JUST IN: JUDGE TOSSES LAKE TERRACE'S $13 MILLION COUNTERCLAIMS AGAINST SUDLER

Back in November 2020, 1650 Oak Street LLC and Clayton Associates filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court in Ocean County alleging that Lake Terrace was operating without the necessary Township approval. This litigation has resulted in judges imposing various restraints against Lake Terrace, including barring the concerts that were previously held at the venue on weekends.

In February 2021, Lake Terrace filed counterclaims against Sudler - Clayton Associates' landlord - asserting there were negotiations to sell the banquet hall to a third party for $13 million and the litigation was initiated solely to interfere with the potential sale, and also with the hopes of getting Lake Terrace to sell to Sudler for much less money. 

At oral arguments held Friday morning on a motion for summary judgment filed by Attorney Rob Shea Esq., representing Sudler, Ocean County Superior Court Assignment Judge Francis Hodgson denied these claims in their entirety after Lake Terrace's Attorney Matthew Fiorovanti Esq. admitted that while Lake Terrace did have some discussions for selling the property to the third party, at no time was any contract actually signed, and further, that the negotiations were concluded - and fell apart - many months prior to commencement of Clayton Associates' litigation against Lake Terrace.

"On the one hand you assert that Lake Terrace was in ongoing negotiations to sell to a third party, and that this lawsuit aimed to undermine those negotiations. At the same time you assert that Sudler was in negotiations to purchase the property and the sole purpose of the litigation was to give Sudler leverage to devalue Lake Terrace and ultimately lower their purchase price. Yet, that makes no sense - if indeed Lake Terrace was in actual binding negotiations to sell to a third party, leaving that to instead sell to Sudler would be a violation of the contract of the third party," Hodgson stated.

"There wouldn't have been any violation because there was no binding contract signed with the third party," Fiorovanti admitted.

"In that case, Sudler never caused Lake Terrace any damages," Judge Hodgson concluded in dismissing - with prejudice - all of Lake Terrace's $13 million counterclaims.

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