Toronto brewery wins case against landlord who hosted rave without telling them

A Toronto brewery could be on its way to opening a new location in the city after a judged sided with it in a bitter claim against its landlord, which has dragged on for years.

In a judgement, a Superior Court of Ontario justice found in favour of Bellwoods Brewery in its attempt to build a new pub and brewery inside a property on Toronto’s Dupont Street.

The judgement, which ordered the landlord to pay $6 million in damages, described a years-long battle to open the new pub that started soon after Bellwoods Brewery opened its first location on Ossington Avenue.

Mike Clark, one of the brewery’s founders, told the court that soon after they opened in 2012, Bellwoods was already struggling to keep up with demand. He said they simply couldn’t brew enough beer to keep up with demand and customers often queued up for a seat.

“Given its early success, Bellwoods looked to expand to a second location,” the ruling explained.

At the beginning of 2014, the company found a location it thought would be perfect to expand its operations. Located at 950 Dupont Street, it was an old brick and glass building that came with the perfect aesthetic — a look the brewery argued it simply couldn’t find elsewhere.

Clark told the court he considered the space to be a “spectacular building” in a great area for the pub to expand. Its 44-foot ceilings and large open space made it perfect for brewing beer, the “giant glass greenhouse” could also be lit up at night to create an especially unique experience.

It also had space for a 300-person patio and a loading dock for the brewery. Bellwoods’ owners thought it was perfect. And the court agreed it was a unique space that could not be “readily duplicated elsewhere.”

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In May 2015, after a year of “protracted” negotiations, Bellwoods signed a lease to use the building as a brewery, restaurant, pub and bar. The agreement, however, marked the beginning of years of conflict, turmoil and legal battles.

Instead of leaving the premises empty for architects and designers to move in and start work on the new location, Bellwoods said the landlord refused to leave.

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The two parties disagreed about exactly what the word “vacate” meant. In part, the landlord argued that he didn’t need to completely leave the space until the design work was complete because the brewery wouldn’t use it all until construction had started.

He said he understood the need to vacate meant to “empty the leased premises of personal property to the extent reasonably necessary to permit Bellwoods to engage in the design process.”

An unsuccessful counter claim for unpaid rent was lodged by the landlord.

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From February to April 2016, the issues got more intense, according to the ruling.

The landlord rented 950 Dupont Street out for a Valentine’s Day rave advertised as an “epic party coming to a warehouse on Dupont.” The court ruling said the landlord didn’t ask Bellwoods for permission to host the rave, which the brewery worried would hurt its relationships with local residents and make it harder to get a liquor license.

According to the ruling, the landlord promised to cancel the event — and then didn’t.

“Bellwoods was stunned not only that the Landlord put an ‘epic party’ in the space but that the Landlord lied to them about cancelling the event,” the ruling said. “I accept that this incident caused Bellwoods to become less willing to compromise its position.”

The building Bellwoods had leased was also rented to Vans from March to April of the same year to use as a skatepark where the clothing brand could “host musical performances, and serve alcohol.”

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Things came to a head in the summer of 2016 when Bellwoods demanded that appliances be cleared out of the space and leases with other tenants be cancelled to allow them to use the loading dock.

The breaches of the lease continued, the ruling said.

Bellwoods sent a series of letters to the landlord who said he “just didn’t bother” to reply because, according to the ruling, “I never felt I was in breach of anything. I never felt there was a breach at all.”

Global News was unable to contact the landlord for comment ahead of publication. An attempt to reach out via the realtor advertising space at 950 Dupont Street was unsuccessful.

Three years after it started negotiating the lease, in January 2017, Bellwoods took the landlord to court.

Years after the rave and skatepark were taken down, in May 2023, Bellwoods was handed the ruling it wanted by an Ontario court.

The judge awarded just over $6 million in damages to the brewery and ordered the landlord to vacate the building completely within 30 days, paving the way for Bellwoods to open its new location in the unique space.

Global News approached Bellwoods Brewery to ask if they still planned to move into the new location and if a timeline had been set. No response was received in time for publication.