Northwest Plaza, LLC MI, f/k/a Northwest Plaza, Inc., and RAW Associates, LLC MI, f/k/a RAW Associates, LP, brought suit against Northeast Enterprises, Inc., Rick Tu, a/k/a Chang H Tu, and Jim Tu, a/k/a Chin-Yuan Tu, asserting claims for fraud, breach of contract, conspiracy, conversion and punitive damages arising out of the purchase and sale of a shopping center. In Case No. A10A0528, Northwest and RAW appeal the trial court’s grant of partial summary judgment to Northeast and the Tus on certain of their claims for breach of contract and fraud. In Case No. A10A0529, Northeast and the Tus cross-appeal the trial court’s denial of their motion for summary judgment as to other claims for fraud, conspiracy and punitive damages. On appeal from a grant or denial of summary judgment, this Court applies a de novo review “to determine whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, demonstrates a genuine issue of material fact. Summary judgment is proper only when no issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Field v. Lowery , 300 Ga. App. 812, 813 686 SE2d 422 2009.
So viewed, the evidence shows that Richmar Properties, Inc., a Michigan corporation, is in the business of managing shopping centers. In late 2005, Richmar was in the market for new commercial property when it received a marketing package/offering memorandum for Covington Square Shopping Center in DeKalb County, Georgia, which was owned by Northeast. Several months later, Richmar received an updated offering memorandum, which included a “Tenant Summary” page showing each tenant and its annual payments for rent, tax and common area maintenance “CAM” charges under the existing leases. These materials reflected that in April 2005, Northeast had begun renting a substantial space in Covington Square to Lee May Enterprises LLC, d/b/a Cinefe 8, for the operation of a movie theater. Cinefe had a five-year lease and was one of Covington Square’s two larger, anchor tenants. The marketing materials reflect that Cinefe paid $16,479.99 in rent per month, or $197,639.88 per year, including CAM charges and taxes.
