EXCLUSIVE: Northworks Owner Owes $225,000 in Past Rent
Wednesday, February 04, 2015
Marrone said,"... the situation became we were given no allocation during the day for our customers and it was becoming a real problem and effecting sales dramatically. We tried to, in a nice way, renegotiate our lease to reflect that. And he (the landlord) had no interest. And I said, ‘We have to do that, or we can’t survive.’ And before you know it, we got an eviction notice two weeks ago."
After further investigation, however, GoLocal has found that Marrone's story isn't entirely true. In fact, according to the owner of the building, Northworks Properties, Marrone owes $225,000 in past rent .
"The reason why my client (Northworks Properties) is trying to evict Mr. Marrone is because he is in arrears on the rent by a little over $225,000. He's been making payments on a monthly basis on the actual amount that's due for quite a while, and the landlord was willing to work with him, trying to get the money that my client was owed. My client just reached the end of his patience. He (Marrone) owed too much money," said Ellen O'Connor, an attorney representing Northworks Properties.
"The first step is that I filed a summary process complaint for eviction," said O'Connor. "The trial was scheduled for this Thursday, but it's going to be delayed two weeks."
Northworks was located at 106 Grove Street. The issue is the parking lot across the street that is owned by National Grid, but it is now leased by WPI. This fall, WPI could no longer allow Northworks customers to park in that lot due to the new graduate building on Grove Street. They need the extra parking spaces for the school’s use.
"There was an agreement with the businesses in the area that everyone could use the parking lot. And then WPI came in. And it is closed off to everybody," said O'Connor.
“They (WPI) had been very good to us. And they always let us use that lot,” said Marrone. “It’s completely understandable. There’s nothing we can do about it. No matter how hard we try to get something done, I guess the landlord just doesn’t want us in the building.”
"Technically he's (Marrone) still there. He's not operating a business, but he's still there," said O'Connor. "I know he complained about the parking situation. Parking around there is not easy. All of the companies in that area, including Northworks Properties, lost off street parking on Lancaster Street and Faraday Street because construction workers were all parking there when they built the new dorm for WPI. When the construction was complete, the city came in and put in meters. And people don't like paying meters."
O'Connor said, "The parking that is available, that has always been available, is the lot directly across the street from all the tenants of Northworks Properties. And it's just that these two other things kind of happened that impacted the parking in the area, but those two events are completely out of control of the landlord. That's not a basis for eviction, the whole parking dispute, that's just Mr.Marrone complaining why his business was dropping off."
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