COA affirms judgment for seller in voided land deal

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Sellers of property that had been designated as the second phase of a Gatorade distribution facility in Hendricks County were properly awarded specific performance of a contract to sell the land after the buyer backed out, the Court of Appeals held.

Judge Rudolph R. Pyle III wrote for the panel that specific language in the contract for Phase II of property being negotiated on behalf of Quaker Sales & Distribution entitled the seller to summary judgment on its specific performance claim.

Through representatives, Quaker agreed to buy 106 acres at Ameriplex Business Park in two phases. The company bought 76 acres in the first phase for $6.84 million and built at 1-million-square-foot Gatorade distribution facility. The company ultimately declined a few years later to purchase the second phase, and litigation ensued. This suit is Metro Holdings One, LLC, Exproman, Inc., and Quaker Sales & Distribution v. Flynn Creek Partner, LLC,,  32A01-1309-PL-374.

“Here, the terms of the parties’ Purchase Agreement allowed for Flynn Creek, upon default by Metro, to choose a remedy at law or equity, and the parties agreed that Flynn Creek’s equitable remedy included ‘the right’ to specific performance,” Pyle wrote in the unanimous 38-page opinion.

“After Metro did not perform its obligation to purchase the Phase 2 Property, Flynn Creek chose to seek an equitable remedy and chose to assert its right to specific performance. We will not invalidate a remedy for which the parties have contracted.

“… Based on the language contained in the four corners of the Purchase Agreement, we conclude that the trial court did not err by granting summary judgment to Flynn Creek on its claim for specific performance.”

 
 

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