Holmes v. Kimco Realty Corp.

OPINION OF THE COURT

HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.

This diversity action requires us to predict whether the State of New Jersey would impose a common law duty on a tenant in a multi-tenant shopping center to maintain the parking lot owned by the landlord.

I

On January 20, 2005, Walter Holmes drove to a shopping center near Route 73 in Maple Shade, New Jersey (the Shopping Center), consisting of a parking lot and several businesses in stand-alone buildings, including Lowe’s Home Center, Bally’s Total Fitness, and Mattress Giant.1 The businesses were some distance apart, with the entrance to Bally’s…