Any grounds for a lawsuit?-Shelbyville Rd Plaza?

I am not a lawyer and have no idea if there could possibly be any grounds for a lawsuit or not, but are contracts typically written with a clause that eliminates any potential direct competitor from opening in the same plaza/strip mall, or is it "owner beware" when you decide to open at a multi-business location like Shelbyville Rd Plaza? The reason I ask is because Puccini's closed recently, about the same time Blaze Pizza opened, directly across from them. Maybe it is a coincidence and Puccini's had already planned on closing or their lease was ending and they decided not to renew or it wasn't offered for renewal, but the timing seems suspect.

Just curious....

[Robin Garr]

Bryan, I'm not an attorney either, but I doubt that there's any clear rule of law on this. If the shopping center's restrictions specifically prohibit direct competitors in a niche - such as, two Italian restaurants or two pizzerias - then I'd think the first arrival woujld have a case. But the Blaze vs Puccini's thing seems like it would have to be incredibly blatant for that to be the case.

Any lawyers or real-estate gurus in the audience?

My understanding through the grapevine from people who used to work there was that they'd been hemorrhaging money for quite some time. May not be a coincidence but I'm thinking it's more likely the association is that Shelbyville Rd plaza knew Puccini's was on its way out which opened a door (be it contractual or simply a soon to be empty niche) for Blaze.

Depends on the lease. It is not unheard for an anchor of a shopping center to request that certain named retailers not be allowed to move in.

Deed restrictions on bordering properties are more common when a developer is seeking buyers for a new retail developing. They will request that any secondary roads that planning/zoning requires to be installed by the buyer not lead to direct competition or a list of businesses that the buyer thinks will detract customers.