagle notified the Bank that Circular Ramp had not begun the rental payments which were to commence under the Lease on November 1, 1962, and that all conditions precedent to the effectiveness of the Lease had materialized.

By a letter dated December 10, 1962, Circular Ramp informed the Bank that the latter should terminate the “Letter of Credit No. 17084,” giving as the reason therefor the fact that the City of Wichita had failed and refused to issue the required building permit, which failure *336 and refusal Circular Ramp was accepting as a final refusal under paragraph a, page 2 of the “Letter of Credit No. 17084.” No documentation or other proof accompanied the letter of December 10 to verify the position of Circular Ramp that the City of Wichita had refused to issue a building permit to Circular Ramp. In fact, at that time the City of Wichita had not finally refused a building permit to Circular Ramp and none of the city’s agents or personnel had ever stated to the contrary.

Acting upon the Circular Ramp letter of December 10, the Bank wrote the beneficiaries under the Instrument, including the Wichita Eagle, and indicated that the Instrument was to be considered terminated in accordance with the Circular Ramp request.

On December 17, 1962, Glen Lytle, the Superintendent of Central Inspection for the Department of Public Works of Wichita, wrote the Bank (with copies to Simpson, Stratta and the Pacific Company) with respect to the alleged denial of a building permit by the city.

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

Related

Hamilton Bank, N.A. v. Kookmin Bank
44 F. Supp. 2d 653 (S.D. New York, 1999)
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. v. Bank Leumi
42 Cal. App. 4th 928 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
Pioneer Bank & Trust Co. v. Seiko Sporting Goods, U.S.A. Co.
540 N.E.2d 808 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1989)
California Overseas Bank v. French American Banking Corp.
154 Cal. App. 3d 179 (California Court of Appeal, 1984)
East Bank of Colorado Springs, N.A. v. Dovenmuehle, Inc.
589 P.2d 1361 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1978)
Edgewater Construction Co. v. Percy Wilson Mortgage & Finance Corp.
357 N.E.2d 1307 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)
Chase Manhattan Bank v. Equibank
394 F. Supp. 352 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1975)
Courtaulds North America, Inc. v. North Carolina National Bank
387 F. Supp. 92 (M.D. North Carolina, 1975)
Barclays Bank D. C. O. v. Mercantile National Bank
481 F.2d 1224 (Fifth Circuit, 1973)
Barclays Bank DCO v. Mercantile National Bank
481 F.2d 1224 (Fifth Circuit, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
343 F. Supp. 332, 11 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 167, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15097, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wichita-eagle-beacon-publishing-co-v-pacific-national-bank-cand-1971.