The Alexandria General District Court held a preliminary hearing on Wednesday on the eviction lawsuit against the owners of a popular Beer Garden in Del Ray.
In late August, Jeremy Barber and Justus Frank, the owners of The Garden (1503 Mount Vernon Avenue) filed a lawsuit in the Alexandria Circuit Court against their landlord, who listed the property available for rent on Sept. 1. The landlord, Twenty-Third Street Corridor LLC, then filed an eviction lawsuit in General District Court. Barber and Frank want both cases heard simultaneously and contend that their case was filed before their landlord. The pair is trying to get their landlord’s case dismissed, and all parties will go back to General District Court on Friday, Oct. 10, Barber told ALXnow.
“We want to thank our friends, family, and the Del Ray community for the overwhelming outpouring of support,” Barber told ALXnow outside the Alexandria courthouse on Wednesday.
The filing from Twenty-Third Street Corridor LLC states that Barber and Frank are paying the default rent and are operating under a month-to-month lease. Stratis and Georgia Voustas are the principals of Twenty-Third Street Corridor LLC. ALXnow has reached out to their attorney, Mark P. Friedlander, Jr., for comment.
As previously reported, Barber and Frank say in their lawsuit that Twenty-Third Street Corridor will not honor the five-year renewal option on their lease, which expires in November. They say the relationship went sour after a deal to buy the 5,300-square-foot property fell through, and that the landlord attempted to evict them with default notices due to property repair issues.
Last month, Stratis Voustas told ALXnow that Barber and Frank defaulted on their lease.
“They know what it takes to stay, so they just gotta do what it takes to say,” Stratis Voustas told ALXnow. “They defaulted on the lease. They’ve already defaulted. They’re paying the default rent. They’ve agreed to pay the default rent. I mean, they defaulted the lease.”
Barber and Frank are also asking for “at least $6,000 in rent overpaid by Tenant to Landlord, and for a Court order requiring Landlord to cease and desist in attempting to evict Tenant, and for such other and further relief as this Court may deem appropriate,” according to their complaint.
If Barber and Frank are allowed to stay an additional five years, they acknowledge that their days at 1503 Mount Vernon Avenue are still numbered, unless they can make a deal to buy the property.
