Acme Markets, Inc. v. Dawson Enterprises, Inc.

Dawson 1 insists Acme’s 2 lease is a cloud on its title. The trial judge, Shure, J., agreed. We take a different view. The facts, on the whole, are undisputed.

In 1957 Dawson was, and still is, the owner of a 26.3 acre tract in Montgomery County on the west side of Wisconsin Avenue, immediately south of Rockville. It contemplated the development of the land, already dubbed “Hungerford Mart,” as a shopping center and, as a starter, solicited Acme to lease the supermarket area. The first formal proposal, in which the area was said to be 35 acres, was contained in a letter dated 13 September…