| 04/05/2017 | Complaint filed. | |
| 04/05/2017 | Case assigned to the Fast Track per Land Court Standing Order 1:04. | |
| 04/05/2017 | Land Court miscellaneous filing fee Receipt: 365561 Date: 04/05/2017 | $240.00 |
| 04/05/2017 | Land Court surcharge Receipt: 365561 Date: 04/05/2017 | $15.00 |
| 04/05/2017 | Land Court summons Receipt: 365561 Date: 04/05/2017 | $10.00 |
| 04/05/2017 | Uniform Counsel Certificate for Civil Cases filed by Plaintiff. | |
| 04/10/2017 | Petitioner's Corporate Disclosure Statement filed. | |
| 04/13/2017 | The case has been assigned to the F Track. Notice sent. | |
| 04/13/2017 | Event Scheduled
Event: Case Management Conference
Date: 05/31/2017 Time: 12:30 PM
(Notice Sent to Christian Habersaat, Esq.) | |
| 04/14/2017 | Petitioner's Corporate Disclosure Statement filed. | |
| 05/02/2017 | Answer of Stearns Brattle Street, LLC filed. | |
| 05/11/2017 | Summons returned to Court with service on Stearns Brattle Street, LLC, Marshall W. Stearns Trust, LLC filed. | |
| 05/24/2017 | Case Management Conference Joint Statement filed. | |
| 05/31/2017 | Case
Management Conference Held
The following event: Case Management Conference scheduled for 05/31/2017
12:30 PM has been resulted as follows:
Result: Case Management Conference and Early Intervention Event held.
In this partition action, plaintiff Brattle Square Properties LLC and
defendants Stearns Brattle Street LLC and Marshall W. Stearns Trust LLC
are co-owners of commercial property located at 17-41A Brattle Street in
Harvard Square in Cambridge that has been in the parties' families
since the 1930s and is currently being rented to eleven commercial
tenants. The parties also own another commercial property in Harvard
Square that is the subject of a presently separate partition action
pending before the Honorable Robert Foster (17 MISC 000179 (RBF)). The
parties' motion to have the two cases consolidated is, for now, DENIED,
but can be revisited in light of future developments if appropriate and
advantageous.
The plaintiff wants the property sold. The defendants would prefer a
physical division with "adjustments," see G.L. c. 241, § 14, primarily
to avoid capital gains taxes at this time. The question of whether a
physical division, with "adjustments", is a possible and practicable
possibility was deferred pending the parties' investigation (through a
knowledgeable broker or brokers) of the initial question of whether a
higher price would be achieved through the sale of this (17-41A Brattle
Street) as a single property, or whether the total price achieved would
be the same if the property was divided (i.e. is it worth more as a
whole than the sum of its parts). If the highest price is as a single,
undivided property, the "physical division" question is effectively
mooted (it might also be mooted by the impracticability of physically
dividing the property, but that is an "engineering" question which is
deferred for now). In addition, the parties will be consulting with
real estate brokers with experience in marketing commercial properties
in the Cambridge area for their opinions on how best to market and sell
the property.
A status conference was scheduled for June 13, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. for a
report on those investigations. Prior to the conference, the plaintiff
is to file a list that sets forth the current tenants and the dates
their leases expire. SO ORDERED.
Notice of docket entry sent to attorneys Christian Habersaat, Alana Van
der Mude Rusin, Julie Pruitt Barry, Nicholas O'Donnell, Patrick Dinardo
and Robert Barber. | |
| 05/31/2017 | Alternative Dispute Resolution: Early Intervention Event held. | |
| 05/31/2017 | Scheduled
Event: Status Conference
Date: 06/13/2017 Time: 09:00 AM | |
| 06/13/2017 | Event
Resulted
The following event: Status Conference scheduled for 06/13/2017 09:00 AM
has been resulted as follows:
Result: Status conference held. The parties discussed whether a
physical division would be (1) possible and, even if so, (2)
"advantageous." See G.L. c. 241 § 31. After hearing the parties, for
the reasons stated at the conference, the court concluded that a
physical division could not be done advantageously (in addition to the
engineering issues involved in separating the physical space, the
problems of determining relative value and consequent "adjustments" are
so difficult as to be insurmountable in any practical, efficient sense).
Thus, partition will take place by sale. The parties are currently
undecided as to who the best broker would be and how the property should
be marketed. Accordingly, by agreement, the parties will approach
three brokers, Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), and
Colliers International/Meredith & Grew, with a confidentiality
agreement in place, to see if they are (1) interested in being the
broker, (2) if so, what they would charge, and (3) how they would go
about marketing the property. The parties may also approach Holliday
Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) as a fourth possibility if either of them wants to
do so. For marketing purposes, the parties' other commercial property
(the subject of a separate partition action pending before the Honorable
Robert Foster (17 MISC 000179 (RBF)) may also be included but, for now,
the cases themselves will remain separate.
A status conference was scheduled for July 17, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. for a
report on the brokers' responses and a decision as to which broker will
be utilized. No new leases nor any lease extensions should be signed
without first informing the court. SO ORDERED.
Notice sent to attorneys Chris Habersaat, Alana Van Der Mude Rusin,
Robert Barber, Julie Pruitt Barry, Nicholas O'Donnell and Patrick
Dinardo. | |
| 06/14/2017 | Scheduled
Event: Status Conference
Date: 07/17/2017 Time: 10:00 AM
Notice sent to: Attorneys Alana Van Der Mude Rusin, Christian Haber saat, Nicholas O'Donnell and Robert Barber. | |
