The billionaire proprietor of the Los Angeles Occasions was slapped with a $24 million lawsuit by the owner of its storied printing plant for allegedly failing to pay lease and leaving the constructing in “gross disrepair.”
Actual property developer Alameda claimed bio-tech entrepreneur Patrick Quickly-Shiong and lease guarantor NantMedia breached the rental contract for the Olympic plant in Downtown LA, which the Occasions left final March.
The power was coated in “toxic ink stains,” “holes in the walls” and different damages like “active leaks,” in accordance with the lawsuit filed in LA Supreme Court docket in late January.
constructing in “gross disrepair.” Obtained by NY Put up
The case, which has been delayed within the courts as a result of latest LA fires, is presently restarting and is in discovery.
Legal professionals for Alameda stated NantMedia, which is owned by Quickly-Shiong’s firm, missed rental funds and refused to pay six months of curiosity on the late funds.
Regardless of having a lease that may give the LA Occasions the choice to proceed working the plant till 2042, Quickly-Shiong “elected to abandon the facility” to slash prices, the lawsuit stated, noting that the lease was terminated final March and that the tenant was presupposed to be out of the ability — and go away it in good situation — by August 31, 2024.
However the LA Occasions didn’t vacate the plant till Sept. 30, “reneging on the lease obligations and leaving it in shambles and unsecured,” the lawsuit claims, including that iconic plant was constructed by the LA Occasions in 1989 “during its heyday as one of the most respected newspapers in the nation.”
“The LA Times left toxic ink stains, torn-up floors, active leaks, holes in the walls, and other damage throughout the premises,” in accordance with the grievance, which supplied photographs of the harm.
coated in “toxic ink stains”, the lawsuit stated. Obtained by NY Put up
$24 million. Obtained by NY Put up
Alameda added that the LA Occasions additionally didn’t adhere to its settlement to revive the plant to its unique situation, leaving “hundreds of yards of ductwork and conduit, as well as portions of a large pergola, known as the “Quiet Room,” that the LA Occasions’ staff used to function the printing presses.”
In accordance with the go well with, Alameda estimated that it price the corporate hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to return the plant to its unique situation — together with greater than $20 million in accrued holdover and future holdover lease.
An lawyer for the LA Occasions and NantMedia referred to as the claims on this lawsuit “meritless.”
“Our client looks forward to resolving the matter,” the lawyer informed The Put up on Monday.
Alameda legal professionals additionally referred to as out Quickly-Shiong for alleged “mismanagement and penny-pinching” as he appears to be like to trim prices on the flagging publication.
“The LA Times’ tenure at the Olympic Printing Plaint did not have to end this way, as yet another casualty of Mr. Soon-Shiong’s mismanagement and penny-pinching. It is obvious that defendants made a strategic decision to ignore their legal obligations to return the premises in a suitable condition,” the go well with stated.
The plant was spun off as a part of the chapter of former proprietor the Tribune Co. in 2012, and the Occasions turned a tenant a yr later. Quickly-Shiong purchased the newspaper in 2018, and since then, the newspaper “fell into decline,” the lawsuit stated.
Final yr, Quickly-Shiong stated the publication was shedding $30 million to $40 million a yr, and slashed over 115 jobs — or greater than 20% of its 500-person newsroom — marking one of many largest workforce reductions within the newspaper’s 142-year-old historical past.
On the time, Quickly-Shiong stated he was searching for a greater “balance” to the paper’s liberal editorial protection after he blocked his editorial board from publishing an endorsement of then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
The transfer sparked inside turmoil and outrage amongst readership, with hundreds canceling their subscriptions and several other LA Occasions editorial staffers resigning in protest over its shift in politics.
Earlier this yr, Quickly-Shiong supplied a spherical of buyouts to staffers who’ve labored on the paper over two years in an try and slash prices and reorient the newspaper extra to the center.
