The owner of the property leased by Latitude 360 Inc. filed a lawsuit last month seeking to evict the dining and entertainment venue from its site near The Avenues mall.
However, Latitude 360 CEO Brent Brown said in an interview Monday the venue is not going away anytime soon.
“As far as our customers are concerned, we’re going to be open through the holidays,” Brown said.
“We’re going to stand up and fight it,” he said. “This will take time.”
The eviction lawsuit was filed by 30 West Pershing LLC, an affiliate of EPR Properties, a publicly traded real estate investment company based in Kansas City, Mo.
EPR owns the properties leased by Latitude 360 for its venues in Jacksonville and Indianapolis. Latitude 360 operates a third venue in Pittsburgh, but EPR has no interest in that property.
The lawsuit filed in Duval County Circuit Court says Latitude 360 is in default on $2.965 million in rent and other payments on the two properties.
Brown said Latitude 360’s Jacksonville venue is doing well, but the financial issues involve its Indianapolis venue.
“Unfortunately, Jacksonville is lumped into the same lease as the Indianapolis location,” he said.
30 West Pershing has also filed an eviction lawsuit in Indianapolis regarding that facility, Brown said, but he expects that venue to also remain open.
Latitude 360 has said in Securities and Exchange Commission filings that it defaulted on its lease in December, but has been negotiating with the landlord to resolve the matter.
Brown thinks the timing of the eviction lawsuit may be related to EPR’s plan to develop a Topgolf entertainment facility in Jacksonville.
Topgolf International Inc. formally announced its plan for the facility near the St. Johns Town Center on Sept. 15. The lawsuit was filed Sept. 17.
“We have the same customers, basically, as Topgolf,” Brown said, and he thinks EPR wants to eliminate the competition.
EPR describes itself on its website as a “partner” with Topgolf. Its latest quarterly report filed with the SEC said the company has developed 13 other Topgolf facilities.
“Their goal is to use what they can as leverage to get us to sell,” said Brown.
EPR’s spokesman and the Tampa attorney who filed the eviction lawsuit did not respond to phone and email messages Monday.
“Really this is up to the courts now,” Brown said, but the company is still trying to negotiate a settlement before the case comes before a judge.
“Hopefully between now and then this will come to a resolution,” Brown said.
Latitude 360 went public in mid-2014 and has been struggling financially, reporting a loss of $12.9 million in the first half of this year. However, net sales rose 10 percent to $9.9 million.
Brown has said he’s not deterred by the losses because that is to be expected from a startup company, and he still expects Latitude 360 to grow with additional locations.
He said the Jacksonville venue has a strong customer base, including 2,800 people who are subscribing to club memberships that offer perks to frequent customers.
“Just the membership dues alone can pay the rent in Jacksonville,” he said.
Brown has been on a medical leave of absence from the company after an automobile accident, which Latitude 360 disclosed in an SEC filing last month.
Brown said Monday he has not fully returned to work but has had to come back to deal with the legal dispute.