Axemann Brewery Says in Lawsuit That Property Owner’s Actions Could Force It to Shut Down
A Bellefonte area brewery filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to prevent its landlord from taking actions the business says would jeopardize its operations.
Axemann Brewery, 2042 Axemann Road, says that it would be forced to close immediately if property owner Navitus LLC follows through on threats to take away outdoor spaces it has used for years for a beer garden and essential equipment and replace them with parking. Navitus gave Axemann a Friday deadline to agree to a lease amendment and make additional payments for the outdoor spaces, according to an email filed with the lawsuit.
The brewery and taproom was open for business on Friday.
"We are hopeful that we will be able to resolve issues related to our lease and we plan to remain open under normal operations," Axemann wrote in a Facebook post on Friday morning. "We will continue to be the place for great beer, great food and the best atmosphere to get both!"
Joe Leahey, the controlling member Navitus, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
According to the lawsuit, Axemann paid for construction of and began using the 1,600-square-foot outdoor patio space in 2021 for use in the late spring and summer with the permission of Navitus. It also paid for and installed a CO2 tank for its brewing operation and a related concrete pad at a separate 50-square-foot outdoor location designated by the property owner.
The parties did not amend the lease and Navitus did not indicate it would charge additional rent "because of the limited use of the outdoor space," according to the complaint.
But according to the filing, Navitus recently began billing Axemann without warning an additional $1,466 a month for the outdoor space, on top of the $12,000 a month rent for the 24,000-square-foot facility in the Titan Energy Park.
Attorneys for the brewery wrote that they have "offered to discuss reasonable rental rates," but that Navitus "has refused to accept any rental payment other than the originally demanded amount."
"Because [Axemann] maintains substantial brewery equipment in the leased space, a termination of the lease would be an enormous operational setback and cause significant and unwarranted financial harm..." the attorneys wrote. "Even more pressing, the sudden closing of the patio during summer and the removal of the CO2 will force Plaintiff to immediately close its business."
Axemann and Navitus operated under their lease agreement for years without issue until "a recent shift in the dynamic and the parties' business relationship," according to the lawsuit.
Navitus, Axemann's attorneys wrote, "failed to coordinate issues like parking, storage, ingress into, and egress from the premises while adding new tenants to the space." The addition of new vendors to the business park has caused "significant strain" on resources like parking and common areas that have gone unaddressed, according to the filing.
The property owner's own new business venture has also been hosting large events in Titan Park that have left Axemann employees and sometimes customers with no available parking in violation of approvals by Spring Township, the attorneys wrote. On one occasion, according to the complaint, Navitus suggested that Axemann employees use alternate parking that would require them to walk in the dark on the side of the road where there is no sidewalk.
Axemann says Navitus also has "fully cut off safe access to the commercial door entry for forklift traffic," changed locks to an important access area threatened to remove items from part of a storage space it now claims are not part of the brewery's lease.
Navitus also suggested that Axemann's pinball machines violate the lease and demanded that they be removed or a formal request for their approval be submitted, even though Axemann says the lease contains entertainment usage and that a gaming-designated area was in the construction area used by Navitus to construct the space, according to the complaint.
Axemann is seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent Navitus from removing the patio and equipment or taking other actions the brewery says would harm its business. It is also suing for monetary damagesi in excess of $25,000.
A hearing has not yet been scheduled and a judge has not yet addressed the injunction request as of Friday afternoon.
Axemann Brewery opened in the Titan Energy Park in July 2020.
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