Balzebre Investments’ Robert Balzebre with 8710 Southwest 72nd Avenue (Google Maps, Balzebre Investments, Getty)
A leaky roof forced Winn-Dixie to close a South Miami retail store, and now the grocer would like landlord Robert Balzebre to pay up.
In a lawsuit submitted in Miami-Dade Circuit Courtroom final thirty day period, the Jacksonville-based grocery chain is seeking a court docket buy to drive Balzebre, principal of Miami-based Balzebre Investments, into correcting the roof of the Winn-Dixie retailer. It anchors the Sunset West searching heart at 8710 Southwest 72nd Road.
Winn-Dixie also is in search of $601,000 in damages and losses as a end result of the enterprise closing the retail outlet considering the fact that July 14, the lawsuit states.
Winn-Dixie and its lawyer Jeffrey York did not respond to requests for remark.
The friction in between Winn-Dixie and Balzebre will come as retail actual estate buyers are aggressively pursuing grocery shop-anchored shopping centers in South Florida.
Sunset West’s assets supervisor, who did not want to be determined, but spoke on behalf of Balzebre, claimed Winn-Dixie bears accountability mainly because the business has not changed its old air conditioning machines on the roof.
“We have been there with all the Winn-Dixie men and women a number of weeks back, and one of their models was shedding so considerably water that it was pouring into the keep,” the supervisor mentioned. “It was condensation from the unit, not rain.”
The landlord has done everything feasible to “maintain the top quality of the roof and proceeds to do so,” which includes investing “large sums of income for unexpected emergency repairs and addressing the troubles to get them back open up,” the supervisor explained.
Winn-Dixie has leased the assets because 1969, the lawsuit states. Balzebre’s family members acquired the Sunset West browsing center, anchored by the grocery retail outlet, in 1992 for $897,400, information display.
In accordance to an Aug. 18 letter Winn-Dixie’s lawyer York sent Balzebre’s attorneys, a roof inspection in Might commissioned by the landlord located that the “moisture content in big parts of the gravel roof membrane, the fiberboard insulation and the present light-weight concrete had been deemed unacceptable for every the 2020 Florida setting up code.”
The 4-web page-letter incorporates an itemized list of Winn-Dixie’s alleged damages, which includes about $149,000 in lost inventory, close to $98,000 in structural repairs and $60,000 in lease. Winn-Dixie also threatened to demand payment for long run losses and damages right up until the store is harmless to reopen and the roof is fixed, York’s letter states.
Balzebre Investments is a boutique actual estate agency that owns industrial attributes in 5 states, together with Florida. The corporation owns The Kimpton Surfcomber Lodge in Miami Seashore, Johnson Square purchasing middle in Hollywood and four growth sites in Coral Gables, Vero Beach front and around Sweetwater, Balzebre’s site states.
