A Vancouver-based tech company is suing the city for $1.2 million, alleging that it was pushed out of its office space due to the planned Tower Mall redevelopment on Mill Plain Boulevard.
CloudOne LLC also alleges in its lawsuit, filed March 4 in Clark County Superior Court, that it was unfairly compensated for rent payments and relocation of its employees over the last two weeks to Tennessee.
When the city purchased the Tower Mall property, 5411 E. Mill Plain Blvd., in 2017, it assumed the leases of the tenants in the building, including CloudOne, a 185-employee marketing company that connects consumers with retailers, mainly in the automotive sector. The company’s main headquarters is located at 2105 C St., but it had about 12,000 square feet of office space at the Tower Mall building, called Town Plaza. The lease agreement included an option to extend the lease by five years, according to the lawsuit.
In January 2019, the city told CloudOne that it planned to demolish the building as part of the redevelopment, and that CloudOne would need to relocate by June 30 of this year. The city told CloudOne it would compensate the company for costs for terminating the lease early, which would cover increased rent and relocation expenses, the lawsuit states.
“Then, the city dragged its feet for roughly an entire year,” CloudOne founder Bryan Hunter told The Columbian. “Meanwhile, we watched commercial office space prices go higher and higher.”
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