Klair v. Reese

CHRISTIE, Chief Justice:

This appeal centers on the parties’ divergent interpretations of a purchase option provision in a long-term ground lease which grants the tenants the right to purchase the “leasehold premises ... for a consideration to be determined at the then value of the land.” The tenants, Dale L. Reese and John W. Holsten, t/a Able Associates, who have exercised their option to purchase the land, contend that this provision calls for the land to be valued as encumbered by their remaining leasehold interest of over 70 years. The landowners, Franklin A. Klair, Charlotte Dudkewitz,…