SAN DIEGO (CN) — The city of San Diego sued SeaWorld for more than $12 million in unpaid rent and interest stemming from the closure of the marine-life park during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
In a complaint filed Thursday in California state court, the city alleges SeaWorld breached its lease by, among other factors, failing to pay rent for nine months in 2020 — and when it paid the rent for those months in 2021, SeaWorld paid much less than the minimum amount required.
Under its lease with the city, the park must pay either a percentage of its gross revenue or a minimum of $867,000 per month, which ever amount is greater.
But for the late payments for 2020, as well as for 2021, the park calculated its rent based on a percentage of its gross revenue, which, with the park closed because of the pandemic, was much less than the minimum payments it should have made, according to the city.
"On information and belief, Sea World had, and has, the financial ability to pay the rent, surcharge, audit cost, audit interest, late fees and all other amounts due under the Lease," the city said in its complaint. "It disclosed its Lease obligation to City of between $8.3 million and $10.9 million in its annual and public reports."
The San Diego City Council voted in May to take SeaWorld to court if it didn't resolve the outstanding rent issue. The vote came after an audit late last year that concluded SeaWorld had underpaid its required rent and surcharges by about $8.9 million from 2019 through 2021.
Through the first six months of this year, under the terms of the lease, SeaWorld allegedly owes about $2.5 million.
SeaWorld declined to comment on the lawsuit. The company provided a previously issued statement on its conflict with the city over the rent.
“While as a matter of policy we don’t comment on potential litigation, we have enjoyed a long relationship with the City and remain hopeful that we can resolve this matter," SeaWorld said. "We have partnered with the City for nearly 60 years — conducting thousands of animal rescues, numerous recycling drives and many other events. We also have paid more than $146 million in lease payments to the City of San Diego since 2010. We appreciate all the City has done and we look forward to addressing this situation.”
The San Diego park, owned by SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, was closed from March 2020 to April 2021 because of the pandemic.
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