Motion for Summary Judgment or in the Alternative, Summary Adjudication
2024CUBC031643: PKM INVESTMENTS LLC vs MACKEL-WALLIS DEVELOPMENT, et al. 08/13/2026 in Department 43 Motion for Summary Judgment
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Motion: Motion for Summary Judgment or in the Alternative, Summary Adjudication by Defendant Mackel-Wallis Development (MWD or Mackel-Wallis).
Tentative Ruling: Defendant Mackel-Wallis Developments Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.
Defendants Undisputed Material Facts (UMFs):
UMFs 2, 5, 11, 18, 21, 25, and 28 are undisputed and established.
UMFs 1, 3, 4, and 6 are disputed but established.
UMF 7 is not established.
Evidentiary Objections to Plaintiffs Evidence
2024CUBC031643: PKM INVESTMENTS LLC vs MACKEL-WALLIS DEVELOPMENT, et al.
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Objections 1-15 are overruled.
DISCUSSION
There are no triable issues of material fact as to whether Plaintiff PKM Investments, Inc. (PKM) timely provided written notice of its intent to exercise its option to extend the Ground Lease. The undisputed evidence establishes that PKM failed to provide the required notice by certified or registered mail on or before the July 5, 2023, deadline, as expressly required by Sections 2.2 and 18.1 of the Ground Lease. (Ex. 5 to Vol. 1 MWD Compendium of Evidence.)
The emails upon which PKM relies to contend that it provided timely notice before the July 5, 2023, deadline do not satisfy the express notice requirements of Section 18.1, which requires that the requisite notice be sent by certified or registered mail. None of the emails identified by PKM constitutes notice compliant with that contractual requirement. Moreover, the emails were not authored or transmitted by PKM. Rather, Exhibit 7 was authored by Defendant (Ted Mackel), while Exhibits 8 through 10 were authored by Valerie Tolbert, a representative of Sprouts, the sublessee. (Exs. 710.)
PKMs own Managing Member, Thampi Kuruvila, further confirms that PKM did not provide the required notice by July 5, 2023. Mr. Kuruvila expressly testified that he did not provide such notice by that date. (Ex. 18 to Vol. 2 MWD Compendium of Evidence at p. 29.)
The documentary evidence independently confirms the same. Exhibit 13 to Volume 2 of MWDs Compendium of Evidence establishes that PKM did not send the requisite notice by mail until August 29, 2023, more than seven weeks after the July 5, 2023, contractual deadline. Thus, the undisputed evidence establishes that PKM failed to timely exercise its option in the manner required by the terms of the Ground Lease.
Accordingly, there is no triable issue of material fact concerning PKMs failure to provide timely and contractually compliant notice of its intent to exercise the extension option. This failure defeats PKMs First and Second Causes of Action. The court is not persuaded of the existence of a triable issue of fact regarding estoppel (First and Second Causes of Action). That the parties were negotiating a possible amendment to the Ground Lease did not obviate the notice requirement. Additionally, the time period between the July 5, 2023, deadline and the October 3, 2023, letter affirmatively rejecting the August 29, 2026, notice attempt was relatively short. To the extent Sprouts engaged in construction (which is supported only by scant deposition testimony) the court is not persuaded that PKM was wrongfully induced to allow such construction by MWD.
Nor is the Court persuaded that a triable issue of material fact exists with respect to PKMs claims for fraud and negligent misrepresentation (Third and Fourth Causes of Action). PKM has failed to present competent evidence establishing that MWD made any promise, representation, or other assurance that the extension of the Ground Lease had been granted. The evidence therefore does not support a finding that MWD made any actionable misrepresentation concerning PKMs purported lease extension.
No triable issue of material fact exists with respect to PKMs claims for intentional interference with contract or intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage (Fifth through Seventh Causes of Action). The undisputed evidence demonstrates that the parties
2024CUBC031643: PKM INVESTMENTS LLC vs MACKEL-WALLIS DEVELOPMENT, et al.
engaged in negotiations concerning proposed amendments to the Ground Lease, but those negotiations ultimately failed to result in an agreement. PKMs failure to timely and properly exercise its option to extend the Ground Lease is fatal to any contention that Defendants wrongfully refused to execute an agreement continuing the Ground Lease. In the absence of a timely and valid exercise of the option, PKM cannot establish the contractual or prospective economic interests necessary to sustain these causes of action.
Finally, the Courts prior ruling on MWDs demurrer was limited to the issues presented by that demurrer and the arguments advanced therein. The Court did not, in ruling on the demurrer, make factual findings or factual determinations concerning the merits of PKMs claims. To the extent it is necessary to revisit and amend that ruling, the Court does so herein. Accordingly, the prior demurrer ruling does not establish the existence of any disputed material fact and does not preclude the Court from determining, based on the evidentiary record presently before it, whether triable issues of material fact exist.
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