Equinox has been sued by real estate investment firm Savanna for allegedly not paying rent of $5.3 million on three gym locations in New York, according to an article by Crain’s New York.
Savanna alleges in the lawsuit filed this month that Equinox has not paid rent on a SoulCycle and Blink Fitness location at 5 Bryant Park since April 2020 as well as an unopened Equinox at 31 W. 27th Street, which had a lease that started in March 2021.
This suits are not the first filed against Equinox, which counts as an investor real estate company Related Companies, for alleged unpaid rent.
In April 2020, Equinox said that it would not pay rent on its locations due to temporary closures of gyms and studios due to the COVID-19 pandemic that caused the company to stop charging dues memberships, thereby curtailing revenue, according to the Financial Times.
Most gyms were allowed to reopen in New York City in August 2020, although group exercise and studios were not allowed to reopen until almost a year later.
In October 2020, Equinox was sued for $1.3 million in alleged unpaid rent on it 421 Hudson location in the West Village.
In February 2021, the company faced lawsuits over alleged unpaid rent at its 14 Wall Street and 196 Orchard Street locations.
Last summer, Cara Investment GmbH sued Equinox for $3.3 million for alleged unpaid rent on its gym at 670 Broadway. In October 2021, Equinox was ordered to pay more than $750,000 in back rent and $340,500 monthly after October for its use and occupancy of the location (also referred to as Zero Bond Street in Noho), according to Rosenberg & Estis, P.C., the lawsuit handling the case for the Cara Investment.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the landlord accommodated Equinox’s request to defer the payment of rent on 30,000 square feet of space pursuant to an agreement by which Equinox would not have to pay any rent through the end of August 2020. Starting in September 2020, Equinox was required to pay half of the monthly fixed rent plus additional percentages as the city lifted the capacity restrictions, gradually requiring the tenant to pay 100 percent of the rent due.
Equinox allegedly did not pay the amount due, including the gradual increases, even though the gym was open.
In August 2021, the Cara Investment filed suit seeking the more than $2.5 million in rent that was deferred and the monthly shortfall.