University Wins Contract Suit

The University recently won a breach of contact case against a former Holyoke Center vendor and was awarded nearly $40,000 in unpaid rent, expenses and taxes.

The Middlesex Superior Court ruled that J.J.'s Juice Works, Inc., a Cambridge-based juice vendor, had a history of delinquent rent payments.

The juice company had signed a five-year lease in the Harvard-owned Holyoke Center arcade beginning March 20, 1994.

According to court documents, Harvard notified J.J.'s Juice Works of an outstanding balance in July 1994. Two months later, the University attempted to deposit a rent check, but the juice company had ordered payments stopped.

Although J.J.'s Juice Works vacated Holyoke Center on December 3 of that year, Harvard calculated that the company owed $319.04 a month through February 1996. That figure was based on the juice company's highest earnings during its time in Holyoke Center.

It was unclear yesterday why the court chose February 1996 as a cutoff date.

The court faulted the juice company with two counts of breach of contract and awarded the University $37,844.73 in unpaid rent, operations expenses, real estate taxes, marketing fund contributions, administrative fees and overdue interest.

The award also included the costs of repairs and rents incurred by J.J.'s Juice Works' early vacancy.

The case is one of a series of ongoing disputes between the University and the businesses in Holyoke Center. Under a reorganization plan announced last year, the University will evict most of the current tenants in the arcade.

Harvard has also been accused of charging exorbitant rents. According to court documents, J.J.'s Juice Works was expected to pay $15,000 a year, in addition to tax, marketing fund and storage fees. In addition, Harvard was to get 6 percent of the shop's gross receipts.

Efforts to reach James L. Bildner, J.J.'s Juice Works' owner, were unsuccessful yesterday. The company's most recently listed phone number has been disconnected.

David L. Permut, an attorney with Goodwin, Procter and Hoar who represented the University in the case did not return phone calls seeking comment yesterday.