Related video: Condo crane collapses on St. Pete building during Milton

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa Bay law firm is suing its landlord over a rent dispute after their building in St. Petersburg was heavily damaged during Hurricane Milton.

When Milton hit St. Petersburg last October, its heavy winds caused a crane to collapse from the Residences at 400 Central construction site and onto a building across the way.

According to a complaint filed by Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns, the law firm’s St. Petersburg office was located on the seventh floor of the building on 490 1st Avenue South.

Beginning on Sept. 4, 2019, the firm rented the entire floor from the company MCP 490 St. Pete LLC. The lease for the 19,276-foot office space stated it would last for 132 months, or 11 years.

However, since Hurricane Milton, the firm said it has been paying rent for the space even though it could not use it.

According to the firm’s suit, its lease with MCP 490 had a clause that said the company had 90 days to inform its tenant whether it would rebuild the damaged building and whether it can be done within a year.

“If the notice indicates that Landlord does not intend to rebuild or that the Building cannot be
rebuilt so that the Premises will be made tenantable within the Restoration Period, Tenant may, within ten days of Landlord’s notice, give Landlord notice that Tenant elects to terminate this Lease, and the balance of the Lease Term shall automatically expire on the fifth day after the notice is delivered,” an excerpt from the lease states.

The deadline for notification was Jan. 7, 2025, but MCP 490 sent a letter to Johnson Pope saying it would not be able to give timely notice because it could not access the building.

“Since the Casualty, Landlord has not been provided physical access to the Building by the City of St. Petersburg in which to commence its good faith estimates ofthe time required to restore the Casualty damage,” the letter stated. “While the Casualty occurred on October 9th it was not until November 20th that the crane owner physically removed the crane debris from the Building, with the Building being under closure by the City, and at present, Landlord is engaged in structural shoring and restoration of life-safety, mechanical and electrical systems that are minimum safety requirements for the City to allow physical access to the Building for our contractors, engineers and architects to inspect the extent ofthe damage safely and with any required City approvals for access granted.”

MCP 490 claimed these delays fulfilled a “force majeure” clause, a clause invoked when a catrastrophic event frees contract holders from liability if they cannot fulfill their obligations. As such, the company claimed it could delay the notification.

However, Johnson Pope dispute the company’s claims in its suit, which said MCP 490 had access to the building for months and that the city never denied them entry.

Johnson Pope gave notice on Jan. 9 and Jan. 13, 2025, that it would terminate the lease. If the force majeure clause were to be applied, the firm would have to pay rent while the building is still untenantable.

“Furthermore, it is obvious from observation of the Building and publicly available information about the Building and the construction requirements that MCP 490 cannot rebuild the
Building within 12 months of October 9, 2024,” the suit said.

In ancipation of MCP 490 disputing the termination of the lease, Johnson Pope asked the Sixth Judicial Circuit to give a delaration that the force majeure clause does not give MCP 490 an extension to notify their tenant.

It also asked that a judge declare that the lease is terminated or that Johnson Pope can withold rent until the required notice is given.

8 On Your Side has reached out to Johnson Pope for more information.