Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 28/Aug 12:39

MovieTowne tenants complain of infrastructure issues

WITH MovieTowne’s leaseholder Trinbago Commercial Development Company Ltd (TCDC) given until August 28 to pay $3 million  as part of a court order in its ongoing legal battle against the Port of Spain Infrastructure Development Company (POSINCO), there are already rumblings of MovieTowne tenants willing to leave if the matter is not resolved soon. On August 23, bailiffs took control of MovieTowne’s office and banquet hall as POSINCO claimed TCDC, a MovieTowne Holdings subsidiary company, owed $10,904,121.23 million in rent accumulated between May 2021 and August 2024. TCDC, however, claimed that amount was inaccurate, as it was based on a flawed valuation. MovieTowne multiplex, entertainment and commercial centre at Invaders Bay, Port of Spain, sits on land leased to TCDC by POSINCO. On August 23, tenants were given letters in which POSINCO asserted it is now the owner of the premises as it had exercised its rights to terminate the lease and take possession of the premises. At a virtual hearing on August 26, before Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell, attorneys for TCDC and POSINCO thrashed out an agreement which will stay in place until the High Court determines the rent dispute between them. According to the order, TCDC will pay $3 million on or before August 28 and POSINCO will not disturb the occupation of MovieTowne’s tenants pending the outcome of the High Court matter. Tenants say they have been advised to refrain from paying any rent to POSINCO until MovieTowne makes the $3 million payment and there is clarity over which entity should collect the rental fees. The letter tenants received on August 23 suggested rent payments should be made to POSINCO. On August 24, MovieTowne’s attorneys advised tenants to “hold your hand” on any instructions from POSINCO. The court, though, stopped short of ordering which entity tenants should pay rent to. Justice Donaldson-Honeywell suggested tenants should seek individual legal advice on the matter. However, one tenant told Newsday they felt the fairer option was to pay the money to the court, “because at the end of the day, if we pay (TCDC) and they lose, it’s not recognised as a payment any more. So this (court) arrangement is like putting money in escrow, basically.” A senior MovieTowne executive told Newsday on August 26 the dispute could have serious trickle-down ramifications, as any increase in the disputed rent would have to be passed on to tenants. “They’re trying (to raise the rent) and MovieTowne would have to increase the rates and rent to all the tenants. If they do that, the tenants might leave, because everybody catching their royals right now.” A tenant told Newsday, “A lot of people will be very uncomfortable with that. We didn’t know they were paying only $4 a square foot (on their lease) and charging tenants between $25 and $30 a square foot.” The tenant said there were other infrastructural issues at MovieTowne, and the longer the court matter was dragged out, the lower the chance those issues would be addressed. “They neglecting the mall. The escalators not working. We had to beg them to fix the toilet, and certain enhancements were supposed to take place but they were never done. "Even the tenant map has not been updated. Stores have closed down years now and they are still on the map.” The tenant said there were also electrical hazards such as exposed electrical circuitry in the tenant map which had not been addressed. Some tenants told Newsday they were considering moving. “The mall is a dead mall now and it’s just the same s--t, different day here. Yes, they made the place more attractive to people with expansions like the dinosaur area, but how many times you will go to that dinosaur park?” Another tenant said there appeared always to be a public-relations issue with the compound and that affected the flow of customers. “Thankfully our company doesn’t need to be here, because we have a brand and people trust us, so they will go anywhere we go. "We don’t need a brick-and-mortar store to operate, but it is just easier if we have a physical location. But we have no problem leaving if things change.” Another tenant said the current situation was not tenable in the long term. “It’s an undetermined future so…I will look into moving, because it’s something I was willing to do anyway. With all these issues, I don’t know if they will do the upgrades that are needed. If they weren’t doing anything over the past three years, I can’t see them doing anything now.” The post MovieTowne tenants complain of infrastructure issues appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.