CHARLESTON — Sellarro Enterprises is suing Walgreens for failure to vacate the premises in a timely manner.
Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid of West Virginia were both named as defendants in the suit.
Sellaro owns the Suncrest Shopping Center in Morgantown and Rite Aid — and eventually Walgreens — has leased a space in the shopping center since 1984, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Sellaro claims despite closing its store in May 2018, he failed to vacate the premises by Jan. 28, 2922, and remained in possession of the premises during the months of February and March 2022.
The tenant owes the landlord a total of $45,003.21 for the holdover period, which includes the base rent of $26,177.14, percentage rent in the amount of $16,087.02 and unpaid common area maintenance charges of $2,739.05, according to the suit.
Sellaro claims the defendants started renting the property Nov. 30, 1984, and renewed the lease thereafter until May 31, 2016, when it extended the lease for an additional five years.
Rite Aid agreed and acknowledged that the new term was for Jan. 29, 2017, until Jan. 28, 2022, according to the suit.
The period from Jan. 29, 2017, until Jan. 28, 2022, was the second five-year renewal option of the third amendment to the lease, the complaint states.
"Pursuant to Article 8 of the Addendum to Lease, the Tenant was obligated to continuously operate its business on the Premises and to 'use its best reasonable efforts to maintain a high volume of gross sales,'" the complaint states. "In or around May of 2018, the Tenant closed its store and ceased operating its business on the Premises."
Sellaro is seeking judgment in the amount of $45,003.21 with $15,000 in attorneys' fees. It is represented by W. Bradley Sorrells of Robinson & McElwee in Charleston.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 23-C-412