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New Orleans, Louisiana
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In the News
Suit filed to evict SoGo Live
Company claims club's lease ended
By Chad Calder
Advocate Business Writer
June 10, 2006
Columbia Sussex Corp., the company that owns the Belle of Baton Rouge and the atrium adjoining the downtown Sheraton Hotel, has filed suit to evict the music venue SoGo Live from the atrium.
SoGo’s owners confirmed last month that the downtown music club had been asked to leave, but have been mum on the reasons.
In the eviction lawsuit Columbia Sussex filed in 19th Judicial District Court, the company, under its former name Jazz Enterprises Inc., claims the problem started when it did not receive SoGo’s request to extend its lease by a year by the required deadline. Therefore, Columbia Sussex claims its lease with Sogo ended on May 15. The company also claims SoGo did not pay rent in April and May.
In the suit, Columbia Sussex says it recognizes a clause in the lease that it pay SoGo early termination fees and that information was requested from SoGo.
However, Columbia Sussex says that a response that SoGo is owed $336,492 is well above the $105,019 Columbia Sussex calculated using the same financial information.
SoGo’s parent company, Live Music Establishment LLC, responded with its own filing, claiming it was told by a Belle of Baton Rouge official that the request to extend the lease was sufficient. SoGo claims that Columbia Sussex has continued billing for rent, which shows that Columbia Sussex has no legal grounds to contend SoGo shouldn’t be there.
As for the unpaid rent, SoGo’s parent company contends in its filing that it has always paid rent when it receives the invoices, which often arrive well into the next month. The company said Columbia Sussex has always accepted the payments.
An attorney for Columbia Sussex said the company would not comment. SoGo attorney Stephen Babcock could not be reached for comment.
The filing from SoGo’s parent company contends that Columbia Sussex’s effort to invoke the early termination fee legally neutralizes the landlord’s claims about SoGo not extending its lease by the proper deadline.
The filing maintains Columbia Sussex is improperly calculating how much it would owe SoGo to move.
“The lease at issue in this case has a lease buyout clause, and SoGo is more than willing to relocate if the casino would comply with the buyout clause they themselves wrote,” Babcock said in a news release.
“We look forward to this issue being resolved as soon as possible so that we can diligently pursue other location possibilities for SoGo Live,” LME said in a written statement.
Columbia Sussex is suing to force SoGo out of the venue and for reasonable costs, attorneys’ fees and any unpaid rent due.
A hearing is set for Friday.
