101 Cantina was served a notice for eviction Friday.
In the complaint filed Wednesday in the Alachua County Circuit Court, leasing company Trimark Properties LLC requested eviction for unpaid rent, late charges, court costs and attorney fees.
As of Sept. 1, current rent owed totalled $21,181.11, according to the documents.
101 Cantina failed to vacate the location at 1632 W. University Ave. on Aug. 31, when the lease was up, according to court documents.
The popular Midtown restaurant and bar began leasing the space in 2009 under a five-year contract that ended Aug. 31, 2014, according to the documents. It kept leasing the space on a month-to-month basis.
But 101 Cantina Owner Alex Thomas said in a message that they have a year left of leasing the space and the business isn’t behind on rent at all. Trimark Properties stopped accepting rent in September, he said.
Trimark Properties, who could not be reached for comment, also requested $750 in attorney’s fees and $540 for the cost of the lawsuit.
The company is entitled to double the amount of rent due on the location for the period during which 101 Cantina refuses to leave, according to the documents.
Attached to the complaint filed by Trimark are several emails, spanning from Aug. 4, 2014, to Nov. 17, 2015.
They show Thomas asking to extend the lease of the West University Avenue location, and Matthew Luedecke, the commercial property manager of Trimark Properties, telling him they were not willing to give a new lease but would continue on a monthly basis.
Luedecke wrote in an email on May 26, 2015, that the owners were reluctant to sign new leases while they worked on the eviction of Midtown Eats, according to the documents.
In another document filed Aug. 9, a company called 581 Investments filed to foreclose on 101 Cantina’s alcohol license. As of April 1, 101 Cantina owed the company $64,284.01, according to court documents
Emails then jumped to June 23, 2016, where Luedecke asked Thomas where to drop off the notice, according to the documents.
Eran del Castillo, a UF chemical engineering senior, has been going to 101 Cantina every weekend since her freshman year.
It’s a place where the 21-year-old celebrated friends’ birthdays and one of her own, she said.
When she heard about the eviction, she was shocked, del Castillo said. The restaurant lies a short walk from campus, she said, which is what makes it iconic.
“I really think that that place is essential to their survival,” she said.
