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The landlord for Circle Centre Mall has filed a lawsuit to evict Sugar Factory, alleging that the restaurant has defaulted on its rent.
The lawsuit, filed in Marion County Superior Court in March by Circle Centre Mall LLC, claimed that Sugar Factory subsidiary SF Indianapolis 88 LLC had been in default on its lease at the northeast corner of Maryland and Illinois Streets since January 2023.
A copy of a letter sent to Sugar Factory on Jan. 23 said that it owed $333,779 in back rent. An eviction hearing for Sugar Factory is set for May 1.
According to another letter presented as an exhibit in the lawsuit, the mall told Sugar Factory in January that it would terminate its lease on Jan. 31, after having sent two default notices by mail and seven by email.
Sugar Factory has remained open since.
New York City-based Sugar Factory opened the restaurant and storefront at 49 W. Maryland St. in April 2022, replacing the Palomino restaurant that had occupied the space for 23 years. The 9,657-square-foot store features a 184-seat dining room, a bar area, patio seating, a Pretty in Pink Cafe space and a candy retail store.
In its lawsuit, filed in March, Circle Centre Mall LLC also alleges Sugar Factory has failed to install permanent signage outside its storefront, as required by its lease. Earlier this month, Sugar Factory installed several signs along its Illinois and Maryland facades.
A copy of the lease agreement indicates Sugar Factory’s current rent rate is $35 per square foot per year, totaling about $351,750. The lease also includes an alternative stipulation for rent being based on gross sales, with the mall set to receive about 8% of that value after Sugar Factory hits certain benchmarks.
Circle Centre Mall is asking to repossess the space, for full payment of back rent, and coverage of attorneys fees, interest and additional damages that would be determined at trial.
Representatives for Sugar Factory have not yet filed a response to the suit with the court, according to online court records.
Sugar Factory previously faced a lawsuit from the owner of Mall of America in Minneapolis, with owners there alleging the company owed more than $2 million in rent. However, the owner dismissed the lawsuit earlier this month.
Circle Centre Mall ownership through a spokesperson declined to comment for this story, stating it does not discuss ongoing litigation. Sugar Factory did not return a request for comment sent Monday through the media contact form on its website.
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At least there is retail on that high profile corner. The Owner should be happy for that.
Really, the owner should be happy that they have basically a squatter living rent free in their space?
No way. Sugar factory trying to free load. Sure high profile corner and would love to keep business there but this establishment has been poor from the get go. It looked like a cheap pop up shop for over a year with a cheap banner as their signage. Now to come to find out they aren’t paying rent. Bye Felicia
Good riddance! I took my kids one time to The Sugar Factory; terrible food, terrible service, terrible experience.
Same first and only experience. Awful.
$35/sf, sure. 8% of gross sales, OK, but not both. The 8% probably kicks after the first $3,500,000 in sales.
Thanks for the note, Clint. It prompted me to add some additional context and clarity in the story to try and separate those two forms of rent a bit more than they were previously.
And they gutted all the improvements from Palamino for a drywall dump. This corner deserves something better.
One and done for me as well. I hosted my granddaughter’s ninth birthday luncheon there last June. There were six kids plus three adults. Lunch consisted of sliders and fries; they were okay but not great. The kids all had a shake with lunch. We also had a birthday cake and a large sundae. No alcohol. With service and tip our bill was over $700.00. I will say that our service was excellent. But the ambience was terrible; it was so loud that you couldn’t carry on a conversation. On one hand I wonder how they couldn’t afford to pay rent with those prices; on the other, I can’t imagine anyone going there twice.
Clint has it right. Percentage rent usually kicks in after a threshold is reached. Not that it matters—these clowns weren’t paying any rent anyway.