Twitter seeks $5.8M from Boulder landlord that evicted it

TwitterBoulder

Twitter occupied 65,000 square feet at 3401 Bluff St. in Boulder. (Photo by Christopher Wood/BizWest)

One month after it was ordered by a judge to leave its offices in Boulder, Twitter is suing the building’s landlord for wrongful eviction and demanding a $5.8 million payout.

The lawsuit, filed by Twitter parent company X Corp. in Boulder on June 28, offers a glimpse into the social media company’s brief and contentious tenure at 3401 Bluff St.

In 2020, Boulder agreed to lease 64,500 square feet of the 70,000-square-foot Railyards at S’PARK office building, which was still under construction. The lease called for the company to stay 10 years, from 2022 to 2032. Instead, it lasted little more than one year.

In that time, Twitter said it spent “more than $40 million of its own money” improving the office building, according to last week’s lawsuit. That includes basics like plumbing and wiring, along with installation of a security system and construction of a full kitchen.

Under an agreement signed in 2021, Twitter was to be paid $5.8 million for such improvements, it claims. But when it requested payment last November, it was rebuffed by S’PARK’s owners, The John Buck Co. in Chicago, which instead accused Twitter of owing rent.

The John Buck Co. sued Twitter on May 12 and a hearing in that case was held May 24, but no one from Twitter or X Corp. showed up. So, Boulder District Court Judge Keith Collins granted the landlord’s request to evict Twitter and take back 3401 Bluff St.

In last week’s lawsuit, Twitter said the eviction order, which took effect June 30, was unlawful because Buck Co. never served Twitter the May 12 lawsuit and refused to deduct any rent that Twitter owes from the far-larger $5.8 million that Buck Co. still owes it.

Twitter is asking Boulder District Court Judge Robert Gunning to let it remain at 3401 Bluff St. and order The John Buck Co. to pay $5.8 million to the social media company.

Twitter is represented by attorneys Damien Zumbrennen with Zumbrennen Law in Superior and Jonathan Hawk with the Los Angeles office of White & Case, an international firm.

The John Buck Co.’s attorneys are Timothy Gordon and Ryan Lundquist with Holland & Hart in Denver. They did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

In an unrelated case, Twitter is being sued by Avalanche Commercial Cleaning for allegedly not paying its $93,500 cleaning bill after it was evicted from a second Boulder office at 1301 Walnut St. in December. Twitter’s lawyers have not yet responded to that lawsuit.

TwitterBoulder

Twitter occupied 65,000 square feet at 3401 Bluff St. in Boulder. (Photo by Christopher Wood/BizWest)

One month after it was ordered by a judge to leave its offices in Boulder, Twitter is suing the building’s landlord for wrongful eviction and demanding a $5.8 million payout.

The lawsuit, filed by Twitter parent company X Corp. in Boulder on June 28, offers a glimpse into the social media company’s brief and contentious tenure at 3401 Bluff St.

In 2020, Boulder agreed to lease 64,500 square feet of the 70,000-square-foot Railyards at S’PARK office building, which was still under construction. The lease called for the company to stay 10 years, from 2022 to 2032. Instead, it lasted little more than one year.

In that time, Twitter said it spent “more than $40 million of its own money” improving the office building, according to last week’s lawsuit. That includes basics like plumbing and wiring, along with installation of a security system and construction of a full kitchen.

Under an agreement signed in 2021, Twitter was to be paid $5.8 million for such improvements, it claims. But when it requested payment last November, it was rebuffed by S’PARK’s owners, The John Buck Co. in Chicago, which instead accused Twitter of owing rent.

The John Buck Co. sued Twitter on May 12 and a hearing in that case was held May 24, but no one from Twitter or X Corp. showed up. So, Boulder District Court Judge Keith Collins granted the landlord’s request to evict Twitter and take back 3401 Bluff St.

In last week’s lawsuit, Twitter said the eviction order, which took effect June 30, was unlawful because Buck Co. never served Twitter the May 12 lawsuit and refused to deduct any rent that Twitter owes from the far-larger $5.8 million that Buck Co. still owes it.

Twitter is asking Boulder District Court Judge Robert Gunning to let it remain at 3401 Bluff St. and order The John Buck Co. to pay $5.8 million to the social media company.

Twitter is represented by attorneys Damien Zumbrennen with Zumbrennen Law in Superior and Jonathan Hawk with the Los Angeles office of White & Case, an international firm.

The John Buck Co.’s attorneys are Timothy Gordon and Ryan Lundquist with Holland & Hart in Denver. They did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

In an unrelated case, Twitter is being sued by Avalanche Commercial Cleaning for allegedly not paying its $93,500 cleaning bill after it was evicted from a second Boulder office at 1301 Walnut St. in December. Twitter’s lawyers have not yet responded to that lawsuit.

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